TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14344, 2 May 1912, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Since tho day whan the Animal philosopher Descartes proEthics, nouncod all animals to ~bo unconsciou*- machines without will and without moral sentiments, a great development has taken place in our conceptions with regard to tho animal kingdom. With tbo advent of Darwinism tho Cartosiau idea received its death blow, and wo wore forced to admit that tho moral ideas which we so admired in our own species existed, although in a less developed state, in tho higher, and even to some extent in the lower, animals. A loading naturalist, Mr Ernest Thompson ASeton, in a recent address delivered ill London, brought forward instances with a view to showing that the code of moral commandments recognised by man held good for the whole of creation. Ho traced the evolution of monogamy among animals, pointing out tiie immense advantage assured to tho young of tho monogamist animal, which had two adults to protect it, while the young of the uolygainist animal had only ono, and that 'of the weaker sex. Tho most vigorously monogamic of animals wero the grey wolf and the bluefox of Alaska, which absolutely refused to remato if their first mates died, and lived up to thoir principles with such scrupulous exactitude that a hunter in a report declared: —"Until we can break down tho high moral standard of tho foxes, our profits will bo greatly curtailed." Many animals, a hare hunted by a weasel, or a mooso by a dog, showed a strong disposition, which was stronger according as tho animal was higher iv tho scalo of development, to throw themselves when in dire extremities on the mercy of a "higher power," namely, man. Most animals,, Mr •Seton pointed out, possessed a keen property-sense. Squirrels had thoir own trees, birds appropriated certain articles, and would fight for their ownership. Dogs, in particular, showed a remarkable reeog- . nition of property rights, and had a very clear consciousness of tho sin oi trespassing. Mr Seton apparently considers these facts mako out a case for the recognition of a high ethical standard amongst certain animals.

; Tho owner of one of the An most interesting libraries Unique in the world, jierished in Library, the Titanic disaster. This ■was Mr James Carlton Young, of Minneapolis, who for many years had eollscted works by the best living writers, every volume containing a -special inscription, composed and written thero by tho author. So strict wero the rules of admission to this unique library, that when the Australian writers, Lawson and Paterson, sent autographed volumes to Mr Young' at lv's request, tho "books were returned because there wa.s no special inscription in them. Mr Young was a millionaire who "had made lv's fortune in the West," and for tho last 20 years or more, he had devoted his fortune to building up his great lilwrary. He never accepted a hook without paying for it, and the price of it mattered not to him. Ho did not collect .-merely because ho thought it fashionable to do co. He was Master of Arts of Cornell University, and ho knew how to appreciate good literature, and for what h- did for literature he had received special honours from the great literary societies of tho world. It was a labour of love, and ho worked so hard at his hobby that his doctor had ti order him away for a rest. It was while returning from this holiday that ho lost his life. In writing ~of his library, Mr Young onco said: —"In addition to the inscribed books, many authors havo generously presented thoir original manuscripts to my library. . . .If ono possessed any cf tljo original manuscripts of tho Apostles, signed by any of them, or of tho plays of .Shakespeare which were printed in his lifetime, on whose pages tho illustrious bard had written the details of how ho gathered the data and happened to write the play, and signed it 'William Shakespeare,' who could say that the inscription added nothing to literature, or that tho manuscripts of the plays were not priceless?" It is singularly unfortunate that the world of literature should havo lost tho services of such a friend just at this juncture, for Mr Young was, at the time of his death, in the midst of writing a history of his library. In accordance with his wish, the librai-y will be presented either to some notable educational institute or to the American nation.