The following is the text of the address, | tific basis you have given to the grand docwhich is dated August last. To Charles Darwin, LL.D., M.A., F.R.S., Etc., Etc. SIR, The Council and Members of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, all of whom, with scarcely an exception, are working students of one or more of the various branches of natural history, desire to express to you in a most respectful manner, and yet with the greatest cordiality, their admiration of your lifelong devotion to original scientific research and their high appreciation of the almost unparallelled success of the investigations by which you have contributed so largely to the modern development and progress of biological science. More especially do they desire to congratulate you on the fact that your great work on the "Origin of Species" will come of age at an early date, and that your life has been spared long enough to enable you to see the leading principles therein enunciated accepted by most of the eminent naturalists of the day. On the conspicuous merits of that and of your other published works they need not dwell, as those merits have been recognized and admitted even by those who have dissented most strongly from the conclusions at which you have arrived. They may nevertheless be permitted to remind you that your writings have been instrumental in giving an impetus to biological and paleontological inquiries which has no precedent in the history of science, except perhaps in that which followed the promulgation of the gravitation theory of Newton, and that which was due to the discovery of the circulation of the blood by Harvey. One of the most important results of your long-continued labors, and one for which you will be remembered with honor and reverence as long as the human intellect exerts itself in the pursuit of natural knowledge, is the scien trine of evolution. Other naturalists, as you yourself have shown, had endeavored to unthe origin, classification, and distribution of ravel the questions that had arisen respecting organic beings, and had even obtained faint glimpses of the transformation of specific forms. But it was left to you to show, almost to demonstration, that in the variations which species of plants and animals exhibit, and in natural selection through the struggle for ex istence, we have causes at once natural, universal, and effective which of themselves are competent not only to explain the existence of the present races of living beings, but also to connect with them, and with one another, the long array of extinct forms with which the paleontologist has made us familiar. Farther, the Yorkshire Naturalists are anxious to place on record their firm conviction that in the care, the patience, and the scrupulous conscientiousness with which all your researches have been conducted; in the ingenuity of the experiments you have devised; and in the repeated verifications to which your results have been submitted by your own hands, you have furnished an example of the true method of biological inquiry that succeeding generations will deem it an honor to follow, and that cannot but lead to still further conquests in the domain of organic nature. In presenting this small tribute of their high regard and esteem, the members of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union cannot but hope and pray that many years of happiness and useful. ness may yet remain to you, and that our science and literature may be still further enriched with the results of your researches. (Signed) WILLIAM C. WILLIAMSON, F.R.S., President, MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT IN ANIMALS. M. Marangoni, in a paper communicated to the Academy of Sciences, attributes to the air-bladder of fishes another function besides that of regulating their buoyancy. He finds it so placed, and of such dimensions, as to render the fish unstable both as regards position and level; that if the animal makes no effort, it will either sink to the bottom or rise to the surface, and turn over, instead of swimming upright. He argues that this apparent inconvenience is really advantageous, both morally and physically. It keeps the fish on the alert, prevents it from contracting idle habits, and thereby renders it muscular and agile. He further maintains that the most active of terrestrial animals are those that have the least mechanical stability, and therefore must be continually engaged in keeping their balance by muscular adjustments, and he attributes their constitutional activity to the ed ucating influence of this continuous effort. If M. Marangoni is right, the bicycle will inaugu rate a new starting-point in human evolution. Ordinary human beings perform a wonderful feat in so co-ordinating the muscles, levers, and joints of the human body as to stand up. right and move forward on so small a base as the soles of the feet; but the new variety of biped that performs rapid locomotion on a base of only half an inch width, while his centre of gravity is raised some two feet above that of normal foot-borne specimens, presents a case of balancing activity, effected by the cooperation of hands and feet, legs, arms, head, and body, without parallel in any other species of mammal, and he should evolve accordingly. Gentleman's Magazine. For EIGHT DOLLARS, remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually forwarded for a year, free of postage. An extra copy of THE LIVING AGE is sent gratis to any one getting up a club of Five New Subscribers. Remittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money-order, if possible. If neither of these can be procured, the money should be sent in a registered letter. All postmasters are obliged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks and money-orders should be made payable to the order of LITTELL & Co. Single Numbers of THE LIVING AGE, 18 cents. THE BUGLE. FROM THE FRENCH OF PAUL DEROULEDE. THE air is keen, the line is long, The quick advance rings clear and strong, Our bugle is a battle-bird, That din of many a flight has heard Midst shot, and smoke, and fire, and flame, He flits and wheels with cheerful call, To rally round when comrades fall Brave bird no foe can tame! Another order! hark the tone! 'Tis "death or glory" once again: Your breath of passion stirs the soul, And courage rises to the goal, Where foes too long have lain. We charge at double, shout, and climb To where the bullets bide their time. Ah! now the Prussian sniders speak: We close in ranks, and now the cry"Advance with bayonet, do or die!" The wood is gained by Zouave-shriek. Gives never in to aught but death. The bugle breathes its passion-breath. And though with breath the red blood glows, His hand clenched round with iron will; Ah! there upon the turf at last Kings shrill from blood-stained lips that press Disdaining, stretched on gory ground, Wells forth, and urges none the less! And now, upon his elbow leant, From The Fortnightly Review. IN September, 1879, certain strangers who were present at the autumn manœuvres of the Swiss army ventured to express their surprise that such comparatively large sums of money should be spent on the troops, whilst the frontier passes and defiles remained without the slightest semblance of fortification. The Swiss army, it was added, would always be too weak both in numbers and material to offer any very serious resistance to an invading force. If there were to be any question of defence, it would have to be made in the mountain passes. These, therefore, should be fortified instead of wasting such considerable sums of money in maintaining the militia and Landsturm at a standard of training and equipment as high as that of their rich and powerful neighbors. The usual reply to these observations was to the effect that fortifications were quite unnecessary; that no power would ever dream of directly invading Switzerland; and that, moreover, the country was sufficiently protected by its neutrality. Now, it will be well to examine the basis and foundation of this neutrality, and to draw attention to some of the dangers by which it is threatened. To quote the words of a pamphlet * on fortification lately published at Zurich: It is to nature that the Swiss are principally indebted for their political freedom and national independence. The Alps constitute an excellent defence on the west, east, and southern sides, whilst the northern boundary is formed by the Rhine. The river in itself cannot be said to afford any very efficient protection; but the Black Forest and the plateaus of Suabia have left but few roads open to the invaders; whilst the internal dissensions of Germany have at all times been considered as the best safeguard of Switzerland on that side. Owing to the advantage of holding the hauts versants of France, Italy, and Germany, the Swiss were able to render im * Die Landesbefestigung der Schweiz von einem Milisen Officier. Zurich, 1880. portant services to their neighbors at cer tain times, and to refuse them on other occasions. Little by little, however, their descendants began to make a traffic of their exceptional situation. They commenced allowing the passage of foreign armies through their country, in return for the payment of a good round sum of money. Occasionally, as in 1635, both of the belthe same time. The French, commanded ligerents purchased the right of transit at by the Duc de Rohan, occupied the Gricrossed over the St. Gothard. sons passes; whilst the German army Having become accustomed to sell the right of passage, they ended by being the belligerents being interested that unable to refuse it. In 1798-1800 each of the enemy, they ended by all occupying it Switzerland should not be occupied by together at the same time. The unfortunate country was turned into one vast battlefield, and given over to pillage, flames, and famine. At length in 1815, when the great powers were thoroughly exhausted by long years of war, they began to think of making peace. With a view of rendering it more effectual and lasting, it was decided that Switzerland should be neutralized. Her independence, however, would inevitably have been lost, if any one of the great powers had happened to be strong enough to resist the action of all the others combined. Fortunately for Switzerland this was not the case. to the interest of each that none of their It was number should be allowed to occupy so strong a position. Therefore it was neu tralized. Now a neutrality which owes its existence to the maintenance of the mutual jealousies of the surrounding nations, must at all times be very precarious. The Swiss, however, are unmindful of this fact. They do not appear to consider the very great uncertainty which must shroud the future of a small country with barely three million inhabitants, closed in on every side by four great nations with an aggregate population of one hundred and forty million. But Swiss independence will probably never be threatened by any deliberately planned invasion for the mere sake of conquest; on the other hand, however, it may be very seriously endangered by renewed European complications. In the event of a war between any of its great neighbors, it would form a strip of territory separating the combatants which at one moment might constitute a most dangerous impediment, and at another time a most welcome source of relief and support to either of the belligerents. It is now well known that in 1870 General Bourbaki had orders as a last resource to cross the frontier, and lead his army through Switzerland into southern Germany. Fortunately, the Swiss government managed with great difficulty, and at a vast expense, to collect about twenty thousand troops, and to station them along the frontier which was threatened. Owing to the state of utter disorganization and defeat of Bourbaki's army these measures proved to be sufficient for the defence of the neutrality. But means which may have sufficed to bar the passage of General Bourbaki's defeated and disheartened troops, will hardly prove to be an adequate protection against a French or German army, who, in the event of renewed hostilities, would probably commence operations by a march through Switzerland, instead of resorting to it as a last resource. The pamphlet quoted above points out that since the last war France has spent over eighteen million francs in creating a double line of fortresses and forts along her eastern frontier. Every road, every river, every line of railway is commanded by them. These new lines of defence are so strong that on several occasions the German military authorities have compared them to the great Chinese wall. They extend from Belgium in the north to Switzerland in the south, and are wellnigh impregnable. Germany, likewise, has spared no expense in perfecting the defence of her new frontier acquired in 1871. Five great fortresses and eight smaller ones, with the Rhine to fall back upon, render her line of defence as impregnable as that of France. Now there is an old rule in warfare, according to which, when one of the belligerents finds the front of the enemy unassailable, he must wheel round and try to outflank him. Hostile armies fearing each other's strength have often adopted these tactics, and hence it has frequently happened that the struggle has taken place on quite a secondary line of operations. The two nations in question have so disposed their lines of defence that comparatively small armies would suffice to keep one another in check; and thus they would at any time have a force of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred thousand men each available for outflanking the enemy by marching over neutral ground. Looking at the matter from this point of view, it is very evident that Belgium and Switzerland are the two countries that would be chiefly endangered by any renewed complications between France and Germany. Of the two, however, Belgium has the least cause to be afraid. In the first place, neither France nor Germany would wish to draw Great Britain into a conflict which would inevitably ensue were Belgian neutrality to be infringed. Secondly, putting the Belgian troops quite out of the question, an army starting from any of the northern French fortresses and marching via Namur and Liège could only reach the BelgoGerman frontier at Aix-la-Chapelle after about twelve days' march, and the Rhine about two days later. Besides, here the Rhine becomes a very formidable obstacle, being about eight times broader than at Basle. Thirdly, an army advancing in the above manner would run the risk of being attacked in the rear by the one hundred and fifty thousand Belgian troops stationed at Antwerp and by the German garrisons of Metz and Diedenhofen. Switzerland, on the other hand, is much less favorably situated. A French army of two hundred thousand men in possession of the Jura passes could easily reach southern Germany vid Schaffhausen and Constance in a four days' march, thus avoiding the Rhine fortresses and the Black Forest. The French government appear fully to have realized the advantages to be ob |