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2— A ^orld-Wide Celebration of Professor Haeckels Eightieth Birthday The Distinguished Scientist Proposes a Fund for the Spread of Monist Teachings as the Most Acceptable * Memorial of His Great Life Work. E RNST HAECKEL, who Is generally con sidered the greatest living biologist, will celebrate his eightieth blrthd y on February 16 next. He Is the oldest scientist of such eminence, and is looked upon as the dean of science of the whole world. His count s friends and admirers are, therefore, preparing to celebrate his birthday In a very substantial way. Certainly It Is a remarkable fact that any man should be actl-ely engaged In teaching and research work and hold his own at tne head of a great science at the age of eighty. Professor Haeckel's body Is as vigorous as his mind. Whenever any opponent criticizes his statements or theories he is ready to con duct a lively argument with him. Hearing that his friends In Germany were preparing to honor his birthday on a large scale, Protessor i.aeckel has Issued an appeal asking them not to make any kind of gifts to him, but to contribute whatever they think of giving to the found tlon o an International Monlsts’ Union. Monism is, broadly speaking, the philoso phic view of life which holds that there Is but one form of reality, whether It be material or spiritual. Many philosophers, Including Spi noza and Hegel, have been Monlsts, but Haeckel has deduced many new arguments for the theory from his studies of nature. Monism, as taught by Haeckel, would estab lish a practical philosophy of life, a complete ysten or morality, based on natural law. He believes that it would do much to clear away the barbarisms, cruelties and Injur'iop of our social life, which arise from old superstitions and irrational beliefs. Here is Professor Haeckel's letter In which he urges his friends and admirers In America and all over the world, to contribute to the International Monlsts' Union: '.o my Friends, Pupils and Disciples: "I have from several sides been Informed that a number of my friends, pupils and disciples Intend to celebrate my eightieth birthday on the 16th of February, 1914, by presenting mo gifts about the form and nature of which dlf-* ferent proposals have been made. Having re peatedly been honored on former occasions by such gifts, I beg you to abstain this time from all personal donations, and to convey the amount destined for this purpose, to a* fund which I should be glad to put to the disposal of the German Monlsts’ Union. The wonderful development which this modem union of cul ture has attained since Its foundation seven years ago, the high Importance which it has acquired for the promotion of a free and rational conception of life, as well as for its practical application to a conduct of life of* superior morals render Its tinanclal support most desirable. The intended new T-lrust- Haeckel-Fund for Monism’ will Incessantly fur ther this work of culture of free thought on tne positive basis of natural science, and fur nish the necessary means to carry on practi cally Its numerous Important tasks. I extend my heartiest thanks In anticipation to all my friends and comrades, who, by participation, will support the work of my look life. "From the first International Monlsts' Con gress, which took place In September, 1911, In Hamburg, and was such a splendid success, partly because foreign countries so generously took part in It, It became our principal aim to extend the German Monlsts' Union, and to make it an Interntalonal Union. This Inter national Monlsts’ Union, representing an im mense promotion of culture by uniting the free-thinkers of all countries, will bo the better able to prove its importance practically if my friends abroad will contribute liberally. "Jena, October 12, 1913. “ERtfST HAECKEL.” We beg to send payments to Deutsche Bank, Hamburg, for the "Ernst Haeckel-Schatz fur Monismus," or to the Post-cheque Konto, No. 7497, Hamburg. s Receipts for payments will appear in "Mon- istisches Jahrhundert,’’ or sent by mall. If desired. Oil commercial correspond nee should be ad dressed to the "Ernst-Haeckel-Schatx fur Mon ismus," 1 Klein ontenay, Hamburg 36. Professor Haeckel was born at Potsdam on February 16, 1834. In 1861 he became a privatdozent (tutor) at the small but distin guished university of Jena, and In 1866 he was appointed professor of zoology there, a chair established for him. He has held this posi tion for forty-three years in spite of tempt ing ofTers to accept professorships at the largest universities of Germany. In pursuit of his work he has gathered nat ural specimens all over the world. He was Just beginning his scientific career when Darwin published his “Origin of the Species" (1869). Haeckel immedately became the apostle of Darwinism In Germany. He was the first German biqlogist to give, a whole hearted adherence to the doctrine of evolution, and to treat It as the cardinal conception of modern biology. He brought the majority of German scientists quickly to accept the doctrine. While leading Englishmen with superficial reasoning were indignantly protesting that they were not related to monkeys, the German scientists were developing the doctrine and gathering new facts in support of it. Haeckel has published a series of monu mental works. When he was only thirty-two he published his “General Morphology," and two years later he rewrote the substance of It in his "History of Creation," which is re markably readable considering the character of the subject matter. In this he explains his fundamental law, that Hie individual organism in its development is to a great extent an epitome of the form modifications undergone by the successive ancestors of the species In the course of their historic evolution. Thus, man before birth, passes through vari ous forms, from one resembling a worm to a final one in which he is like a monkey with a short tail. lie was the first scientist to draw up a com plete genealogical tree of man, asserting that there were no missing links in his descent from the lowest forms of animal life. He traced man’s descent from a single-celled mass of Jelly, still existing, called a #moneron,” up Professor Haeckel, the Most Noted Living Biologist, Now in His Eightieth Year. From a Sketch Made This Summer. to the pithecanthropus erectus, found in Java, which he held to be an intermediate form be tween man and the anthropoid apes. Not content with the stride of the doctrine of evohujon in its zoological aspects, Haeckel has applied it to some of the oldest problems of philosophy* and religion. A summary of his views on these points was given in one of his rpost famous books. “Die Weltratsel," which h'e published in 1899, and which appeared in The Professor with the Skeleton of a Gorilla, Whose Relationship to Man He Has Traced More Clearly Than Any Other Evolu tionist. English In 1901, as “The^Riddle of the Uni verse.” In this book he explained his monistic views to promote which is the highest aim of his old age. He asserts the essential unity of organic and inorganic nature In other words, a man and a stone are of the same nature, and the activity that distinguishes the man is a chemical process. One of the most Interesting features of f-e book to scientists Is his "Carbon Theo. y,” no. cording to which the chemlco-physlcal proper ties of carbon in its complex albuminoid com pounds are the sole and the mechanical cause of tne speciflo phen lena of movement which distinguish organic from lnorganio substances, and the first development of living protoplasm as seen in the “monera” arises from such ni trogenous carbon compounds by a process of spontaneous generation. Man and every other form of life are carbon compounds in a state of chemical activity. This theory was attacked by several scientists on the ground that it assumed much that had not been proved. Nevertheless, as presented by Haeckel, it was a very interesting theory of the origin of man and life. Our mental and spiritual life he regards as - "">nch of physiology. The operations of the mind are a group of life phenomena which de pend solely on physiological actions and mate rial changes taking place in the protoplasm of the body. A thought is a series of chemical reactions occurring chiefly in the nerves and brain tissue. Our scientific instruments are at present inadequate to enable us to see the operations of the mind, but within a reasonable time they will reach that development. Haeckel has been able to observe the changes that occur in the nerves of some of the lower animals. A similar change in man is part of the action we call thought, and before long we shall see those changes in man. Every living cell has psychic properties. And th’ psychic life of multicellular organisms like man is the sum-total of the psychic functions of the cells of which they are composed. Just as the highest animals have been evolved from t..c simplest forms of life, so the highest 'acui ties of the human mind have been evolved from the soul of the lower animals and origin ally form the- cell-sail of the single-celled microscopic creatures. Haeckel has published forty-two works with 1,300 pages, besides almost innumerable arti cles and pamphlets. One of his most interest ing controversial works was called “Free Science and Free Teaching,” in which he re plied to his old teacher, Professor Virchcx, who objected to the teaching of evolution ia schools because it was an unproved hypo thesis. The proposal to celebrate Haeckel’s birthday on a great scale may not pass without opposi tion, as his studies have led him to deny the immortality of the soul, the freedom of the will and the existence of a personal God. Professor Gordon Points Out the Importance of Further Research in the Hidden Factors of Climates ahd Places Which Restore Health. By Dr.WILLIAM GORDON, Of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. M ODERN authorities lmve commonly dealt with climate simply in terms of average local weather. But In Its medical aspects, at all events, climatology cov ers more than can be so expressed. When we talk of a climate being good or bad In a medical sense, it is not only weather which we have In mind. Doubtless something may be said for the view that the effects of climate are ultimately results of meteorological conditions, at least where the Inhabitants do not go barefoot on the soil, ami If we exclude hydrology But many of these mete orological conditions cannot at present be deter mined; of the existence of some of them we are probably unaware; so that we are obliged for practical purposes, to Include In our definition, as In our investigations, topographical factors whose meteorological consequences still remain to be unravelled. In making this compromise It Is curious to observe that we are but follow lng the lead of the “Father of Medicine,” who summed up his subjects as “airs, waters, and places.” I would therefore define “climate” and “HI tautology” in their medical nsixvts thus: “The climate of a place. In a medical sense Is the sum of tile Influences upon human health and sickness of it- go# raphlcHl, and especially if it meteorological conditions;” and “Medical Climatology is I lie science of climates medically considered and of their variations In space and time.” So defined, it Is clear that climatology constitutes a great part of the environment of medicine, and that to neglect It Is to Ignore much of the natural history of disease. At the outset one must distinguish the factors which enter Into climatology, so far as they have hitherto revealed themselves. Sixteen may perhaps bo enumerated, half of them m< teorological, half topographical. These are set forth iu this way: Climatological Factora. Meteorological. Topographical. Temperature. Latitude. Wind. Geographies^ pox I- tlve exercise is commonly taken, and the skin acts less, the kidneys more. Atmospheric humidity claims special atten tion from Its Important relations to tempera ture. The humidity reduces the tropical heat, hut Increases its oppressiveness, and people iu hot damp climates become lethargic and re laxed. The effects of cold are also, greatly modified by humidity; whereas In dry cold the Rainfall. Sunlight. Electricity. Atmospheric pressure tion — by which is meant relation to land and sea, lakes, mountains, etc. Atmospheric humidity. Altitude. Atmospheric purity. Soil. Vegetation. Water supply. Wind shelter and ex posure. Aspect. • Rut for satisfactory knowledge of their act! oi we require not only to be acquainted with their relations to human disease, but also to know their influence on human beings In health, as well as on the parasites which produce human disease, and ou such mill-human hosts as har bor them. Considering first their influences upon healthy human beings, the 'st powerful of VI clima tic factors seems to be temperature. Ranke has Haile the pregnant observation that there _eems to be an optimum temperature for iv.inun beings, which, he says, necessitates the least amount of metabolism lompatlble with healthy, active life He lias placed this optimum be tween 59 degress and 68 degrees F„ wlthla. In fact, about the limits of temperature which ex perleuce i as shown us to be best for a pneu monia pailent. In hot climates, where least metabolism is required, less food Is consumed and there is a disinclination to exertion. The abdominal organs are hyperemic. the skin arts more and the kidneys less than in temperate regions, and danger attends conditlous which Involve considerable beat production, such as fevers, physical exertion, and excess tu eating. In cold climates, on the other hand, more food ts requisite to obtain a bealtliy activity, but ac- » r Vet Other Ailments Are Found to Derive Do \ ield to the Warm Air and Tropical Sun removal of heat from the body is determined by tin* bodily needs; In damp cold there Is a leakage of warmth which is difficult to wholly prevent. Clothes do not exactly control It, and wind, if It exists, considerably increas#u it; Hu midity also acts Importantly in lessening tile Intensity of light. Atmospheric pressure htfc received a great deal of attention, chiefly because so many of those who have Interested themselves in the ef fects of altitude have assumed that its Influence ts chiefly due to this factor. If. however, we set No Benefit in Alpine Sanitariums, but of Old .gypt. aside special effects, such as mountain sickness (the outcome of a diminished intake of oxygen) and an enlargement of the thorax of a compen satory sort, the most interesting indisputable result of diminished atmospheric pressure seems to be compensatory increase of the color ing matter of both plants and animals in plants of the chlorophyll, in animals of the haemoglobin and red corpuscles. Winds have received strangely little attention. In damp cold the leakage of heat from the body becomes much greater In wind. Theu certain winds are remarkably enervating, like the Fohn. East wind in Europe is detrimental to many persons, although we have no satisfactory knowledge of why this is so. East winds in these countries seem to have less ozone in them than southwesters, but what effect this differ ence produces we do not know Light increases color and well-being, yet its precise actiou on human beings has received, I think, very little attention Of electricity in its natural conditions we know practically noth ing as a climatic factor. Yet recent experi ments, in which it has been artificially used to simulate plant and animal growth, suggest tnut electrical conditions may have powerful effects iu climate. Of the influences on healthy men of rainfall, soil, vegetation, wind shelter, and wind exposure, we know practically nothing. Thus, so far as what may be called “puvsio- logical climatology” is concerned, we know enough to indicate the importance of knowing more; yet we are still only on the threshold of the subject We have learned for certain that the effect of climate on some of the parasites of man and ou their non-human hosts is profound. The study of tropical diseases has made this plain. Cer tain disorders are confined to certain zones of temperature. Thus, wliatcvcr may be found to be in the organism of yellow fever, we know that it does not flourish in temperate climates. The mosquito that carries it and the mosquito host of malaria become rare also at certain alti tudes where the heat is less. Other disease are modified. Thus, phthisis In the tropics, whilst usually uncommon outside the towns, runs a more rapid course than in cooler latitudes. The gravity of type Is prob ably due in part to the temperature, the rarity is perhaps a consequence of the Intensity of light. We know there are optimum temnera- tures for organisms, as Ranke says there are for man. Light, again, has a profund destruc tive influence upon mlcro-og'gnnisms, especially direct sunlight. Apparently it is the blue, vio let and ultra-volet rays to which it owes this most important power. The comparative rarity of phthisis iu the tropics just referred to, and in some high altitudes as well, mav owe not a little to the disinfectant power of light. Rain is popularly supposed to wash the at mosphere, and, whilst it is raining, it doubtless does so. But it is sometimes forgotten that heavy rain after drought causes unusually ac tive development of organisms in the soil, and that these, when the air dries again, enter it as dust. Long-lasting drought decreases the num ber and the vitality of organisms in the soil. Of the action of wind, air pressure, natural elec tricity, and soil on pathogenic microbes we are, I believe, without information Here, again, we have much to learn and comparatively little has as yet been established. Dealing next with the influence of the factors of climate on human disease, we enter on a field where remarkable progress has been made. Medical geography has become an imposing branch of knowledge. A great empiris acquaint ance with the effect of places on disease is steadily growing up. Of this I "need say no more. Similarly, medical history is becoming constantly more considerable and concise. But when we come to the theoretical side of medi cal climatology we find ourselves considerably worse off. It is not too much to say that the most striking characteristic of our knowledge iu this department is its uncertainty. The frequency and severity of pneumonia at high altitudes have been as much insisted on as the rarity of phthisis. It seems, in fact, to be well established that in many mountainous regions pneumonia becomes commoner and more deadly as altitude increases. Whether this de pends on Increased exposure to certain winds is a question.awaiting investigation. Some very small figures, which I am .going to submit to you, suggest that this maj* be the case. The idea that exposure to cold dry winds is an im portant cause of the disease is not new, and in teresting Instances of coincident prevalence of such winds and pneumonia have been given. Bronchitis is often considered to be affected tty the same influences as pneumonia. But this I w h&1 t ] M r. C hesi lerton 1 r: Kin ks A] bou t“Sex” N ove! is By Gilbert K. Chesterton, Tne Brilliant English Satirist. twt HAT 1 detest iu "sex" novels is the \X/ unconscious but unfathomabl A modern ' " contempt for women. These modern romances always represent the woman not only as a slave, but as a sleepy slave; a som nambulist; she seems’to get into every situa tion by accident, and everybody else is to bUme. She loses her love in a trance; she marries some manifest blackguard in a trance; she elopes (generally with some equally manifest blackguard) also in a trance. She is never anything but a victim of circumstances. Hard ly any of the women 1 have known, old or young, have been of this sort Most aif them have had much more self-control aVd self- respect than 1 have. If anv one of them bad married the sort of man whom the modern heroine so blindly marries 1 should have been just as astonished as if one of them had jumped off Brooklyn Bridge or shaved all her hair off. I do not know what the writers of some of these novels are talking about. What extraordinary female acquaintances they must have! But though the modern sex novel reeks with a scorn for womanhood, there are very gen uine reasons why it should not be repressed, and particularly in this way. First, 1 think most men and women (with any instinct of the way our world is going! very seriously suspect and dislike the idea of unofficial pen alties inflicted by private firms. 1 think there are already laws against employes being fined; but they are fined all the same, it is n^a a question of the degree of punishment: it is a question of whether anything except lawful government has a right to impose any degree of punishment. Seriously, it would be far better that the King and Parliament, who are supposed to stand for us all, should have the right to scourge women at the cart-tail than that a single shopkeeper should be allowed to tap a single shopgirl on the shoulder with a yard measure. It Is not a matter of how much he does, but of how little he has any right to do. In the same way it does not matter whether the restriction placed upon such novels is a slight or a serious restriction. ,The point is that it it is a restriction, if anybody says it is a restriction, it should not be imposed by a wealthy tradesman who hap pens to sell or to lend books. It ought to be imposed by some representatives of respect able public opinion. It is the very fact that these great librarians’ decisions carry a cu rious sort of half-official weight that makes it necessary for people of public spirit to resist them everywhere. Delendum est imperium in iinperio. The King. I thfnk, still makes a pub lic deciaratioi against vice and immorality: at any rate, he did as late as Macaulay’s time. I seriously tell the capitalists (and 1 think a mass of the English people would say the name) that we could take it from a King much more easily than from a bookseller. Another consideratiqn present In the mind of most people who care for letters is that the kind of people who own or manage big libraries are rather the wrong kind of people to censor them. They are the kind of people who are neither learned nor unlearned. As fer the problem of the young person etc., which is always turning up here, it Is but one of the thousand aspects of the truth which is the inner collapse of our civilization. Men whose whole society was built upon the family are trying to live without the family; rnd the effect is as incalculable as if men were to say they were sea-beasts and never walked on the earth. The morals of young people were looked after bv their fathers and mothers, not by sensitive and aged booksellers. If a book is really unfit for a child, the parent will be wise to save the child not only from the book, but from al! this silly chatter about the book] or against the book. And because people now adays will not have a decent minimum of dis cipline in the nursery, they are actually ex tending (or transferring) the discipline of the nursery to the library and the college. apparently is not altogether correct. The dis tribution of bronchitis, in the United States in 1880, was by no means the same as that of pneumonia; also Sturges stated that at Gibraltar different winds appeared responsible for two diseases—the east, which is damp, 6eemed to promote the occurrence of bronchitis; the west, which there is dry, the occurrence of pneumonia. It would appear that whereas dry cold tends to cause pneumonia, damp cold rather tends to cause bronchitis. On the other hand, a warm moist atmosphere has undoubted therapeutic value in the drier varieties of bron chitis. Heart disease has a climatology well worth looking into. Haviland held that it was mo : prevalent in places not well flushed by wind But very little has been done on the subject Only a few years ago authoritative statement were made in reference to a district well know to me which were in direct reverse of the fa l For asthma we have a good deal of empiric knowledge, the chief fact being Its capricio is ness. Gout and rheumatism, dyspepsia, anaemia, neurasthenia, neuralgia, and con valescence from acute diseases have, apart from balneology, each a certain useful clima tology of its own, but discordant statements aro made in respect of them. The importance of considerations such as the foregoing may be made still more obvious by also regarding them from the points of view of diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, and treatment. j .uie seems no doubt that a very marked difference exists, in expectation of life gener ally, between the great towns and tije country districts. If so. surely this must affect the prognosis of almost all cronic diseases, and as most of our efforts at prognosis, inadequate as thpv sometimes have been, emanate from our crowded centres, there surely is need for exten sive inquiry into the prognosis of these com plaints in our rural areas, where I am sure the outlook is different. Moreover, if density of population has this effect, is it not possible that by comparing rural populations with each other we may come to discover climatic factors also which tend to modify longevity? This seems to me an in vestigation which promises to repay the trouble It would entail. If it be true that a certain disease is specially rare in a certain place, and if good reason can be shown that this rarity Is not merely fortuit ous, may we not hold that a patient prone to that disease will, by residing in that place, have a specially good hope of avoiding the disease? Such ?, consideration applies to tuberculosis, and one eliiei reason why I have devoted so much time in endeavoring to establish the value of shelter from rain-bearing wind in lessening the frequency of pulmonary tuberculoss is be cause I see, in places so sheltered, the most suitable place of residence for those in whom tubercle has become quiescent, or for those who belong to families whose proclivity to tubercu losis is pronounced. I feel sure that there are districts in England which cases of phthisis would be wise to avoid and where sanatoria ought not to be erected. Similarly, 1 think that there are districts where old people with strong concerous famii? history should not settle, and districts where those who have had repeated attacks of pneu- monia run some risk in residing. One cannot be dogmatic yet on these two latter points, but would it not be well if one could? In short, taking into account all the foregoing there can be no doubt of the immense import ance of medical climatology, however wp regard it, whether from the standpoint of diasm">e ; . prognosis, prevention, or treatment. We already possess valuable information in all it? various branches; if I have barely mentioned medical geography and history, it Is because in those the importance of our possessions is unques tionable. As I have said, it is when we come t" the theory of the subject, the scaffolding on which we depend so much for the further ad vancement of our building of knowledge, that we find our footing so seriously insecure. It is beginning to be suggested that clim” tology should be specially taught, that there should be special chairs of climatology In our medical schools. * 1 i, f