Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, May, 1900: Vol. 57, May, 1900 to October, 1900Various
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, May, 1900: Vol. 57, May, 1900 to October, 1900
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
At every point, then, the scientist opposes the tendencies I have
deplored. Against them all he must stand, by training and by instinct.
Against them all he would teach others to stand, by giving to them
his own training. Against them all we science teachers may arm our
countrymen if we are faithful to our duty. But this end of our work is
defeated if our students are allowed to indulge in careless statements
of what they see and do; if they are permitted to use exaggerated
description or inaccurate terms. Right here is the crucial test of
the teacher’s honesty of purpose. The careful examination of written
descriptions and reports, the enforced correction of every inaccurate
detail, the personal consultation--all require untiring labor, and time
never allotted in the schedule. But such work carried out has its own
reward. The student first respects the truth, then learns to love it.
He conscientiously avoids the vague, the doubtful, the unsubstantiated.
If in our schools we might insure to every boy and girl this attitude
of mind, this desire for strict veracity, we should have started him
well on the way to correct judgments and wise conduct; we should have
implanted in his nature the first elements of good citizenship. As
Tennyson says:
“Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control,
These three alone lead life to sovereign power.
Yet not for power (power of herself
Would come uncalled for) but to live by law,
Acting the law we live by without fear,
And because right is right, to follow right
Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence.”
* * * * *
The fish called Lepidosiren (_Lepidosiren paradoxica_) is one of
the only three still existing survivors of the once prominent
group of _Dipnoi_, or lung fishes, which are characterized by the
possession of well-developed lungs in addition to their gills. Mr.
Graham Kerr, who spent several months in the swamps of the Gran
Chaco, South America, a habitat of these fishes, describes them as
living among the dense vegetation of the swamp, swimming in eel
fashion, or clambering through the mass of vegetation by means of
their leglike limbs. In the dry season they retire into the mud,
and breathe entirely by means of their lungs. When the wet season
begins they are set free, and at once prepare to spawn. They lay
their eggs in burrows at the bottom of the swamp, where the eggs
develop into larvæ. The phenomena of their development are of
special interest, because it takes place in seclusion, away from
the disturbing features due to adaptation to varied surroundings.
It has been discovered that the young lepidosirens become white and
transparent during the hours of darkness.
Editor’s Table.
_THOUGHTS FOR THE TIMES._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account