Vickipedia

LEGITIM, or BAIRN’S PART, in the Scotch Law, is the legal provision which a child is entitled to out of the movable or personal estate of the deceased father. In Scotland, a father is not allowed to disinherit his children to a certain extent, the extent varying according as the wife survives or not. If a wife survive, and also children survive, the movable estate is divided into three equal parts. One is the widow’s Jus Relictæ (q. v.), another is the children’s legitim, the other third is the Dead’s Part (q. v.), which the father may bequeath by will if he pleases, but if he make no will, then it goes to the children as next of kin. If the wife is dead, then half is legitim, and the other half is dead’s part. Moreover, a father, though in his lifetime he may, without any check from his children, squander his property, still is not allowed on his deathbed to make gifts so as to lessen the fund which will supply legitim. The children’s claim to legitim may be qualified by an antenuptial contract of marriage, which provides some other provision to the children in lieu of legitim; but, as a general rule, the children’s claim cannot be defeated by anything the father can do by means of a will or what is equivalent to a will. The legitim is claimable by all the children who survive the father, but not by the issue of those children who have predeceased. It is immaterial what the age of the child may be, and whether married or not. Children claiming legitim must, however, give credit for any provision or advance made by the father out of his movable estate in his lifetime. All the children, though of different marriages, share in the legitim. In England and Ireland, there is no similar right to legitim, for the father can bequeath all his property to strangers if he please; but a similar custom once existed in the city of London, and York, now abolished by 19 and 20 Vict. c. 94.

MOIRE, the French name (formerly mohère. and supposed to be taken from the Eng. mohair, which is itself probably of Eastern origin) applied to silks figured by the peculiar process called watering. The silks for this purpose must be broad and of a good substantial make; thin and narrow pieces will not do; they are wetted, and then folded with particular care, to insure the threads of the fabric lying all in the same direction, and not crossing each other, except as in the usual way of the web and the warp. The folded pieces of silk are then submitted to an enormous pressure, generally in a hydraulic machine. By this pressure, the air is slowly expelled, and in escaping, draws the moisture into curious waved lines, which leave the permanent marking called watering. The finest kinds of watered silks are known as Moirés antiques. —The same process has been applied to woolen fabrics called Moreen, which is only an alteration of the word moire.

LIBERTY OF THE SUBJECT is a general phrase descriptive of the right of the individual subject to do all things not specially prohibited by the law, and the less restriction there is by the Jaw, the greater is the extent of the liberty enjoyed. In its widest sense, the phrase may be understood as comprising the whole of the rights allowed by law to the subject; but what is generally understood is the liberty of the person, or of rights connected with the person—such as personal liberty or freedom from slavery, the right of free speech, liberty of conscience, liberty of the press, and constitutional liberty, or the liberty to influence and take part in legislation, which may be further subdivided into the limitation of the royal prerogative, the powers and privileges of parliament, the right of applying to courts of law for redress of injuries, the right of petitioning the crown or parliament, the right of having arms for defence, the right of habeas corpus, &c. All these subjects are noticed in detail under their proper heads.

LEGION,THE THUNDERING-(Lat. Legio Fulminatrix), a legion of the Roman army which is the subject of a well-known miraculous legend. During Marcus Aurelius’s war with the Marcomanni (174A.D.),his army, according to this narrative, being shut up in a mountainous defile, was reduced to great straits by want of water; when, a body of Christian soldiers having prayed to the God of the Christians, not only was rain sent seasonably to relieve their thirst, but this rain was turned upon the enemy in the shape of a fearful thunder-shower, under cover of which the Romans attacked and utterly routed them. The legion to which these soldiers belonged was thence, according to one of the narrators, called the Thundering Legion. This legend has been the subject of much controversy; and it is certain that the last told circumstance at least is false, as the name ‘ thundering legion ‘ existed long before the date of this story. There would appear, nevertheless, to have been some foundation for the story, however it may have been embellished by the pious zeal of the Christians. The scene is represented on the column of Antonius. The event is recorded by the pagan historian Dion Cassius (lxxi. 8), who attributes it to Egyptian sorcerers; and by Capitolinus and Themistius, the latter of whom ascribes it to the prayers of Aurelius himself. It is appealed to by the nearly contemporary Tertullian, in his Apology (c. 5), and is circumstantially related by Eusebius, by Jerome, and Orosius. It may not improbably be conjectured, supposing the substantial truth of the narrative, that the fact of one of the legions being called by the name ‘ Thundering ‘ may have led to the localizing of the story, and that it may have, in consequence, been ascribed to this particular legion, which was supposed to have received its name from the circumstance.

FRIENDLY ISLANDS, as distinguished from the Fiji Islands (q- v-)> generally reckoned a part of them, are otherwise styled the TONGA group. They lie to the south-east of Fiji, and consist of three sub-groups, of which some 30 islands are inhabited, Tongatabu being the largest. The great majority are of coral formation; but some are volcanic, and there are several active volcanoes. The people are the most intelligent and skilful of the fair Polynesians, but are decreasing in numbers : once reckoned at 40,000, they do not now exceed 10,000. A treaty with Germany in 1876 granted a coaling-station; and a treaty with Great Britain was concluded in 1879. The F. 1. were discovered by Tasman in 1643, but received their collective name from Cook. Both these navigators found the soil closely and highly cultivated, and the people apparently unprovided with arms. The climate is salubrious, but humid; earthquakes and hurricanes are frequent, but the former are not destructive. Among the products of the islands are yams, sweet-potatoes, bananas, cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, sugar-cane, the ti, hog-plum, &c.; some corn also is grown. The Flora resembles that of the Fiji group; but the native animals are very few.

The F. I. were first visited by missionaries in 1797. In 1827 the work of evangelization fell into the hands of the Wesleyan Methodists, and after a lengthened and perilous struggle with the savage paganism of the inhabitants, it was crowned with success. Almost all the islanders are now Christians; great numbers can speak English, and, in addition, have learned writing, arithmetic, and geography; while the females have been taught to sew. The various islands used to be governed by independent chiefs, but nearly the whole of them are now under the rule of one chief, called King George, who is not only a Christian, but a zealous preacher of the gospel.

CRYPTO’GRAPHY, the art of secret writing, more commonly called the art of writing in cipher (from Arabic sifr, void), has been in use from an early date in correspondence between diplomatists and others engaged in important affairs requiring secrecy. In modern times it has been the subject of learned care to Lord Bacon, the ingenious Marquis of Worcester, Dr. Wallis, Bishop Wilkins. Thicknesse, Falconer, Blair, &c. In our own history, it has at no time been in greater requisition than during the civil war, and among the politicians of the 17th century. And even now, when there is happily less need for mystery among our statesmen, the need for a perfectly undecipherable mode of secret communication has again had to be looked for, in order that information may pass by the electric telegraph without .being understood by the officials in connection with the apparatus.

One of the most simple methods of C. is to use, instead of each letter of the alphabet, a certain other letter at a regular interval in advance of it in that series. Such was a mode of secret writing used by Julius Caesar. As a variety upon this plan, the alphabet is used invertedly—s for a, y for &, x for e, and so on. Or, while the first seven letters are represented by the second seven, the next six may be represented by the last six. And many other variations may be adopted. But for all modes like these, there are modes of decipherment far from difficult. It is only necessary, in general, to bear in mind certain peculiarities of the language presumed to be used. Say it is the English. We readily remember that e is the most frequent letter; that ea and ou are the double vowels which most frequently occur; that the consonants most common at the ends of words are r, s, and t.&c. We also know how a single letter must be either the pronoun J or the article’ d; how an, at, and on, are the most common words in two letters; how the and and are the most frequent used words in three letters; &c. By taking advantage of these few obvious principles, a tolerably skilled decipherer will read almost any such piece of cryptographic writing in five minutes. The Times newspaper often gives, in its advertising columns, correspondence on delicate subjects, even assignations for elopements, written in this manner, the writers of which are of course little aware how open their secrets thus become to society.

Politicians and important personages conducting affairs of difficulty became long ago sensible of the necessity of using ciphers of greater abstruseness. The celebrated letter of Charles I. to the Earl of Glamorgan, in which he made some condemning concessions (elsewhere denied) to the Catholics of Ireland, was composed in an alphabet of 24 short strokes variously situated upon a line. Other letters by the same monarch are to appearance a mere series of numbers of two and three figures, divided by semicolons. In such cases, it was necessary that the two parties in the correspondence should have previously concerted what words each number was to represent. Bacon devised what he thought a not easily penetrable cipher, in which he employed only a and b, arranging each of these, in groups of five, in such collocations as to represent all the 24 letters.

Thus aabab ababa bdbba conveyed the word Fly. The great philosopher thought that preconcertment would here be necessary; but in reality any clever modern decipherer would have found no difficulty in reading any long letter composed in such a manner. The unfortunate Earl of Argyle, when preparing his expedition against the tyrannical government of James II., used a mode of secret writing which consisted in setting down the words at certain intervals, which he afterwards filled up with other words, making on the whole something intelligible, but indifferent. In our day, such a mode would not have been found proof against the ingenuity of those who have studied the means of decipherment. There are many other modes of secret writing, which it does not seem necessary to detail, as the art has become little more matter of curiosity. One of the ablest and amplest treatments of the subject is an article by Dr. William Blair in Rees’s Cyclopædia. See also Chambers’s Journal, No. 506 (Second Series), and Nos. 87 and 115.

LU’NATIC ASYLUM. The first hospitals for the insane of which history or tradition makes mention, were the sacred temples in Egypt. In these, it is said, the disease was mitigated by agreeable impressions received through the senses, and by a system resembling and rivaling the highest development of moral treatment now practised. Monasteries appear to have been the representative of such retreats in the medieval Christian times; but restraint and rigid asceticism characterized the management. Out of conventual establishments grew the Bethlems, or Bedlams, with which our immediate ancestors were familiar (see BEDLAM). But apart from such receptacles, the vast majority of the insane must have been neglected; in some countries, reverenced as specially God-stricken; in others, tolerated, or tormented, or laughed at, as simpletons or buffoons; in others, imprisoned as social pests, even executed as criminals. In a few spots, enjoying a reputation for sanctity, or where miraculous cures of nervous diseases were supposed to have been effected, such as Gheel and St. Suaire, communities were formed, of which lunatics, sent with a view to restoration, formed a large part, and resided in the houses of the peasants, and partook of their labor and enjoyments. Asylums, properly so called, date from the commencement of the present century; and for many years after their institution, although based upon sound and benevolent views, they resembled jails both in construction and the mode in which they were conducted, rather than hospitals. Until very recently, a model erection of this kind was conceived necessarily to consist of a vast block of building, the center of which was appropriated to the residence of the officers, the kitchen and its dependencies, the chapel, &c., from which there radiated long galleries, in which small rooms, or cells, were arranged upon one or both sides of a corridor or balcony, having at one extremity public rooms, in which the agitated or non-industrial inmates, as the case might be, spent the day, while the more tractable individuals were withdrawn to engage in some pursuit, either in workshops, clustered round the central house, or in the grounds attached, which were surrounded by high walls, or by a ha-ha. The population of such establishments, when they were appropriated to paupers, ranged from 100 to 1400 patients. These were committed to a staff composed of a medical officer, matron, and attendants, to whom were directly intrusted the management, discipline, and occupation of the insane, in accordance with regulations or prescriptions issued by the physician.

A gradual but great revolution has taken place in the views of psychologists as to the provisions and requirements for the insane during seclusion. As a result of this change, asylums, especially for the wealthy classes, are assimilated in their arrangements to ordinary dwelling-houses; while it is proposed to place the indigent in cottages in the immediate vicinity of an infirmary, where acute cases, individuals dangerous to themselves or others, or in any way untrustworthy, could be confined and actively treated, as their condition might require. In all such establishments, whether now entitled to be regarded as cottage asylums or not, the semblance and much of the reality of coercion has been abolished; the influence of religion, occupation, education, recreation; the judicious application of moral impressions; and the dominion of rational kindness and discriminating discipline, have been super-added to mere medical treatment, and substituted for brute force, terror, or cruelty.—Esquirol, Des Maladies Mentales, t. ii.; Guislain, Sur l’Alienation Mentale; Browne on Asylums, &c.; Conolly on Construction of Asylums.

FRIENDS,SOCIETY OF, the proper designation of a sect of Christians, better known as Quakers. Their founder was George Fox (q. v. for the origin of the name Quakers), born at Dray ton, in Leicestershire, in 1624, who at first followed the occupation of a shoemaker, but afterwards devoted himself to the propagation of what he regarded as a more spiritual form of Christianity that prevailed in his day. In spite of severe and cruel persecutions, the Society of F. succeeded in establishing themselves both in England and America. They have, indeed, never been numerically powerful (having at no time exceeded 200,000 members); but the purity of life which from the beginning has so honorably distinguished them as a class, has unquestionably exercised a salutary influence on the public at large; while in respect to certain great questions affecting the interests of mankind such as war and slavery, they have beyond all doubt originated opinions and tendencies which, whether sound or erroneous, are no longer confined to themselves, but have widely leavened the mind of Christendom. For an account of the more eminent representatives of the Friends, see the biographies of BARCLAY, FOX, PENN, &c.. We confine ourselves here to a brief notice of their doctrine, practice, and discipline, as it is laid down in their own publications.

Doctrine.—It is perhaps more in the spirit than in the letter of their faith that the Society of F. differ from other orthodox Christians. They themselves assert their belief in the great fundamental facts of Christianity, and even in the substantial identity of most of the doctrinal opinions which they hold with those of other evangelical denominations. The Epistle addressed by George Fox and other Friends to the governor of Barbadoes, in 1673, contains a confession of faith not differing materially from the so-called Apostles’ Creed, except that it is more copiously worded, and dwells with great diffuseness on the internal work of Christ. The Declaration of Christian Doctrine given forth on be- . half of the Society in 1693, expresses a belief in what is usually termed the Trinity, in the atonement made by Christ for sin, in the resurrection from the dead, and in the doctrine of a final and eternal judgment; and the Declaratory Minute of the early meeting in 1829 asserts the inspiration and divine authority of the Old and New Testament, the depravity of human nature consequent on the fall of Adam, and other characteristic doctrines of Christian orthodoxy, adding: ‘ Our religious Society, from its earliest establishment to the present day, has received these most important doctrines of Holy Scripture in their plain and obvious acceptation.

It is nevertheless certain that uniformity of theological opinion cannot be predicated of the Friends, any more than of other bodies of Christians. As early as 1668, William Penn and George Whitehead held a public discussion with a clergyman of the English Church, named Vincent, in which they maintained that the doctrine of a tri-personal God, as held-by that church, was not found in the Scriptures, though in what form they accepted the doctrine themselves does not appear; and some time later, Penn published a work himself, entitled the Sandy Foundation Shaken, in which, among other things, he endeavored to show that the doctrines of vicarious atonement and of imputed righteousness did not rest on any scriptural foundation. But in general, the Society of F., in the expression of their belief, have avoided the technical phraseology of other Christian churches, restricting themselves with commendable modesty to the words of Scripture itself, as far as that is possible and avoiding, in particular, the knotty points of Calvinistic divinity (see Barclay’s Catechism and Confession of Faith, published in 1678, where the answers to the questions— to avoid theological dogmatism—are taken from the Bible itself).

This habit of allowing to each individual the full freedom of the Scriptures, has, of course, rendered it all the more difficult to ascertain to what extent individual minds, among the Society, may have differed in their mode of apprehending and dogmatically explaining the facts of Christianity. Their principal distinguishing doctrine is that of the ‘ Light of Christ in man,’ on which many of their outward peculiarities, as a religious body are grounded. The doctrine of the internal light is founded on the view of Christ given by St. John, who, in the first chapter of his gospel, describes Christ—the Eternal Logos—as the ‘ life ‘ and ‘ light of men,’ ‘ the true light,’ ‘ the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world,’ &c. Barclay taught that even the heathen were illumined by this light, though they might not know—as, indeed, those who lived before Christ could not know—the historical Jesus in whom Christians believe. In their case, Christ was the light shining in darkness, though the darkness comprehended it not. The existence of ‘ natural virtue ‘ (as orthodox theologians term it) among the heathen was denied by Barclay, who regarded all such virtue as Christian in its essence, and as proceeding from the light of Christ shining through the darkness of pagan superstition. These opinions would seem to be somewhat freer than those expressed in the General Epistle of the Society published in 1836, wherein they refuse to acknowledge ‘ any principle of spiritual light, life, or holiness inherent by nature in the mind of man,’ and again assert, that they ‘ believe in no principle whatsoever of spiritual light, life, or holiness, except the influence of the Holy Spirit of God bestowed on mankind in various measures and degrees through Jesus Christ our Lord;’ but, on the other hand, in a little treatise published by the Society in 1861, it is affirmed that ‘ the Holy Spirit has always been afforded in various measures to mankind; while stress is also laid on the statement of St. Paul, that ‘ the grace of God (understood by Friends to signify the ‘ operation of the Divine Spirit’) that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men;’ while another exponent of their views, Mr. T. Evans of Philadelphia (see Cyclopædia of Religious Denominations, Lond., Griffin & Co., 1853), states that ‘ God hath granted to all men, of whatsoever nation or country, a day or time of visitation, during which it is possible for them to partake of the benefits of Christ’s death and be saved.

‘ For this end, he hath communicated to every man a measure of the light of his own Son, a measure of grace or the Holy Spirit, by which he invites, calls, exhorts, and strives with every man, in order to save him; which light or grace, as it is received, and not resisted, works the salvation of all, even of those who are ignorant of Adam’s fall, and of the death and sufferings of ‘Christ; both by bringing them to a sense of their own misery, and to be sharers in the sufferings of Christ inwardly; and by making them partakers of his resurrection, in becoming holy, pure and righteous, and recovered out of their sins.’ Hence it may be safely asserted that they hold a broader (or, as others would say, a more latitudinarian) view of the Spirit’s working than any other Christian church or society. In America, about the year 1827, Elias Hicks, a Friend of very remarkable powers, created a schism in the Society, by the promulgation of opinions denying the miraculous conception, divinity, and atonement of Christ, and also the authenticity and divine authority of the Holy Scriptures. About one-half the society in America adopted the views of Hicks, and are known as Hicksite Friends; their opinions, of course, are repudiated by the rest of the Society, who may be described as Orthodox Friends. The Hicksite schism thoroughly alarmed the latter, both in England and America, and a movement was begun in favor of education, of a doctrinal belief more nearly allied to that of the so-called ‘ Evangelical’ party, and of a relaxation in the formality and discipline of the Society. The leader of this movement was Joseph John Gurney, of Norwich. This new tendency, however, excited considerable opposition among some of the Friends in America; and the consequence was a division among the Orthodox Friends themselves, and the formation of a new sect, called ‘ Wilburites,’ after the name of their founder, John Wilbur, who are noted for their strictness with which they maintain the traditions and peculiarities of the Society. (See Friendly Sketches in America, by William Tallack. Lond., Bennett. 1862.) Some slight indications of theological differences have manifested themselves in England also.

2. Practice.—It is in the application of their leading doctrine of the ‘ internal light’ that the peculiarities of the Friends are most apparent. Believing that it is the Holy Spirit, or the indwelling Christ, that alone maketh wise unto salvation, illumining the mind with true and spiritual knowledge of the deep things of God, they do not consider ‘ human learning ‘ essential to a minister of the gospel, and look with distrust on the method adopted by other churches for obtaining such—viz., by formally training after a human fashion a body of youths chosen on no principle of inward fitness. They believe that the call to this work now, as of old, is ‘not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father;’ and that it is bestowed irrespectively of rank, talent, learning, or sex. Consequently, they have no theological halls, professors of divinity, or classes for ‘ students.’

Further, as fitness for the ministry is held to be a free gift of God through the Holy Spirit, so, they argue, it ought to be freely bestowed, in support of which they adduce the precept of the Saviour—’Freely ye have received, freely give;’ hence those who minister among them are not paid for their labor of love, but, on the other hand, whenever such are engaged from home in the work of the gospel, they are, in the spirit of Christian love, freely entertained, and have all their wants supplied: in short, the Friends maintain the absolutely voluntary character of religious obligations, and that Christians should do all for love, and nothing for money. It also follows from their view of a call to the work of the ministry, that women may exhort as well as men, for the ‘ spirit of Christ’ may move them as powerfully as the other sex. The prophecy of Joel as applied by Peter is cited as authority for the preaching of women : ‘ On my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy.’ They also adduce the New Testament examples of Tryphæna, Tryphosa, the beloved Persis, and other women who appear to have labored in the Gospel. Their mode of conducting public worship likewise illustrates the entireness of their dependence on the ‘ internal light.’ In other religious bodies, the minister has a set form of worship, through which he must go, whether he feels devoutly disposed or not. This seems objectionable to the Friends, who meet and remain in silence until they believe themselves moved to speak by the Holy Ghost. Their prayers and praises are, for the most part, silent and inward. They prefer to make melody in their hearts unto God, considering such to be more spiritual than the outward service of the voice.

The doctrine of the ‘internal light’ has also led the Friends to reject the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as these are observed by other Christians. They believe the Christian baptism to be a spiritual one, and not, like the Jewish and heathen baptisms, one with water; in support of which they quote, among other passages, the words of John the Baptist himself : ‘ I baptize yon with water, but there cometh one after me who shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.’ Similarly do they regard the rite of the Eucharist: it is, say they, inward and spiritual, and consists not in any symbolic breaking of bread and drinking of wine, but in that daily communion with Christ through the Holy Spirit, and through the obedience of faith, by which the believer is nourished and strengthened. They believe that the last words of the dying Redeemer on the cross, ‘ It is finished,’ announced the entire abolition of symbolic rites; that under the new spiritual dispensation then introduced, the necessity for such, as a means of arriving at truth, ceased, and that their place has been abundantly supplied by the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, whose office it now is to lead and guide men into all truth. The true Christian supper, according to them, is set forth in the Revelations—’ Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come unto him, and will sup with him and he with me.’ For the same reason—viz., that the teaching of the Spirit is inward and spiritual—the Friends ignore the religious observance of days and times, with the exception of the Sabbath, which some at least among them regard as of perpetual obligation.

The taking or administering of oaths is regarded by Friends as inconsistent with the command of Christ, ‘ swear not at all,’ and with the exhortation of the apostle James—’ Above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath : but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.’ They have also refused to pay tithes for the maintenance of what they hold to be a hireling ministry, believing that Christ put an end to the priesthood and ceremonial usages instituted under the Mosaic dispensation, and that he substituted none in their place. In consequence, all consistant Friends have been regularly mulcted of plate, furniture, or other goods, to the value of the amount due. The recent conversion of tithe into rent-charge, however, has, in the opinion of many Friends, largely removed objections to the payment to this ecclesiastical demand. In regard to the civil magistracy, while they respect and honor it, as ordained of God, they are careful to warn the members of their Society against thoughtlessly incurring its responsibilities, involving as it does the administration of oaths, the issuing of orders and warrants in reference to ecclesiastical demands, the calling out of an armed force in cases of civil commotion, and other duties inconsistent with the peaceful principles of the Society. The Friends have likewise consistenly protested against war in all its forms; and the Society has repeatedly advised members against aiding and assisting in the conveyance of soldiers, their baggage, arms, ammunition, or military stores. They regard the profession of arms and fighting, not only as diametrically opposed to the general spirit of Christ, whose advent was sung by angels in these words : ‘ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good-will towards men;’ but as positively forbidden by such precepts as—’ Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;’ also, ‘ Resist not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also;’ and while they acknowledge that temporary calamities may result from the adopting the principle of non-resistance, they have so strong a faith in its being essentially the dictate of divine love to the Christian heart, that they believe God, by his wise and omnipotent providence, could, and will yet make it ‘mighty to the pulling down of the strongholds of iniquity.’ The world, they believe, will by and by confess that the peacemakers are most truly the children of God. The efforts of the Society for the emancipation of the slaves are a part of modern British history. They may most certainly lay claim to having cultivated the moral sense of their fellow-countrymen in regard to this important question. As early as 1727, they commenced to ‘ censure ‘ the traffic in slaves, as a practice ‘ neither commendable nor allowed,’ and gradually warmed in their opposition, until the whole nation felt the glow, and entered with enthusiasm on the work of abolition. In respect to what may be called minor points, the Friends are also very scrupulous; they object to ‘ balls, gaming-places, horse-races, and playhouses, those nurseries of debauchery and wickedness, the burden and grief of the sober part of other societies as well as of our own.’

The Printed Epistle of the yearly meeting of 1854 contains a warning against indulging in music, especially what goes by the name of ’sacred music,’ and denounces musical exhibitions, such as oratorios, as essentially a ‘ profanation ‘—the tendency of these things being, it is alleged, ‘ to withdraw the soul from that quiet, humble, and retired frame in which prayer and praise may be truly offered with the spirit and with the understanding also.’ They object, besides, to ‘ the hurtful tendency of reading plays, romances, novels, and other pernicious books;’ and the yearly meeting of 1764 ‘ recommends to every member of our Society to discourage and suppress the same.’ A similar recommendation was issued by the Society in 1851 for the benefit of ‘ younger Friends’ in particular, who would appear to have been eating the forbidden fruit. The Printed Epistle of the yearly meeting of 1724 likewise ‘advises against imitating the vain custom of wearing or giving mourning, and all extravagant expenses about the interment of the dead,’ and this advice has been repeatedly renewed. A multitude of other minute peculiarities, which it would be tedious to note, distinguish the Friends from their fellow-Christians.

3. Discipline.—By the term discipline the Friends understand ‘ all those arrangements and regulations which are instituted for the civil and religious benefit of a Christian church.’ The necessity for such discipline soon began to make itself felt, and the result was the institution of certain meetings or assemblies. These are four in number: the first, the Preparative meetings: second, the Monthly meetings; third, the Quarterly meetings; and, fourth, the Yearly meetings. The first are usually composed of the members in any given place, in which there are generally two or more Friends of each sex, whose duty is to act as overseers of the meeting, taking cognizance of births, marriages, burials, removals, &c., the conduct of members, &c., and reporting thereon to the monthly meetings, to whom the executive department of the discipline is chiefly confided. The monthly meetings decide in cases of violation of discipline, and have the power of cutting off or disowning all who by their improper conduct, false doctrines, or other gross errors, bring reproach on the Society, although the accused have the right of appeal to the quarterly meetings, and from these again to the yearly, whose decisions are final. The monthly meetings are also empowered to approve and acknowledge ministers, as well as to appoint ‘ serious, discreet, and judicious Friends, who are not ministers, tenderly to encourage and help young ministers, and advise others, as they, in the wisdom of God, see occasion.’ They also execute a variety of other important duties. The quarterly meetings are composed of several monthly meetings, and exercise a sort of general supervision over the latter, and from whom they receive reports, and to whom they give such advice and decisions as they think right. The yearly meeting consists of select or representative members of the quarterly meetings. Its function is to consider generally the entire condition of the Society in all its aspects. It receives in writing answers to questions it has previously addressed to the subordinate meetings, deliberates upon them, and legislates accordingly. To it exclusively the legislative power belongs. Though thus constituted somewhat according to Presbyterian order, yet any member of the Society may attend and take part in the proceedings.

Women have also a special sphere of discipline allotted to them: they inspect and relieve the wants of the poor of their own sex, take cognizance of proposals for marriage, deal with female delinquents privately, and under certain restrictions may even do so officially, though in the ‘ testimony of disownment’ they have always the assistance of members of the other sex.

The Society of F., in the multitude of its regulations, has not forgotten the poor; charity in its narrower, as well as in its broader sense, has always been a beautiful feature of its members. The care of the poor was one of the earliest evidences which Christianity afforded to the Gentiles of the superiority and divine character of its principles; and it is honorable to the Society that a similar provision for those united to them in religious fellowship appears to have been one of the earliest occasions of their meetings for discipline. Nevertheless, in accordance with their ruling principle, that all Christian duty should be left for its fulfilment to the spontaneity of Christian love, and not performed under compulsion of any kind, ‘ the provision for the poor is purely voluntary ; yet their liberality is proverbial throughout Britain and America.

Their number at present amounts, it is believed, to about 120,000, of which more than 90,000 belong to the United States. See Fox’s Journal; Gurney’s History of the Quakers (1722); Gurney’s Observations on the Peculiarities of the 8- of F. (1824); Neale’s. History of the Puritans.

DARWINIAN THEORY. Before attempting- to discuss the theory of Evolution of Plants and Animals by Natural Selection, as promulgated by Darwin (q. v.), it is necessary briefly to consider first, the scope and aim of biological science; and secondly, the influence exerted upon biology by the progress of other departments of knowledge.

1. Nature of Biology.—The primary labors of the botanist and zoologist are, of course, to collect and preserve, to describe and figure the innumerable and varied forms occurring in nature; and in this task, therefore, naturalists have been occupied since the earliest times. The increase of such knowledge necessitated the attempt at orderly arrangement and intelligible cataloguing, problems solved by Linnaeus, whose Systema Naturæ first satisfactorily organized the natural history sciences.

The detailed study of internal structure, as well as of external form, commenced by Hunter and Haller, was enormously extended by Cuvier (q. v.), whose labors resulted in the conception that the multitudinous forms of animal life were all organized upon a few distinct plans, of which he defined the vertebrate, molluscan, articulate, and radiate; while Geoffrey St. Hilaire and Goethe were principally instrumental in introducing the idea of homology (seeMETAMORPHOSIS).But it is not sufficient to analyze the organism into its constituent organs, and to describe and compare these; we must inquire into their minute structure. These organs were analyzed into tissues by the Bichât, and these again into their component protoplasmic units—cells—by Schleiden and Schwann, and thus anatomy acquired the subordinate province of Histology. Finally, the mode of origin of the adult organism from the germ or egg comes to be investigated, and after thus adding to our previous knowledge that of Embryology, we are in a position to complete our summary of the structural aspects of an organism by defining its relation to its fellows—in other words, by fixing its position in the natural system of classification. These subjects of anatomy, histology, embryology, and Taxonomy or classification constitute the science of Morphology.

But an organism has yet other aspects, functional as well as structural, dynamical as well as statical; its organs have activities, and for the study of these, a new department of biology must be constituted—Physiology, which (although, by reason of the urgent needs of the practitioner and the student of medicine, as yet mainly concentrated upon the study of the functions of the human body) has a field co-extensive with that of morphology.

To the consideration of the forms and the activities of organisms, a new line of inquiry has been much more recently added, that referring to the position in time and space in which the organism occurs and the answer to this comes under a new head, that of Distribution, chronological (geological) or geographical, as the case may be.

These three great divisions of biological knowledge, morphological, physiological, and distributional, being constituted, the questions what, how, and where being approximately answered (and since the search for final causes—for the why—is outside the field of science), only one more possible inquiry remains—namely, whence these organisms, with their particular structures, functions, and positions in space and time ? In other words, how did all these phenomena arise—what is their origin or Ætiology ?

The necessity for a theory of the origin of plants and animals thus coming to be felt, only two hypotheses present themselves, since the suggestion that they may have existed in their present state from infinite time, is not only incapable of support by positive evidence, but absolutely negatived by geology. The first and historically earlier hypothesis is that of Special Creation, which assumes the sudden origin of the existing species, without reference to previously existing species, by the intervention of supernatural causes; the second is that of Evolution, and assumes the gradual origin of the existing species from pre-existing species by ordinary descent, with modification by the action of natural causes. A little reflection will show (1) that the idea of cause, although presented in different forms by the two rival hypotheses, and at different degrees of remoteness, is not excluded by one more than the other; and (2) that just as the hypothesis of the origin of solar and stellar systems from nebulæ is considered on its own merits, without confusion with any hypotheses which may subsequently arise as to the origin of the nebulas themselves, so we must separate the inquiry as to the origin of species, with which the Darwinian theory is alone concerned, from all subsequent hypotheses as to the origin or the nature of life (seeLIFE; GENERATION, SPONTANEOUS),thus keeping clear of the misunderstandings and misrepresentations with which the subject has too frequently been encumbered.

First in order, therefore, the arguments for and against the theory of the origin of species by special creation demands our examination, of course on scientific grounds alone. From the nature of the case no positive arguments are, or can be presented; and consequently, from the naturalist’s point of view, it is urged that not only is no evidence forthcoming, but that the hypothesis fails to explain the existing facts, much less to act as an instrument of research; while on philosophical grounds, it is objected that besides being in no respect a scientific hypothesis, but one which necessarily excludes all scientific hypotheses, it stands discredited a priori as the last survivor of a series of once universally diffused pre-scientific beliefs in the irregular and arbitrary occurrence of phenomena, and so is destitute of support from analogy; that it neither satisfies the intellectual wants, nor meets the moral difficulties of the explanation of nature; and worst of all, that it is a purely verbal hypothesis, incapable of any definite representation in thought—in short, inconceivable.

Passing to the second theory, we find it strongly urged in the first place, that not only is much evidence forthcoming, but that it does plausibly explain the known facts, and is even serviceable in the search for new ones; that it belongs to that class of explanations in terms of the natural order of things which have now superseded the system of catastrophic and supernatural hypotheses in every other field of knowledge; that it is capable of clear representation in thought; and that it satisfies not merely the intellectual wants, but meets the moral difficulties. For a full development of this most general form of the discussion, the reader may consult Spencer’s Principles of Biology, vol. i.

1. Influence on Biology of Progress in other Sciences.—The enormous progress of every department of knowledge during the past few generations has not lain merely, as is too commonly supposed, in ever-increasing minuteness of specialization upon ever-multiplying details, but has rather consisted in the concentration of innumerable previously unrelated phenomena into few groups, and of these again into fewer; through the construction of far-reaching hypotheses, which, if surviving and satisfying scrutiny and criticism, observation and experiment, have passed through stages of .possibility and likelihood, to that of overwhelming or practically infinite (more rarely absolute) probability, and are then termed generalizations, or more figuratively, laws. A rich harvest of such general conceptions has been garnered by astronomy, and such successive labors as those of Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton, in widening our knowledge of the universe, have widened not a little, the theoretic range and grasp of the scientific intellect. And it is important to bear in mind, first, that each of these advances consisted, as every such advance must do, in the substitution of a verified scientific hypothesis for a provisional, though “•hue-honored explanation, in terms of the mysterious and supernatural; and, secondly, that a theory of the evolution of solar and stellar systems (see NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS)is largely maintained by modern astronomers.

In chemistry, such conceptions as those of molecular constitution, and of the indestructibility of matter, of the similarity in composition of our planet with sun and stars, and of the intimate relation between inorganic and organic compounds, are highly instructive; while the actually observed genesis of many species of minerals by the action of natural causes, and the frequent transmutation of one species into another, when some definite change takes place in the surrounding conditions, are not without interest. Moreover, to the theory of the conservation of energy (seeFORCE)unifying as it has done, not only all the physical sciences, but these with physiology, a far vaster influence upon biology is due.

But the most important of all influences whatever on the organic sciences has come from geology. The discovery that our earth dates from an almost incalculably remote antiquity, together with the establishment as the fundamental axiom of the science that the present is the key to the past, and consequently that the present phenomena of the earth’s crust do not result from catastrophe .and deluge, still less from special creation, but are the product of a slow and progressive evolution (by natural causes still in operation) from a widely different previously existing state of things, furnish the evolutionist with the most primary of his data. To the establishment of this new theory of geologic evolution, revolutionary yet uniformitarian, of which the theory of organic evolution is but the complement and corollary, it is interesting to note that after Hutton and Lyell, perhaps no move important service has been rendered by any geological works than by the series (Geological Observations, 1844; Coral Beefs, 1842; Earthworms, 1881; and the essay on the Imperfection of the Geological Record, summarized below), which we owe to Darwin.

Nor is it only the preliminary sciences which have influenced biologists, and have aided them in their inquiries as to the origin of their set of phenomena. The human and social sciences— psychology and philology, anthropology and history, have all contributed their ætiological example and results, so that it might almost be debated whether the biological evolutionist has not been more indebted to all the other sciences for his theory, than they to him for theirs.

Origin of the Idea of Evolution in Biology.—No doubt largely influenced by such as existed of the scientific conceptions outlined above, as well as by the Cartesian doctrine, that the universe is a mechanism, and is therefore to be explained on mechanical principles, the evolutionary hypothesis made its first distinct appearance in the work of De Maillet (Telliamed, written 1735, published 1758), and was expounded in more or less varying form by more than thirty writers before Darwin, among whom the most notable were Erasmus Darwin, Goethe, Lamarck, and Geoffroy St. Hilaire.

Their hypotheses, although based on masses of biological evidence drawn from homologies and rudimentary organs, from classification and development, from geological and geographical distribution, and so on. never succeeded in gaining general acceptance among naturalists—a failure largely attributable to established prejudice, aided as it \vas by the authority of Cuvier. Yet, while rendering it extremely probable that modification had occurred, they all came short, as Darwin has pointed out, in one most important particular, that of showing how the modification of one species from another could take place, ‘ so as to acquire that perfection of structure and co-adaptation which justly excites our admiration;’ since the hypotheses of the potency of external conditions, of habit, or of the volition of the organism itself, alike successively broke down.

Darwin, in his turn, struck especially by the distributional phenomena he witnessed during his ‘ Naturalists’ Voyage,’ devoted himself to the solution of the problem of the origin of species, specially concentrating himself upon this weakest point of the preceding theories. After twenty-one years’ continuous work, he was compelled, on receiving a paper by Mr. A. R. Wallace (then exploring the Malay Archipelago), in which views identical with his own were expressed, to proceed to the publication of his results, first in brief outline (Journ. Linn. Soc., 1858), and the following year in that fuller abstract, ‘ The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection,’ which may now be briefly summarised, in so far as further compression of such ‘ intellectual pemmican ‘ is possible. For details and explanations, the reader must consult the original work (sixth edition, 1875).

Outline of the ‘ Origin of Species.’—In order to gain insight, then, into the means of modification, Darwin commences with a study of the variation of plants and animals under domestication (later expanded into a separate work; second edition. 1876).

Variation and Heredity.—While all plants and animals exhibit some degree of variation, this is greatest among domesticated species, owing to their new and less uniform conditions of life. These may act directly on the whole organization, or on separate parts, and the variation, though rarely, is sometimes definite, as when size increases with quantity of food, or color changes with its quality; or the conditions may act indirectly by influencing the reproductive system, which is peculiarly sensitive. Changed habits produce an inherited effect, e. g., the leg-bones of the common duck weigh proportionally more, and its wing-bones less, than in the wild variety, because it flies less and walks more. So, too, tame mammals acquire drooping ears, since these are rarely pricked in alarm. One variation is usually correlated with others, thus long-beaked pigeons have small feet, and conversely. All variations tend to be inherited. The popular belief that domestic races revert to the aboriginal stock is unsupported by facts.

Save that domestic varieties are less uniform than wild species, often differ more widely in some single part, and are fertile when crossed, there is no well-marked distinction between these and so-called true species. If, therefore, such varieties as of the dog can be shown to be descended from a single wild species, there necessarily arises great doubt as to immutability of closely allied natural species, such as the foxes. While the many breeds of clog appear to have arisen from several wild species, and those of cattle also from two or three, fowls, ducks, rabbits, &c., all certainly arise from a single ancestral species. The case of pigeons is of peculiar importance, since pouter, carrier, fan tail, and tumbler differ so thoroughly, externally and internally, that any ornithologist would be compelled to assign to them, not merely specific but generic distinctness, if he had discovered them in the wild state. There is at least as much difficulty in believing that such breeds can have proceeded from a common ancestor, as in the case of any group of birds in nature; and every breeder of these and other domestic animals has been firmly convinced of their descent from distinct species.

Yet these are proven to arise from the common rock-dove (Columba lima) (see COLUMBIDÆ;),and thus those who admit the unity of domestic races should be cautious in deriding the unity of wild ones.

Domestic races all exhibit adaptations to man’s use or fancy, rather than their own good. The key to this is man’s power of selection; nature gives successive variations, man accumulates them, so making for himself useful breeds, and often (e.g., sheep, cattle, roses, dahlias) profoundly modifying their character even in a single lifetime; so that in all characters to which he attends, they may differ more than the distinct species of the same genera. Again more even than conscious, that unconscious selection which results from every one trying to possess and breed the best animals, is important. Two flocks of Leicester sheep, equally kept pure, appeared of quite different varieties after fifty years. Such slowly accumulated change explains why we know so little of the origin of domestic races; and its absence in regions inhabited by Uncivilized man, explains why these yield no plants worth immediate culture. Human selection is facilitated by the keeping of large numbers, since variations will be more frequent, and by preventing crosses; some species vary, however, more than ethers.

Variation under Nature.—All like organisms in nature present individual differences, more considerable than is usually supposed; no two blades of grass are alike, and far more marked differences often occur, several castes or varieties sometimes existing in the same sex. Between these castes, and much more frequently between forms which systematic botanists and zoologists rank as true species, perfectly intermediate forms may occur. No agreement about the definition of species (the amount of difference necessary to give any two forms specific rank), has ever been come to; thus, in the British flora alone, there are nearly two hundred disputed forms, and individual opinion is in these cases the only criterion. As long as a genus is imperfectly known, and its species founded upon few specimens, they appear clearly limited. But with better knowledge, intermediate forms flow in, and doubts as to specific limits augment. The terms species and variety are thus arbitrarily given to sets of individuals more or less closely resembling each other. SeeVARIETY, SPECIES, GENUS.

Individual differences are thus of the highest importance, as the first steps towards the slightest varieties worth recording, these towards more distinct and permanent varieties, and these again towards sub-species, and these to species; though extinction may often stop the progress.

The species which present most varieties are those which have the greatest geographical range, or the widest diffusion in their own territory, or possess the greater number of individuals; and in the larger genera of each country the species vary more frequently than in the smaller genera; and in many respects the species of large genera present a strong analogy with varieties, which analogy is alone intelligible on the view that they once existed as such.

Struggle for Existence.—All organic beings tend to increase with extreme rapidity, so that if not destroyed, the earth would soon be covered by the progeny of a single pair. This is evidenced not merely by calculation, but by actual observation of the extraordinary rapidity with which plants and animals have spread, when introduced into new and favorable circumstances.

Since organisms then are reproducing themselves so rapidly, and since all their offspring cannot escape their enemies, get food and live, much less leave progeny in turn—since, in other words, the doctrine of Malthus applies to animals and plants with manifold force (for these can have no artificial increase of food, and no prudential restraints on marriage)—there must in every case be a struggle for existence, either of one individual with another of the same species, or with the individuals of distinct species, or with the physical conditions of life; often, indeed, with all these at once, and that more or less intensely throughout the whole of life.

The checks to increase are most obscure, and vary in each case. In all cases the amount of food, of course, gives the extreme limit. The youngest organisms generally suffer most; seedlings, for instance, are destroyed in vast numbers, thus, even in a patch of ground purposely dug and cleared, where no choking from other plants could take place, 295 out of 357 seedling-weeds were destroyed, chiefly by slugs and insects. So, too, the stock of game on an estate depends chiefly upon the destruction of vermin. Climate, however, is highly important, and periodic seasons of extreme cold and drought seem the most effective of all checks—a severe winter sometimes destroying four-fifths or more of the birds of a locality. Epidemics, too, may occur, especially where numbers have inordinately increased. On the other hand, a large stock of individuals of the same species is essential for its preservation.

The complex relations of all animals and plants to each other require illustration. The plantation of part of a heath with Scotch fir leads to the profound alteration of its flora and fauna, while the growth of these firs again is wholly dependent upon the exclusion of cattle. Many flowers depend for fertilization on the visit of a special insect, e.g., red clover on humble-bees. But bees are destroyed by field-mice, and consequently protected by cats; hence, not only no bees, no clover, but also the more cats, the more clover! The struggle for life is most severe between individuals and varieties of the same species, and between the species of the same genus, since these tend to fill the same place in the economy of nature; hence we see the brown rat supplanting the black, and the hive-bee supplanting its Australian congener. The structure of every being is related to that of the others with which it competes, or from which it seeks to escape, or on which it preys; as is alike evident in the structure of the tiger, and of the parasite which clings to his hair. So, too. the albumen of a seed is chiefly useful in favoring the young plant’s struggle for light and air against the adult plants around.

Natural Selection.—But how will the struggle for existence act with regard to variation? Can the principle of selection, so potent in the hands of man, apply under nature? Most efficiently so. Let us bear in mind (1) the constant occurrence of variation; (2) the infinite complexity of the relations in which organisms stand to each other, and to the physical conditions of life; and consequently (3) what infinitely varied diversities of structure might be useful to each being under changing conditions of life. Can it then be thought improbable, seeing that variations useful to man have undoubtedly occurred, that other variations useful in some way to each being in the great and complex battle of life, should also occur in the course of many generations? And if such do occur, can we doubt (remembering that many more individuals are born, than can possibly survive) that individuals having any advantage, however slight, would have the best chance of surviving and procreating their kind, while injurious variations would be destroyed ? This preservation of favorable variations, and destruction of injurious ones, is termed Natural Selection, or less figuratively, the Survival of the Fittest.

Taking the case of a country undergoing a change of climate, the proportional number of its inhabitants would change, some species probably also becoming extinct—and these changes would in many ways affect the survivors. A further disturbance would come from the immigration of new forms; or if that were prevented, we should have places in the economy of nature which might be better filled up. Any slight favorable modification of the old species would tend to be preserved, and we have seen that changed conditions increase variability.

Nor are such changes, often though they have occurred, necessary in order to leave places for natural selection to fill by improving some of the varying forms. No country can be named where the native inhabitants are perfectly adapted to their conditions and competitors, for as some foreigners have taken firm possession in every country, we may safely conclude that the natives might have been modified with advantage to resist them.

And when human selection has produced such great results, why may not natural? The former act» only for man’s own good, on mere external and visible characters, and irregularly throughout a short period; the latter acts for the good of the being itself, on the whole machinery of its life, and incessantly throughout almost infinite time. (It is important here to remember that the objection to this agency on the ground of its presumed insignificance, is identical with that so long and unsuccessfully employed against Lyell’s explanation of the origin of the physical features of the globe by summing up the existing natural changes.)

Natural selection thus leads to the improvement of each creature in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life, and consequently in most cases to what must be regarded as an advance in organization. Nevertheless, low and simple forms will long endure, if well fitted for their simple conditions.

Natural selection may modify the egg, seed, or young, as easily as the adult, and these modifications may effect through correlation the structure of the latter, and conversely.

Besides Natural, we have to consider Sexual Selection, i.e., not merely do individuals struggle for existence, but the males struggle for the females, and the most vigorous thus tend to leave most progeny. Special weapons, offensive and defensive, like the cock’s spurs, the stag’s horns, or the lion’s mane, are used in this struggle, and the most useful variations are thus those which are transmitted. Again, just as man can in a short time give beauty to his domestic birds, so there is no good reason to doubt that female birds in thousands of generations, by selecting, as they are observed to do, the most melodious or beautiful males might produce a marked effect, and many sexual differences are thus explained.

The theory of natural selection may be applied in special cases, e. g. (1) to explain the evolution of swift greyhound-like varieties of wolves; (2) the origin and excretion of nectar in flowers, its use to insects, and their action in transferring pollen from flower to flower, and its advantage in intercrossing; and the resultant modification and adaptation of flower and insect to each other by the preservation of advantageous variations.

The circumstances favorable to the production of new forms through natural selection are also reviewed. These are chiefly, great variability; large numbers of individuals; the complex effects of intercrossing; isolation in small areas, yet also extension over continental ones, especially if these oscillate in level; and considerable lapse of time. Rare species are shown to be in process of extinction. The divergence of character in domestic breeds, largely due to the fact that ‘ fanciers do not, and will not, admire a medium standard, but like extremes,’ applies throughout nature, from the circumstance that the more diversified the descendants from any one species become in structure, constitution, and habits, by so much will they be better enabled to seize on many and widely diversified places in nature, and so to increase In numbers. Thus, taking a carnivorous animal, which has reached the average numbers which its territory will support, it is

•evident that it can succeed in increasing only by its varying descendants seizing places hitherto occupied by other animals, thus changing their food or habitat. This must hold equally of all species, and is separately demonstrated for plants. The greatest amount of life can be supported by great diversification of structure; hence in small areas where competition is severe, the inhabitants are extremely varied.

The probable effects of the action of Natural Selection, through divergence of character and extinction, on the descendants of a common ancestor are then discussed in detail with an illustrative diagram. This takes the form of a genealogical tree—’ the great tree of life, which fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface with its ever-branching and beautiful ramifications.’

Laws of Variation.—(These can only be very briefly treated.) Of the cause of most variations we are still ignorant, but the same laws appear to have acted in producing the lesser differences between varieties of the same species, arid the greater differences between species of the same genus. Changed conditions sometimes induce definite and permanent effects : habit, use, and disuse are potent in their effects. Specific characters are more variable than generic, and varietal than either. Rudimentary organs and secondary sexual characters are highly variable. Species closely related, of similar constitution and similarly influenced, present analogous variations, and frequently exhibit characters which can only be explained as reversions to those of their ancient progenitors; e.g., zebra-like stripes on horses, or wood-pigeon’s markings on fan tails, tumblers, &c.

Difficulties and Objections.—In four chapters all the miscellaneous objections raised against the theory between 1859, and the appearance of the latest edition, are successfully stated, weighed, discussed, and met, as well as the much more serious difficulties pointed out by Darwin himself. These latter are,

(1) the definiteness of species and the rarity of transitional forms;

(2) the enormous degree of modification in habits and structure which the theory assumes, and the power of Natural Selection to produce on the one hand an organ of such trifling importance as the tail of a giraffe, and on the other, an organ so wonderful as the eye; (3) the acquirement and modification by Natural Selection of such marvelous instincts as those of the bee; (4) the sterility of crossed species, and the fertility of crossed varieties. For these discussions, however, the reader must consult the original work.

Imperfection of the Geological Record.—On the doctrine of the extermination of an enormous number of intermediate varieties, the links between existing and remote ancestral forms—why is not every geological formation charged with such links ? Why does not every collection of fossils afford plain evidence of the gradation and mutation of the forms of life ? Geology, assuredly, does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain, and this is one of the most obvious and plausible objections to the theory. The explanation lies in the extreme—the almost incredible—imperfection of the geological record. Only a small portion of the globe has been geologically explored with care, only certain classes of beings have been fossilized, and the number, both of specimens and species yet discovered, is absolutely as nothing compared with the number which must have passed away during even a single formation.

The Malay Archipelago is about the size of Europe, and, therefore, equals in area the formations best known to us; its present condition represents that of Europe, while its strata were being deposited; its fauna and flora are among the richest on the globe, yet, even if all the species were to be collected which ever lived there, how imperfectly would they represent the natural history of the world! Only few of these are preserved at all, and most of these in an imperfect manner; moreover, subsidence being almost necessary for the accumulation of rich deposits, great intervals of time must have elapsed between successive formations, so that, during periods of elevation, when variation would be most frequent, the record is least perfect. Moreover, single formations have not been continuously deposited; the duration of specific forms probably exceeds that of each formation; migrations have largely taken place; widely ranging species are most variable, and oftenest give rise to new species; varieties have been at first local; and finally, it is probable that periods of modification are short as

compared with periods of permanence. Hence we cannot find interminable varieties, and any linking variety between two forms is, of course, ranked as a distinct species, for the whole chain cannot be permanently restored. Thus the geological record is a history of the world indeed, but one imperfectly kept, and written in a changing dialect; of this history we possess the last volume only, relating to two or three countries. Of this volume, only here and there a short chapter has been preserved, and of each page only here and there a few lines.

Geological Succession of Organic Beings (Distribution in Time).— The preceding difficulties excepted, the facts of palæontology agree admirably with the theory. New species come in slowly and successively; they change in different rates and degrees; old forms pass through rarity to extinction, and never reappear; dominant forms spread and vary, their descendants displacing the inferior groups, so that after long intervals of time the productions of the world appear to have changed simultaneously. The most ancient forms differ most widely from those now living, yet frequently present characters intermediate between groups now widely divergent, and they resemble to a remarkable extent the embryos of the more recent and more highly specialized animals belonging to the same classes. These laws, and above all, the important law of the succession of the same types within the same areas during the later geological periods, and most notably between the Tertiary period and the present time (e.g., fossil and recent marsupials in Australia, and edentates in South America), cease to be mysterious, and become at once intelligible on the principle of inheritance, and on that alone.

[Since the publication of the Origin of Species (1859), palæontological research has been constantly furnishing the most triumphant verification of these views. The imperfection of the geological record was so far from over-estimated, that Huxley (Science and Culture, 1880), in comparing our present knowledge of the mammalian Tertiary fauna with that of 1859, states that the results of the investigations of Gaudry, Marsh, and Filhol, are ‘ as if zoologists were to become acquainted with a country hitherto unknown, as rich in novel forms of life as Brazil or South Africa once were to Europeans.’

Gaudry found the intermediate stages by which civets passed into hyænas; Filhol disinterred still more remote ancestral carnivores; while Marsh obtained a complete series of forms intermediate between that, in some respects, most anomalous of mammals, the horse, and the simplest five-toed ungulates (seeMAMMALIA).Again, the belief of Darwin that the distinctness of birds from all other vertebrates was to be accounted for by the extinction of a long line of progenitors connecting them with reptiles, was in 1859 a mere assumption; but in 1862, the long-tailed and intensely reptilian bird Archæopteryx (q. v.) was discovered, while in 1875 the researches of Marsh brought to light certain cretaceous birds, one (Hesperornis} with teeth set in a groove, the other (Ichthyornis) with teeth in sockets, and with bi-concave vertebras. Besides these reptilian birds, bird-like reptiles have similarly been forthcoming, and the hypothesis of Darwin is thus admirably verified. Considerable light, too, has been thrown on the pedigree of crocodiles; ammonites, trilobites, and other invertebrates have been arranged in series, while important collateral evidence is also furnished by ‘persistent types’ such as Ceratodus, Beryx, Nautilus, Lingula, &c., which have survived—we must assume by ordinary generation—almost completely unchanged since remote geological periods. On such grounds, therefore, Huxley asserts (op. cit.) that ‘on the evidence of palæontology, the evolution of many existing forms of animal life from their predecessors is no longer an hypothesis, but an historical fact; it is only the nature of the physiological factors which is still open to discussion.’]

Geographical Distribution.—Neither the similarity nor the dissimilarity of the inhabitants of various regions, whether of land or sea, can be accounted for by differences in climate, or other physical conditions, but are related, in the most striking degree, to the absence or presence of barriers to migration between those regions. Within the same area there exists the most marked affinity among the species, though these differ from point to point. Species appear to have arisen in separate definite centers, the few apparent exceptions being accounted for by migration and dispersal, followed by climatal and geographical changes. But for a summary of our knowledge of the existing mode of distribution of organic life, and of the way in which that distribution has been effected, as well as of the very important bearing of these facts upon the theory of evolution, which they may be said indeed, more than any other class of facts, to have suggested, se^ the articleGEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.

Morphological Arguments.—The physiological and distributional lines of argument being summarized, those furnished by morphology, although not less numerous and highly important, can only be very briefly outlined. These are mainly four, and are derived from (a) Classification, (5) Homologies, (c) Embryology, (d) Rudimentary Organs. (a) Classification,—Naturalists arrange the species, genera, and families in each class, on what is called the Natural System. But what is meant by this system ? Is it, after all, merely an artificial scheme for enunciating general propositions, and of placing together the forms most like each other—or does it, as many believe, reveal the plan of creation ? The grand fact of classification is, that organic beings, throughout all time, are arranged in groups subordinated under other groups, individuals under varieties, and these again under species; species under genera; those under sub-families, families, and orders; and all under a few fraud classes. The nature of all these relationships—the rules followed and the difficulties met by naturalists in their classifications—the high value set upon constant and prevalent structures, whether these be of great or little use, or, as with rudimentary organs, of none at all; the wide opposition in value between such misleading resemblances of adaptation, as for instance the fish-like form of whales, and such characters of true affinity as are afforded by the structure of their circulatory or respiratory system—all these receive a simple and natural explanation on the view of the common descent of allied forms with modification through variation and natural selection; while it is to be noted that no other explanation has ever even been attempted. The element of descent, too, is already used in linking all the sexes, ages, forms, and varieties of the same species, widely though these (e. g., Cirripedes, &c.) may differ from each other in structure : and we have only to extend it to understand the meaning and origin of the Natural System.

(5) Homology.—The members of the same class, independently of their habits of life, resemble each other in their general plan of organization; thus, the hand of man, the digging-paw of the mole, the leg of the horse, the paddle of the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, are all constructed on the same pattern, bone corresponding to bone, and similarly with the hind limb. Again, the mouths of insects are of innumerable varieties of form and use —witness the long spiral trunk of a moth, and the great jaws of a beetle—yet these are formed by modifications of an upper lip, mandibles, and two pairs of maxillæ. And so it is with the limbs of crustaceans, or the flowers of plants; in fact, with the organs of every class of beings.

This conformity to type is ‘ powerfully suggestive of true relation ship, of inheritance from a common ancestor;’ it admits, in short, as no one indeed denies, of a simple explanation in terms of the evolutionary theory, and thus strengthens that theory not a little. It has been attempted to explain this unity of plan in two other ways—first, by assuming it due to utility, which is negatived by the facts, since organs of identical use (e. g., the wings of a bird and those of a butterfly) very frequently do not conform to the same type at all; secondly, by attributing it to a unity of design, which, however, (a) instead of being always maintained, as it should be, on the theory, is not unfrequently quite lost in highly specialized forms; and which, even if it always existed, (&) would directly suggest the unity of descent, the design thus serving only to mislead “the anatomist.

Serial Homology, too, has to be accounted for—that unity of type which is found on comparing the different parts and organs in the same individual, so that the wonderfully complex and varied jaws and legs of a lobster; or the widely different leaves—sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils of a flower, are all found to be modifications of a simple limb, and a simple leaf-organ respectively. Not only are such metamorphoses apparent on comparison, but they can be actually observed to occur during the development of each individual; is then the term metamorphosis to have a more metaphorical meaning when applied to the species, or has it not actually arisen in past time, through the natural selection and transmission of advantageous variations ?

(c) Development.—It has been already indicated that the serially homologous parts in the same individual are alike during an early embryonic period, as also are the homologous organs in animals which, like bat, horse, and porpoise, may be widely differentiated in adult life. So closely, too, do the embryos of the most distinct species belonging to the same class resemble each other, that even Von Baer was unable to distinguish whether two unlabelled specimens were lizards, birds, or mammals. This law of embryonic resemblance holds very widely, e.g., young crustaceans. The embryo often retains within the egg or womb, structures which are of no service to it, either at that or at a later period of life, like the transitory gill-arches of birds or mammals; while on the other hand, larvas which, like those of insects, have to provide for their own wants, undergo complete secondary adaptation to the surrounding conditions. The process of development goes from the general to the special, thus there is generally an advance in organization. In peculiar conditions, however, degeneration may occur. All these facts are readily explained on the principle of successive slight variations not necessarily or generally supervening very early in life, and being inherited at a corresponding period; and it is thus in the highest degree probable that most embryonic stages show us more or less completely the progenitor

of the group in its adult state; and embryology thus rises greatly in interest (see DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMBRYO).

(d) Rudimentary Organs.—Rudimentary, atrophied, and aborted organs, bearing the plain stamp of inutility, are so extremely common that it is impossible to name a higher animal in which none occurs. The mammas of male mammals, the hind-legs of boas, the wings of many birds, or the teeth of fœtal whales, and the upper incisors of unborn calves, are familiar instances. Such organs are intelligible on the evolutionary theory, and on that theory alone.

Recapitulation and Conclusion.—After tersely summing up the preceding mass of evidence, Darwin concludes by pointing out (a) that the theory of evolution by natural selection is no more inimical to religion than that of gravitation, to which the same objection was strongly raised; (5) its revolutionary influence on the study of all departments of natural history; (c) on psychology (q. v.); (d) on the origin of man and his history (seeDESCENT OF MAN);(e} on our theories of future progress.

Envoy.—‘ It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us. These laws, taken in the largest sense, being Growth with Reproduction; Inheritance, which is almost implied by reproduction; Variability from the indirect and direct action of the conditions of life, and from use and disuse; a Ratio of Increase so high as to lead to a Struggle for Life, and as a consequence to Natural Selection, entailing Divergence of Character and the Extinction of less improved forms. Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator Into a few forms, or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.’

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. The uncertainties of human life and health, and the effects of these on the well-being of those who are dependent for their subsistence on human labor, are too manifest not to have arrested the attention of men in all ages, and to have taxed their ingenuity to guard against them. It is probable, therefore, that traces of some sort of institution, corresponding more or less closely to the friendly societies of modern Europe, might be found wherever mankind have not depended for their means of living on the spontaneous products of the soil. At all events, they had their prototypes in the cases, boxes, and chests, or kists—as they were called in Scotland and Germany—of the guilds and corporations of medieval Europe; which were funds not only for maintaining the dignity and ministering to the conviviality of the members, but for providing for the aged and the sick. Mr. Turner finds them in Anglo-Saxon England, and, like the other institutions connected with municipal life, they probably formed part of the legacy of the Romans to the Teutonic conquerors of Europe. Friendly societies are a form of mutual insurance, and, like all insurances, they depend on the principle of substituting the certainty which attends the fortunes of large numbers of men for the uncertainty which belongs to the fortune of each. Their main objects are the securing, in virtue of a small periodical payment during health and vigor, of a weekly sum during sickness, a sum to cover funeral expenses at death, and sometimes of a pension after a certain age.

In some respects, therefore, joining a friendly society is better than becoming a depositor in a savings-bank. Sickness may come before the savings are considerable; or, if considerable, they may be melted away by a long-continued sickness; but after the first weekly payment is made to a friendly society, the member is secure of succor, at least for a time, and he has, perhaps, other advantages. It is possible, on the other hand, that a difficulty may be experienced, in certain circumstances, in keeping up the weekly or other periodical payments required, and in this case, in most societies, he altogether forfeits the expected benefits.

It is to be regretted that, of this excellent class of institutions, many are founded upon erroneous principles, or rather upon no principles at all; and it often happens, therefore, that those who trust to them are disappointed, the funds falling short before all claims are satisfied. This was at one time not to be wondered at, as no proper calculations for friendly societies existed; but such is no longer the case, sound calculations being now attainable. The most important observations on the average amount of sickness incident to human life are those made by the Highland Society, Mr. Charles Ansell, Mr. Finlaison on behalf of the government, Mr. F. G. P. Neison, and the Manchester Unity of Odd-fellows. The first two were formed on data too limited to be of much value; those of the government were rendered practically worthless by an arbitrary definition of sickness, which made them uncertain for youth and maturity, and deprived them of all authority in reference to old age. The calculations of Mr. Neison and the Odd-fellows are based on by far the greatest number of cases, and though investigated by the former in relation to the five years ending 1840, and by the latter in relation to a period precisely twenty years later, they corroborate each other almost completely. We give the estimate arrived at by Mr. Neison of ‘ sickness experienced in weeks in passing through different periods of life :’ 20 to 30, 8-7; 30 to 40, 9′9; 40 to 50, 14-8; 50 to 60, 27-1; 60 to 65, 26-6; 65 to 70, 50-7; 70 to 75, 84-9; 75 to 80, 120-5.

One great mistake in the formation of friendly societies is to assume that each member should pay an equal sum, whatever his age may be. This is unjust to the younger members, who are less likely to become burdensome to the funds than the middle-aged; and, indeed, there is a rising scale of probability of sickness throughout all the years of a man’s life. It is, however, well to remember that as sickness varies more considerably than mortality with the salubrity of the localities inhabited and the occupations of the members, no absolute reliance can be placed on published averages. All of them, however, agree in this, that increase of years is attended by increased liability to sickness. Now, a rightly constituted friendly society is bound to take this circumstance into account. To admit all ages at an equal payment, is clearly making the younger members pay for the elder.

Another great error in the constitution of benefit societies is in making them for a year only. These yearly societies are to be found in almost every colliery in the north of England, and are popular among the less intelligent of the people. The objects are generally a fund for sickness and funeral expenses, a deposit fund, and sometimes a loan bank.

Towards the first, there is perhaps a weekly payment of twopence or threepence, together with the interest arising from the loan of money to the members. Towards the deposit fund there is a payment ranging generally from sixpence to two shillings, the accumulations being received back when the society closes. The money deposited is employed in making loans to such of the members as desire such accommodation, within the amount of their several entire deposits for the year, one penny per pound per month being charged by way of interest. The surplus, if any, of the twopences and interest, after sick and funeral money, books, and other necessaries are paid, is divided amongst those members who maybe clear of the books at the close of the society. In some instances, only three-fourths of the funds are divided, and the members commence another year with the balance, but this only happens when they are all in good health. Nothing of the kind would occur if one or more of the number were likely to suffer move than the ordinary rate of sickness. Then the healthy members join other societies, and leave the sick to take care of themselves. In any case they are so left at the end of the year, as no society will receive them. Yearly societies are, indeed, in every point of view a most objectionable class of institutions, to which working-people would never resort except through ignorance.

A well-constituted friendly society involves, in the first place, the principle of payments appropriate to particular ages, as no other plan can be considered equitable. It stands forth before the working-classes as a permanent institution, like the life-assurance societies of the middle and upper classes, and necessarily requires its members to consider the connection they form with it as an enduring one, because its grand aim is expressly to make provision, at one period of life, for contingencies which may arise at another—for youth, in short, to endow old age. By a yearly society, a man is left at last no better than he was at first, as far as that society is concerned; but the proper friendly society con-templates his enjoying a comfortable and independent old age, from the results of his own well-bestowed earnings.

It is essential to the character of a proper benefit society that individuals be not admitted indiscriminately. To take a person in bad health, or of broken constitution, is unjust to those members who are healthy, because he is obviously more likely to be a speedy burden upon the funds. Here, as in life-assurance societies, it is necessary to admit members only upon their showing that they are of sound constitution and in good health. And it may be well to grant no benefits until after the member has been a year in the society. By these means, men are induced to enter when they are hale and well, instead of postponing the step until they have a pressing need for assistance, when their endeavor to get into a benefit society becomes little else than a fraud.

Under the sanction of government, tables have been formed by Mr. John Tidd Pratt, late registrar of friendly societies in England, and by Dr. Farr, the actuary of the English registrar-general. The former, together with useful instructions in the book-keeping of friendly societies, are embodied in the reports by Mr. Pratt, printed by order of the House of Commons for the years 1856— 1857; and the latter, together with a masterly essay on the mathematical treatment of the subject, are contained in the twelfth report of the registrar-general.

On the imperative necessity of acting on correct tables for such a purpose, it would be superfluous to dwell; and the necessity of identifying the rates of any society with such responsible authority is the more apparent, as we are told by Mr. Pratt that ‘ although the registrar certifies to the legality of the rules of a friendly society, it does not follow as a necessary consequence that the constitution of the society is based on good principles, or that the rates of payment are sufficient in amount to guarantee the promised benefits and allowances.’ In fact, there are large numbers of insolvent societies whose rules have been certified in the most regular manner. It cannot be too much insisted upon that the registrar’s certificate is absolutely worthless as a guarantee of safety.

We have an idea of a benefit society in its simplest form, if we suppose a hundred men, of 35 years of age, to associate, and make such a payment at first as may be sure to afford each man that shall fall sick during the ensuing year one shilling a day during the term of his sickness. Taking, for the sake of illustration, Mr. Nelson’s Tables, we find that, amongst such a body of men, there will be nearly 100 weeks of illness in the course of the year. This, multiplied by 7, gives the whole sum required, £35 or even seven shillings each, which, less by a small sum for interest, will accordingly be the entry-money of each man. A society of individuals of different ages, each paying the sum which would in like manner be found proper to his age, would be quite as sound in principle as on the above simple scheme. It is only a step further to equalize each man’s annual payments over the whole period during which he undertakes to be a paying member.

A point for consideration, however, is the rate at which the funds of the societies may be improved. In many cases, it is best to rest content with depositing the money in the funds or the savings-banks, in which case they are sure to obtain for it interest at a rate of not less than £3, Os. 10d, per cent, per annum, or twopence per cent, per day. Some of these societies have sums invested with the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, at threepence and twopence-half-penny per cent, per day. Many of them invest with local building societies, some in corporation debentures, and in many other ways which afford a better rate of interest with safety; and the tendency to abandon the old routine of merely savings-bank deposit seems rapidly and generally growing.

By the act 27 and 28 Vict. c. 43, government gave to the working-classes an opportunity of effecting small life-insurances, or of purchasing immediate or deferred monthly allowances or annuities, in a manner absolutely free from risk, as the credit of the nation itself is pledged to meet the obligation purchased by the subscriptions or payments of the contributor. A great number of people have availed themselves of the new facilities, but it is probable that very many more would have done so had the scale begun at a lower and been continued to a higher point. At present, no life can be insured for less than £20, or more than £100.

Now, many people are willing enough to insure for as much as will cover their funeral expenses, say for £10, who would not be disposed to make further provision for their families. This class, and it is not a small one, is practically excluded from the benefit of the government system, and it would be well, in future legislation, to reduce the minimum to at least half its present amount. At the same time, the maximum might be safely increased to £200 without interfering with the legitimate business of life-assurance companies.

These government insurances are effected through the agency of the Post-office. A list of offices authorized to act may be obtained at any post-office, and at the places so authorized all necessary information and forms of proposal may be had. There also, when filled up, the forms of proposal may be delivered. The premiums charged vary with the age, but not with the sex, of the person to be insured, and the mode in which they are to be paid. For example, the life of a man or woman in his or her 30th year may be insured for £100 :

Smaller sums may be insured by proportionate payments, but no one payment must be less than two shillings.

If after five years’ payments the insurer desires, or is compelled by circumstances, to discontinue his insurance, a portion of the premiums, not being less than one-third, will be returned to him.

The sums charged for the purchase of immediate annuities vary with the age and sex of the person on whose life the annuity is to depend. Thus a man aged 65 can purchase an immediate annuity of £10, payable half-yearly, for £88, 18s. 4d.; a woman of the same age can purchase a like annuity for £103, 16s. 8d. A man aged 70 can purchase an immediate annuity of £10, payable half-yearly, for £73, 3s. 4.d.; a woman of the same age can purchase a like annuity for £84, 19s. 2d.

The sums charged for the purchase of deferred annuities, or deferred monthly allowances, also vary with the age and sex of the annuitant, with the number of years which are to pass before the commencement of the annuity, and with the conditions of the contract as to the mode of purchase, mode of payment, and return or non-return of purchase-money.

When no part of the purchase-money is to be returned, a man aged 80 may purchase a deferred annuity of £10, to commence on his reaching the age of 60, and to be payable half-yearly, either by an immediate payment of £24, 3s. 4d., or by an annual payment, until he reaches the age of 60, of £1, 8s- 4d. A woman of like age may purchase a like annuity by an immediate payment of £32, 8s. 4d., or an annual payment up to 60 of £1 17s. 6d. ; and a man aged 30 may purchase a deferred allowance, of £2, 7s 3d per month, to commence when he reaches the age of 60, by a payment until he reaches that age of 8s. per month; and a woman aged 30 may, by a like payment, purchase a deferred allowance of £1,16s. Id., also to commence at 60.

Purchasers of annuities are permitted to elect whether the purchase-money shall be returned to their representatives in case of death before reaching the stipulated age, or to themselves in case of desiring for any reason to withdraw from the arrangement; but for this privilege, they must pay a higher price. Thus, instead of the £24, 3s. 4d. referred to above, the purchaser at 30 of a £10 annuity, to commence at 60, would have to pay £40, 9s. 2d., and so in proportion. No annuity can exceed £50 per annum, or £4, 3s. 4d. per month, except in the case of husband arid wife, who may each be insured or purchase an annuity to the full amount allowed by the act.

After many fruitless attempts at legislation, an act (38 and 39 Vict. c. 60) was passed in 1875 to consolidate and amend the law relating to friendly societies. It deals with (1) all societies which provide for the relief of members or their relatives during sickness, infirmity, old age, or widowhood, or for orphans during minority; for small insurances on occasions of birth or death; for maintenance of members in distress, or when on travel in search of employment; for endowment of members or their nominees; and for insurance of tools or other working implements up to fifteen pounds value. It is, however, provided that no society assuring annuities exceeding £50 per annum, or gross sums exceeding £200, shall be registered under the act, and that no sum exceeding £6 altogether shall be insured or paid on the death of a child under five years of age, and no sum exceeding £10 on the death of a child under ten years. It also deals with (2) cattle insurance societies, to whatever amount the insurances extend ; (3) benevolent societies; (4) working-men’s clubs; and (5), with certain limitations, specially authorized societies, for any purpose to which, in the judgment of the Treasury, the act ought to extend. The act establishes a central office, with chief registrar and assistants, whose functions are to examine and certify rules, to prepare and circulate model forms of accounts, balance sheets and valuations; to collect and publish statistics of life and sickness, and other matters applicable to the business of friendly societies; and to construct and publish tables for the payment of sums of money at death, in sickness, old age, or other calculable contingencies. These tables, though intended for the guidance of societies, are not to be compulsory, but no society granting annuities can be registered under the act unless its tables are certified by an actuary approved by the Treasury. All societies are to have registered offices, must appoint trustees, provide for efficient audit, and furnish classified returns of receipt and expenditure annually to the registrar. Friendly societies must also, once in every five years, make a return of the sickness and mortality of their members, and prepare a valuation, either by their own valuer or the registrar, of their assets and liabilities. The nominee of a member may be paid a sum not exceeding £50 on the death of the nominator, and societies are empowered to pay a like amount to the representatives of a deceased member, without letters of administration. Minors may be members, but they are not permitted to hold office.

Societies may invest moneys in the post-office or other savings-banks, in the public funds, with the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, in the purchase of lands or the erection of buildings for their own use, and in other securities directed by their rules. Under certain circumstances, and with special guarantees, loans may be made to members on personal security. Officers are to provide sureties and render accounts, and provision is made for arbitration or summary legal jurisdiction in cases of dispute, as also for amalgamation or dissolution. The act bears abundant evidence of the care bestowed upon it in its elaborate arrangements for registration, and other precautions for the safety and success of the societies to which it relates.

FAST AND LOOSE’ is the name of a cheating game, also called Priding at the Belt, which appears to have been much practised by the gypsies in the time of Shakspeare. The following is a _r description : ‘ A leathern belt is made up into a number of intricate folds, and placed edgewise upon a table. One of the folds is made to resemble the middle of a girdle, so that whoever shall thrust a skewer into it would think he held it fast to the table; whereas, when he has so done, the person with whom he plays may take hold of both ends, and draw it away.’ The game is still practised at fairs, races, and similar meetings under the name of Prick the Garter ; the original phrase, ‘ Fast and loose,’ however, is now used to designate the conduct of those numerous slippery characters whose code of ethics does not forbid them to say one thing and do another.

FENCING may be described, for a general definition, as the art of defending one’s own body or assailing another person’s in fair fight by the aid of a side-weapon—i.e., by a sword, rapier, or bayonet. Technically, fencing is usually limited to the second of these; and works on the art touch only on attack and defence with the foil in pastime, and the rapier in actual personal combat. The present opportunity will, however, be taken to introduce the elements of single combat with foil, sword, and bayonet. The objection formerly existed that instruction in fencing encouraged a propensity to duelling; but as that absurdest of absurd customs has entirely ceased—at least in Britain—to demand its annual victims, no such objection now holds. Fencing may therefore be safely learned and taught as an elegant and manly accomplishment, developing gracefulness and activity, while it imparts suppleness to the limbs, strength to the muscles, and quickness to the eye.

This regards fencing with the foils (the rapier has disappeared with the duels which employed it); but instruction in fencing with the sword and bayonet, while conferring the same advantages, has in addition the recommendation of helping to fit the student for taking an active part in any general national defence that political circumstances might render necessary. The Foil (q. v.) is a circular or polygonal bar of pliable and very highly tempered steel, mounted as any other sword, and blunted at the point by a ‘ button,’ to prevent danger in its use. From its nature, the foil can only be employed in thrusting, and, being edgeless, it can be handled without liability to cutting wounds. The length of the blade should be proportioned to the height of the person using it, —31 inches being the medium length for men, and 38 inches from hilt to point the maximum allowable. As a protection against accidental thrusts, the face is generally guarded by a wire-mask. The two portions of the blade are known as the ‘ forte’ and the ‘ feeble;’ the first extending from the hilt to the center, and the other from the center to the point.

In drawing, advance the right foot slightly to the front, take the scabbard with the left hand, raise the right elbow as high as the shoulder, seize the hilt with right hand, nails turned inward, and having drawn the foil, pass it with vivacity over the head in a semicircle, and bring it down to the guard (of which presently) with its point towards the adversary, not higher than his face, nor lower than his lowest rib. Simultaneously with the weapon being brought into position, the left hand with fingers extended should be raised to a level with the head, as a counterpoise in the various motions to ensue. In establishing the position of guard, the right foot must be advanced 24 inches before the left, the heels in a straight line, and each knee slightly bent, to impart elasticity to the movements, but not too much, lest the firmness of the position be diminished.

In fencing, there are three openings or entrances—the inside, comprising the whole breast from shoulder to shoulder; outside, attackable by all the thrusts made above the wrist on the outside of the sword; and the low parts, embracing from the armpits to the hips. For reaching and guarding these entrances, there are five positions of the wrist—prime, seconde, tierce, carte (quarte), and quinte. The most important, and those to commence with, are carte and tierce, from which are derived the subordinate positions of carte over the arm, low carte, and flanconnade or octave.

To engage is to cross swords with your adversary, pressing against his with sufficient force to prevent any manœuvre taking you unawares. To disengage is to slip the point of your sword briskly under his blade, and to raise it again on the other side, pressing in a direction opposite to that of the previous case.

The guard in each position is a passive obstruction to the opposing thrust; the parade is an active obstruction, in which the guard is first assumed, and the blade then pressed outward or inward by a turn of the wrist against the adversary’s sword, so that when thrust at your body it shall be diverted from its aim, and held off. The parade may therefore be regarded as a mere extension of the guard. If the parade were called the ‘parry,’ it would convey its meaning more readily to English ears. Another, and perhaps more appropriate name for thrust, is the ‘ lunge,’ or ‘longe,’ as the thrust is almost always accompanied by a lunge forward of the right foot, to give at once greater force and longer command to the blow.

The following are directions for the principal guards and thrusts, which may also be seen depicted roughly in the sketches below.

Carte,Guard.—Turn wrist with nails upwards; hand on a line with lower part of breast; arm somewhat bent, and elbow inclined a little to the outside; point of foil elevated at an angle of about 15°, and directed at upper part of adversary’s breast.

Thrust.—Being at the guard in carte, straighten the arm, raise the wrist above the head, drop the foil’s point to a line with the adversary’s breast, throw first the wrist, and then the whole body, forward by a lunge with the right foot of two feet from the ‘guard,’ the left foot remaining firm. The left hand should be dropped during the lunge to a level with the thigh, and to a position distant about a foot from the body; it will then afford a good counterpoise to the sword-arm. During the whole action, the body must be perfectly upright. When performed briskly, it appears that the point and foot are advanced simultaneously, but in fact the point has, or should have, priority, in order that the instantly following lunge may drive it home. Most of these observations concerning thrust in carte apply equally to all other thrusts.

Carte over the armis a variety of this thrust. The sword is driven outside the adversary’s blade, from the carte position, but in the tierce line.

Low Carte.—Engage adversary’s blade in carte, then drop point under his wrist, in a line to his elbow, and thrust at his flank, the body being considerably bent.

Flanconnade or Octave.—Engage adversary’s blade in carte, and bind it with yours, then carry your point behind his wrist and under his elbow : without quitting his blade, plunge your point to his flank.

Tierce,Guard—As in carte, the nails and wrist being somewhat more downward, and the arm stretched a little outward, to cover the outside.

Parade.—Move arm, from the guard, obliquely downward to the right about six inches, and oppose the inside of the adversary’s blade.

Thrust.—From the guard, turn wrist with nails downward, the same height as in carte, the inside of the arm in a line with .the right temple; then thrust and lunge as in carte.

Seconde,Parade.—Nails and wrist downward, hand opposed outward, and blade, pointing low, should form an angle of about 45° with the ground.

Thrust—The same as tierce, but delivered under the adversary’s wrist and elbow, to a point between his right armpit and right breast: the body to be more bent than in carte or tierce.

Prime,Parade.—In using prime to parry the thrust in seconde, pass your point over the adversary’s blade, lower it to the waist, keeping your wrist as high as your mouth, nails downward, elbow

bent, and body held back as far as possible. The left foot should also be drawn backward a few inches, to remove the body further from the hostile point. Thrust—An extension movement from the parade.

Quinte,Parade.—Wrist in high carte, sword-point low, and oppose adversary from the forte of the outside edge of your blade.

Thrust.—Make a feint on the half-circle parade, with the wrist in carte; disengage your point over the adversary’s blade, and thrust directly at his flank.

Half-circle,Parade—One of the principal defensive parades; straighten arm, keep wrist in line with shoulder, nails up: by quick

motion of wrist sweep point from right to left in a circle covering your body from head to knee, until the adversary’s blade is found and opposition established.

The parades parry thrusts as follows :

Carte,with wrist low, parries low carte and seconde; with wrist raised, all the thrusts over the point on the inside of the sword and the flanconnade.

Tierceparries high carte; with raised wrist, parries tierce.

Secondeparries all lower thrusts, both inside and outside.

Half-circleparries carte, high carte, tierce, and seconde.

Primeparries carte, low carte, and seconde.

Quinteparries seconde and flanconnade.

In all parades or parries, care must be taken that in covering the side attacked, the parade is not so wide as to expose the other side to the enemy. A steady countenance, showing no disquietude at any attempt he may make, is, above all, necessary in parades.

Every parade has its return, which should be made with vivacity and decision. A thrust can be returned when the adversary thrusts, or when, baffled in his attack, he is recovering to his guard. In the first case, no lunge is necessary, the return being made from the wrist: this return requires great skill and quickness, since the adversary should receive the thrust before, by finishing his own, he has touched your body.

Ordinary Returns.—After carte parry, return in carte; after tierce, return in tierce; after parrying high carte, return seconde; after parrying seconde, return in quinte; after parade in prime, return seconde or low carte.

Feints,of which there are many varieties, consist in threatening an attack on one side of the sword, and then executing it on the other. The best parade against a feint is that of the half-circle, which will be sure to find the adversary’s point.

Advance and Retreatare motions of attack or withdrawal, per-formed by advancing the right, or withdrawing the left foot suddenly about 18 inches, and instantly following it with the other foot. As the adversary advances, you must retreat, unless prepared to receive him at the sword-point.

Salute.—The salute is a courteous opening of the fencing, and consists in gracefully taking off the hat, while, with the foils, your adversary and yourself measure your respective distances.

Appelsor beats with the right foot, beats on the adversary’s blade, and glissades or glidings of one sword along the other, are motions intended to confuse the enemy, and give openings for thrusts.

Voltes, demi-voltes,and disarming, were manœuvres formerly taught with care, but they are now quite discarded in the academies of England and France, as useless and undesirable.

In Spain and Italy con