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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE

MONTHLY

EDITED BY

J. McKEEN CATTELL

VOL. LV1I1

NOVEMBER, 1900, TO APRIL, 1901

NEW YORK AND LONDON
MCCLURE, PHILLIPS AND COMPANY

1901

•■^

I OI'YRIGHT, 19<H

\:\ McOLURE, PHILLIPS AND COMPANY

VOL. LVUI.—

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE

MONTHLY.

NOVEMBER, 1900.
CHAPTERS ON THE STAES.

By PROFESSOR SIMON NEWCOMB, U. S. N.
BINARY AND MULTIPLE SYSTEMS.

SIE WILLIAM HEESCHEL was the first to notice that many stars
which, to the unaided vision, seemed single, were really composed
of two stars in close proximity to each other. The first question to
arise in such a case would he whether the proximity is real or whether
it is only apparent, arising from the two stars being in the same line
from our system. This question was speedily settled by more than
one consideration. If there were no real connection between any two
stars, the chances would be very much against their lying so nearly in
the same line from us as they are seen to do in the case of double stars.
( hit of 5,000 stars scattered at random over the celestial vault the
chances would be against more than three or four being so close together
that the naked eye could not separate them, and would be hundreds to
one against any two being as close as the components of the closer
•double stars revealed by the telescope. The conclusion that the prox-
imity is in nearly all cases real is also proved by the two stars generally
moving together or revolving round each other.

Altogether there is no doubt that in the case of the brighter stars
all that seem double in the telescope are really companions. But when
we come to the thousands or millions of telescopic stars, there may be
some cases in which the two stars of a pair have no real connection and
are really at very different distances from us. The stars of such a pair
are called 'optically double.' They have no especial interest for us
and need not be further considered in the present work.

After Herschel, the first astronomer to search for double stars
■on a large scale was Wilhelm Struve, the celebrated astronomer of

4 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Dorpat. So thorough was his work in this field that he may fairly be
regarded as the founder of a new branch of astronomy. Armed with
what was, at that time (1815-35), a remarkable refracting telescope,
he made a careful search of that part of the sky visible at Dorpat, with
a view of discovering all the double stars within reach of his instru-
ment. The angular distance apart of the components and the direc-
tion of the fainter from the brighter star were repeatedly measured
with all attainable precision. The fine folio volume, 'Mensurse Micro-
metricse,' in which his results were published and discussed, must long-
hold its place as a standard work of reference on the subject.

Struve had a host of worthy successors, of whom we can name only
a few. Sir John Herschel was rather a contemporary than a successor.
His most notable enterprise was an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope
for the purpose of exploring the southern heavens with greater tele-
scopes that had then been taken to the southern hemisphere. Herschel,

Fig. 1. Position-angle and Distance of a Double Star.

South and Dawes, of England, were among the greatest English ob-
servers about the middle of the century. Otto Struve, son of Wilhelm,
continued his father's work with zeal and success at Pulkowa. Later
one of the most industrious observers was Dembowski, of Italy. Dur-
ing the last thirty years one of the most successful cultivators of double-
star astronomy has been Burnham, of Chicago. He is to-day the lead-
ing authority on the subject. Enthusiasm, untiring industry and won-
derful keenness of vision have combined to secure him this position.

The particulars which the careful observer of a double star should
record are the position-angle and distance of the components and their
respective magnitudes. To these Struve added their colors; but this
has not generally been done.

Let P be the principal star and C the companion. Let N S be a
north and south line through P, or an arc of the celestial meridian, the
direction N being north and S south from the star P.

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 5

Then, the angle N P C is called the position-angle of the pair. It
is counted round the circle from 0° to 360°. The angle drawn in the
figure is nearly 120°. Were the companion C in the direction S the
position angle would be 180°; to the right of P it would he 270°; to
the right of N it would be between 270° and 360°.

The distance is the angle P C, which is expressed in seconds of arc.

We cannot set any well-defined limits to the range of distance. The
general rule is that the greater the distance beyond a few seconds the
less the interest that attaches to a double star, partly because the ob-
servation of distant pairs offers no difficulty, partly because of the in-
creasing possibility that the components have no physical connection
and so form only an optically double star. With every increase of tele-
scopic power so many closer and closer pairs are found that we cannot
set any limit to the number of stars that may have companions. It is
therefore to the closer pairs that the attention of astronomers is more
especially directed.

The difficulty of seeing a star as double, or, in the familiar lan-
guage of observers, of 'separating' the components, arises from two
sources, the proximity of the companion to the principal star and the
difference in magnitude between the two. It was only in rare cases
that Struve could separate a pair of distance half a second. Now
Burnham finds pairs whose distance is one-quarter of a second or less;
possibly the limit of a tenth of a second is being approached. It goes
without saying that a very minute companion to a bright star may,
when the distance is small, be lost in the rays of its brighter neighbor.
For all these reasons no estimate can be made of the actual number
of double stars in the heavens. With every increase of telescopic
power and observing skill more difficult pairs are being found without
a sign of a limit.

The great interest which attaches to double stars arises from the
proof which they afford that the law of gravitation extends to the
stars. Struve, by comparing his own observations with each other, or
with those of Herschel, found that many of the pairs which he meas-
ured were in relative motion; the position angle progressively chang-
ing from year to year, and sometimes the distance also. The lesser
star was therefore revolving round the greater, or, to speak with more
precision, both were revolving round their common center of gravity.
To such a pair the name binary system is now applied.

There can be no reasonable doubt that the two components of all
physically connected double stars revolve round each other. If they
did not their mutual gravitation would bring them together and fuse
them into a single mass. We are therefore justified in considering all
double stars as binary systems, except those which are merely opti-
cally double. For reasons already set forth, the pairs of the latter

6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

class which are near together must be very few in number; indeed, there
are probably none among the close double stars whose brightest com-
ponent can be seen by the naked eye.

The time of revolution of the binary systems is so long that there
are only about fifty cases in which it has yet been determined with
any certainty. Leaving out the 'spectroscopic binaries/ to be hereafter
described, the shortest period yet found is eleven years. In only a
small minority of cases is the period less than a century. In the large
majority either no motion at all has yet been detected, or it is so slow
as to indicate that the period must be several centuries, perhaps several
thousand years.

There is a great difficulty in determining the period with precision
until the stars have been observed through nearly a revolution, owing
to the number of elements, seven in all, that fix the orbit, and the
difficulty of making the measures of position angle and distance with
precision. It thus happens that many of the orbits of binary systems
which have been computed and published have no sound basis. Two
cases in point may be mentioned.

The first magnitude star Castor, or a Geminorum, can be seen
to be double with quite a small telescope. The components are in rela-
tive motion. Owing to the interesting character of the pair it has
been well observed, and a number of orbits have been computed. The
periodic times found by the components have a wide range. The fact
is, nothing is known of the period except that it is to be measured by
centuries, perhaps by thousands of years.

The history of 61 Cygni, a star ever memorable from being the
first of which the parallax was determined, is quite similar. Al-
though, since accurate observations have been made on it the com-
ponents have moved through an apparent angle of 30°, the observa-
tions barely suffice to show a very slight curvature in the path which
the two bodies are describing round each other. Whether the period
is to be measured by centuries or by thousands of years cannot be de-
termined for many years to come.

In his work on the 'Evolution of the Stellar Systems,' Prof. T. J. J.
See has investigated the orbits of forty double stars having the shortest
periods. There are twenty-eight periods of less than one hundred years

In considering the orbits of binary systems we must distinguish
between the actual and the apparent orbit. The former is the orbit as
it would appear to an observer looking at it from a direction perpen-
dicular to its plane. This orbit, like that of a planet or comet mov-
ing round the sun, is an ellipse, having the principal star in its focus.
The point nearest the latter is called the periastron, or pericenter, and
corresponds to the perihelion of a planetary orbit. The point most
distant from the principal star is the apocenter. It is opposite the

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 7

pericenter and corresponds to the aphelion of a planetary orhit. The
law of motion is here the same as in the case of a body of the solar
system; the radius vector, joining the two bodies, sweeps over equal areas
in equal times. The apparent orbit is the orbit as it appears to us. It
differs from the actual orbit because we see it from a more or less
oblique direction. In some cases the plane of the orbit passes near our
system. Then to us the orbit will appear as a straight line and the
small star will seem to swing from one side of the large one to the other
like a pendulum, though the actual orbit may differ little from a circle.
In some cases there may be two pericenters and two apocenters to the
apparent orbit. This will be the case when a nearly circular orbit is
seen at a considerable obliquity.

It is a remarkable and interesting fact that the law of areas holds
good in the apparent as in the actual orbit. This is because all parts
of the planeof the orbit are seen at the same angle, so that the obliquity
of vision diminishes all the equal areas in the same proportion and thus
leaves them equal.

The two most interesting binary systems are those of Sirius and
Procyon. In the case of each the existence and orbit of the com-
panion were inferred from the motions of the principal star before the
companion had been seen. Before the middle of the century it was
found that Sirius did not move with the uniform proper motion which
characterizes the stars in general; and the inequality of its motion was
attributed to the attraction of an unseen satellite. Later Auwers, from
an exhaustive investigation of all the observations of the star, placed
the inequality beyond doubt and determined the elements of the orbit
of the otherwise unknown satellite. Before his final work was pub-
lished the satellite was discovered by Alvan G. Clark, of Cambridgeport,
Mass., son and successor of the first and greatest American maker of
telescopes. Additional interest was imparted to the discovery by the
fact that it was made in testing a newly constructed telescope, the
largest refractor that had been made up to that time. The discoverer
was, at the time, unaware of the work of Peters and Auwers demon-
strating the existence of the satellite. The latter was, however, in the
direction predicted by Auwers, and a few years of observation showed
that it was moving in fairly close accordance with the prediction.

The orbit as seen from the earth is very eccentric, the greatest dis-
tance of the satellite from the star being about ten seconds, the least
less than three seconds. Owing to the brilliant light of Sirius the satel-
lite is quite invisible, even in the most powerful telescopes, when near-
est its primary. This was the case in the years 1890-92 and will again
be the case about 1940, when another revolution will be completed.

The history of Procyon is remarkably similar. An inequality of its
motion was suspected, but not proved, by Peters. Auwers showed from

8 POPULAR 8CIE2JCE MONTHLY.

observations that it described an orbit seemingly circular, having a
radius of about 1". There could be no doubt that this motion
must be due to the revolution of a satellite, but the latter long evaded
discovery, though carefully searched for with the new telescopes which
were from time to time brought into use. At length in 1895 Sehaeberle
found the long-looked-for object with the 36-inch telescope of the
Lick Observatory. It was nearly in the direction predicted by Auwers,
and a year's observation by Sehaeberle, Barnard and others showed
that it was revolving in accordance with the theory.

If the conclusion of Auwers that the apparent orbit of the principal
star is circular were correct, the distance of the satellite should always
be the same. It would then be equally easy to see at all times. The
fact that neither Burnham nor Barnard ever succeeded in seeing the

!835j

Fig. 2. x:\

it .' \ /

<= . X jl 1869

Fig. -. Apparent Orbit of oc Centauri, i:y Professob See.

object with the Lick telescope would then be difficult to account for.
The fact is, however, that the periodic motion of Procyon is so small
that a considerable eccentricity mighl exisl without being detected by
observations. The probability is, therefore, that the apparent orbit is
markedly eccentric and i lint the satellite was nearer the primary dur-
ing the years 1878-92 than it was when discovered.

One very curious feature, common to both of these systems, is that
the mass of each satellite, as compared with I hat of its primary, is out
of all proportion to its brightness. The remarkable conclusions to be
drawn from this fact will he discussed in a subsequent chapter.

+ 9°37';

=11. 45

-30° 1';

= 18. 85

- 13°38' ;

=22. 00

+ 26°34' ;

=24. 00

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. g

The system of oc Centauri is interesting from the shortness of the
period, the brightness of the stars and the fact that it is the nearest
star to ns so far as known. We reproduce a diagram of the apparent
orbit from Dr. See's work. The period of revolution found by Dr.
See is eighty-one years. The major axis of the apparent orbit is 32";
of the minor axis 6".

The pairs of which, so far as known, the period of revolution is the
shortest, are these:

Years.

5 Pegasi ; R. A. =21h. 40m. ; Dec.= + 25°11' ; Period = ll. 42.

6 Equulei; " =21h. 10m. ; "
B, Sagittarii;" =18h. 56m. ; "
ft Argus; '' = 7h. 47m. ; "
85 Pegasi ; " - 23h. 57m. ; "

TRIPLE AND MULTIPLE SYSTEMS.

Systems of three or more stars so close together that there must be
a physical connection between them are quite numerous. There is
every variety of such systems. Sometimes a small companion of a
brighter star is found to be itself double. A curious case of this sort
is that of y Andromedse. This object was observed and measured by
Struve as an ordinary double star, of which the companion was much
smaller than the principal star. Some years later Alvan Clark found
that this companion was itself a close double star, of which the com-
ponents, separated by about 1", were nearly equal. Moreover, it
was soon found that these components revolved round each other in
a period not yet accurately determined, but probably less than a cen-
tury. Thus we have a binary system revolving round a central star,
as the earth and moon revolve round the sun.

In most triple systems there is no such regularity as this. The
magnitudes and relative positions of the components are so varied that
no general description is possible. Stars of every degree of brightness
are combined in every way. Observations on these systems extend over
so short an interval that we have no data for determining the laws
of motion that may prevail in any but one or two of the simplest cases.
They are, in all probability, too complicated to admit of profitable
mathematical investigation. There is, therefore, little more of inter-
est to be said about them.

There is a very notable multiple system known as the Trapezium of
Orion, from the fact that it is composed of four stars, one of which is
plainly visible to the naked eye, while the others may he well seen in
the smallest telescope. There are also two other very faint stars, each
of which seems to be a companion of one of the bright ones. This sys-
tem is situated in the great nebula? of Orion, to be described in the next

io POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

chapter, a circumstance which has made it one of the most interest-
ing objects to observers. Xo motion has yet been certainly detected
among the components.

SPECTROSCOPIC BINAEY SYSTEMS.

Among the many striking results of recent astronomical research
it would be difficult to name any more epoch-making than the discov-
ery that great numbers of the stars have invisible dark bodies revolving
round them of a mass comparable with their own. The existence of
these revolving bodies is made known not only by their eclipsing the
star, but by producing a periodic change in the radial motion of the
star. How their motion is determined by means of the spectroscope
has been briefly set forth in a former chapter. As a general rule
the motion is uniform in the case of each star. We have described in
a former chapter the periodic character of the radial motion of Algol,
discovered by Vogel. This was followed by the discovery that a
Virginis, though not variable, Avas affected by a similar inequality of
the radial motion, having a period of four days and nineteen minutes.
The velocity of the star in its apparent orbit is very great, about ninety-
one kilometers, or fifty-six English miles, per second. It follows that
the radius of the orbit is some three million miles. The mass of the
invisible companion must, therefore, be very great.

£ MS

Fig. 3. /a

Fig. 3. Radial Motion of a Binary System.

A now form of binary system was thus brought out which, from the
method of discovery, was called the spectroscopic binary system. But
there is really no line to be drawn between these and other binary
systems. "We have seen that as telescopic power is increased, closer and
closer binary systems are constantly being formed. We naturally infer
that there is no limit to the proximity of the pairs of stars of such sys-
tems and that innumerable stars may have satellites, planets or com-
panion stars so close or so faint as to elude our powers of observation.
Still, there is as yet a wide gap between the most rapidly moving visible
binary system and the slowest spectroscopic one, which, however, will
be filled by continued observation.

The actual orbit of such a system cannot be determined with the
spectroscope, because only one component of the motion, that in the
direction of the earth, can be observed. In the case of an orbit of
which the plane was perpendicular to the line of sight from the earth

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS.

1 1

to the star the spectroscope could give us no information as to the mo-
tion. The motion to or from the earth would be invariable. To show
the result of the orbit being seen obliquely, let E be the earth
and A S be the plane of the orbit seen edgewise. Drop the per-
pendicular A M upon the line of "sight. Then, while the star is
moving from S to A the spectroscope will measure the motion as
if it took place from S to M. Since S M is less than A S, the
measured velocity will always be less than the actual velocity, ex-
cept in the rare case when the plane of the orbit is directed toward
the earth. Since the spectroscope can give us no information as to
the inclination under which we see the orbit, it follows that the actual
orbital velocities of the spectroscopic binaries must remain unknown.
We can only say that they cannot be less, but may be greater to any
extent than that shown by our measures.

Fig. 4. The Mills Spectrograph of the Lick Observatory.

If the components of a binary system do not differ greatly in bright-
ness, its character may be detected without actually measuring the radial
velocities. Since the motion is shown by a displacement of the spectral
lines and since, in any binary system, the two components must always
move in opposite directions, it follows that the displacements of the
spectral lines of the two stars will be in opposite directions. Hence,
when one of the stars, say A, is moving toward us, and the other, say
D, from us, all the spectral lines will appear double, the lines made by
A being displaced toward the blue end of the spectrum and those by
B toward the red end. After half a revolution the motion will be re-
versed and the lines will again be double; only the lines of star A will
now be on the red side of the others. Between these two phases will

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

be one in which the radial velocities of the two stars are the same; the
lines will then appear single.

The first star of which the binary character was detected in this way
is <? Ursse Majoris. The discovery was made at the Harvard Obser-
vatory. Capella is supposed to be another of the same class.

About 1896 the Lick Observatory was supplied with the best spec-

Fig. 5. The New Photographic Refracting Telescope of the Astkophysical
Observatory at Potsdam, neak Berlin.

trograph that Brashear could produce, the gifl of Mr. D. 0. [Mills. In

the hands of Campbell the measurements of radial motion with this
instrument have reached an extraordinary degree of precision and
brought to light the fact that systems of the kind in question are more
numerous than would ever have been suspected. Campbell believes
that tbe radial motion of about one star in every thirteen is affected by

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 13

an observable inequality. Such an inequality can arise only through
the action of a neighborhood of a mass at least comparable with that
of our sun. A new field of astronomical research is thus opened, the
exploration of which must occupy many years. The ultimate result
may be to make as great an addition to our knowledge of the heavens
as has been made during the last century by the telescope.

STAR-CLUSTERS.

A star-cluster is a bunch or collection of stars separated from the
great mass of stars which stud the heavens. The Pleiades, or 'seven
stars,' as they are familiarly called, form a cluster, of which six of the
components are easily seen by the naked eye, while five others may be
distinguished by a good eye.

About 1780 Michell, of England, raised the question whether, sup-
posing the stars visible to the naked eye to be scattered over the sky
at random, there would be a reasonable possibility that those of the
Pleiades would all fall within so small a space as that filled by the
constellation. His correct conclusion was in the negative. It follows
that this cluster does not consist of disconnected stars at various dis-
tances, which happen to be nearly in a line from our system, but is
really a collection of stars by itself. Besides the stars visible to the
naked eye, the Pleiades comprise a great number of telescopic stars, of
which about sixty have been catalogued and their relative positions de-
termined. The principal star of the cluster is Alcyone or i] Tauri, which
is of the third magnitude. The five which come next in the order of
brightness are not very unequal, being all between the fourth and fifth
magnitudes. Six are near the sixth magnitude. The remainder, so far
as catalogued, range from the seventh to the ninth.

In this case there is a fairly good method of distinguishing between
a star which belongs to the cluster and one which probably lies beyond
it. This test is afforded by the proper motion. All the stars of the
group have a common proper motion in the same direction of about
seven seconds per century. The first accurate measures made on the
relative positions of the stars of the cluster were those of Bessel, about
1830. In recent years several observers have made yet more accurate
determinations. The most thorough recent discussion is by Elkin.
One result of his work is that there is as yet no certain evidence of any
relative motion among the stars of the group. They all move on to-
gether with their common motion of seven seconds per century, as if
they were a single mass.

A closer cluster, which is plainly visible to the naked eye and looks
like a cloudy patch of light, is Prassepe in Cancer. It is very well seen
in the early evenings of winter and spring. Although there is nothing
in the naked-eye view to suggest a star, it is found on telescopic ex-

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

animation that the individual stars do not fall far below the limit of
visibility, several being of about the seventh magnitude.

Another notable cluster of the same general nature is that in Per-
seus. This constellation is situated in the Milky Way, not far from its
region of nearest approach to the pole. In the figure of the constella-
tion the cluster forms the handle of the hero's sword. It may be seen

Fig. 6. The Great Cluster in Hercules, as Photographed with
the Crossi.ey Reflector of the Lick Observatory.

in the evening during almost any season except summer. To the naked
eye it seems more diffused and star-like than Prasepe; in fact, it has
two distinct centers of condensation, so that it may be considered as a
double cluster.

The two clusters last described may be resolved into stars with the
smallest telescopes. But in the case of most of these objects the in-

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS.

dividual stars are so faint that the most powerful instruments scarcely
suffice to bring them out. One of the most remarkable clusters in the
northern heavens is that of Hercules. To the naked eye it is but a
faint and insignificant patch which would be noticed only by a careful
observer. But in a large telescope it is seen to be one of the most
interesting objects in the heavens. Near the border the individual stars
can be readily distinguished. But they grow continually thicker
toward the center, where, even in a telescope of two feet aperture, the

Fig. 7. The Cluster GO Centauri, Photographed by Gill at the Cape Observatory.

observer can see only a patch of light, which is, however, as he scans it,
suggestive of the countless stars that must there be collected. By the
aid of photography, Professor Pickering has nearly succeeded in the
complete resolution of this cluster.

In many cases the central portions of these objects are so condensed
that they cannot be visually resolved into their separate stars, even
with the most powerful telescopes. . A closer approach to complete
resolution has been made by photography. We present copies of sev-
eral photographs which have been made by Pickering, Gill and others.

16 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

The cluster which, according to Pickering, may he called the finest
in the sky, is oj Centauri. It lies just within the border of the Milky
Way, in right ascension, 13h. 20.8m., and declination — 46° -47'. There
are no bright stars near. To the naked eye it appears as a hazy star
of the fourth magnitude. Its actual extreme diameter is about 40'.
The brightest individual stars within this region are between the eighth
and ninth magnitudes. Over six thousand have been counted on one
of the photographs and the whole number is much greater.

The most remarkable and suggestive feature of the principal clusters
is the number of variable stars which they contain. This feature has
been brought out by the photographs taken at the Harvard Observa-
tory and at its branch station in Arequipa. The count of stars and the
detection of the variables was very largely made by Professor Bailey,
who, for several years past, has been in charge of the Arequipa station.
The proportion of variables is very different in different clusters. In
the double cluster, 869-884, only one has been found among a thousand
stars. The richest in variables is Messier, 3, in which one variable
has been detected among every seven stars. It might be suspected that
the closer and more condensed the cluster the greater the proportion of
variables. This, however, does not hold universally true. In the
great cluster of Hercules only two variables are found among a thou-
sand stars.

Very remarkable, at least in the case of go Centauri, is the shortness
of the period of the variables. Out of one hundred and twenty-five
found, ninety-eight have periods less than twenty-four hours. On the
subject of the law of variation in these cases, Pickering says:

"The light curves of the ninety-eight stars whose periods are less
than twenty-four hours may be divided into four classes. The first is
well represented by No. 74. The period of this star is 12h. 4m. 3s. and
the range in brightness two magnitudes. Probably the change in
brightness is continuous. The increase of light is very rapid, occupy-
ing not more than one-fifth of the whole period. In some cases, pos-
sibly in this star, the light remains constant for a short time at mini-
mum. In most cases, however, the change in brightness seems to be
continuous. The simple type shown by No. 74 is more prevalent in
this cluster than any other. There are, nevertheless, several stars, as
No. 7, where there is a more or less well marked secondary maximum.
The period of this star is 2d. llh. 51m. and the range in brightness
one and a half magnitudes. The light curve is similar to that of well-
known short-period variables, as 3 Cephei and // Aquilae. Another
class may be represented by No. 126, in which the range is less than a
magnitude and the times of increase and decrease are about equal.
The period is 8h. 12m. 3s. No. 24 may perhaps be referred to as a
fourth type. The range is about seven-tenths of a magnitude and the

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. j7

period is llh. 5m. 7s. Apparently about 65 per cent, of the whole
period is occupied by the increase of the light. This very slow rate of
increase is especially striking from the fact that in many cases in this
cluster the increase is extremely rapid, probably not more than ten
per cent, of the whole period. In one ease, No. 45, having a period of
14h. 8m., the rise from minimum to maximum, a change of two mag-
nitudes takes place in about one hour, and in certain cases, chiefly owing
to the necessary duration of a photographic exposure, there is no proof
at present that the rise is not much more rapid.

"The marked regularity in the period of these stars is worthy of
attention. Several have been studied during more than a thousand,
and one during more than five thousand, periods without irregularities
manifesting themselves."

It may be added that this regularity of the period, taken in con-
nection with the case of rj Aquilse, already mentioned, affords a strong
presumption that the variations in the light of these stars are in seme
way connected with the revolution of bodies around them, or of one star
round another. Yet it is- certain that the types are not of the Algol
class and that the changes are not due merely to one star eclipsing an-
other. That such condensed clusters should have a great number of
close binary systems is natural, almost unavoidable, we might suppose.
It will hereafter be shown to be probable that among the stars in gen-
eral single stars are the exception rather than the rule. If such be the
case, the rule should hold yet more strongly among the stars of a con-
densed cluster.

Perhaps the most important problem connected with clusters is the
mutual gravitation of their component stars. Where thousands of
stars are condensed into a space so small, what prevents them from all
falling together into one confused mass? Are they really doing so, and
will they ultimately form a single body? These are questions which
can be satisfactorily answered only by centuries of observation; they
must, therefore, be left to the astronomers of the future.

XEBUL.E.

The first nebula, properly so-called, to be detected by an astronomi-
cal observer was that of Orion. Huyghens, in his 'Systema Saturnium,'
gives a rude drawing of this object, with the following description:

"There is one phenomenon among the fixed stars worthy of men-
tion which, so far as I know, has hitherto been noticed by no one, and,
indeed, cannot be well observed except with large telescopes. In the
sword of Orion are three stars quite close together. In 1656, as I
chanced to be viewing the middle one of these with the telescope, in-
stead of a single star, twelve showed themselves (a not uncommon
circumstance). Three of these almost touched each other, and, with

VOL. LVIII.— 2

18 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

four others, shone through a nebula, so that the space around them
seemed far brighter than the rest of the heavens, which was entirely
clear, and appeared quite black, the effect being that of an opening in
the sky, through which a brighter region was visible."

For a century after Huyghens made this observation it does not ap-
pear that these objects received special attention from astronomers.
The first to observe them systematically on a large scale was Sir Wm.
Herschel, whose vast researches naturally embraced them in their scope.
His telescopes, large though they were, were not of good defining
power and, in consequence, Herschel found it impossible to draw a cer-
tain line in all cases between nebula? and clusters. At his time it was
indeed a question whether all these bodies might not be clusters. This

Fig. 8. The Great Nebula of Orion, as Photographed by A. A. Common with

a Four-foot Reflector.

question Herschel, with his usual sagacity, correctly answered in the
negative. Up to the time of the spectroscope, all that astronomers
could do with nebula? was to discover, catalogue and describe them.

Several catalogues of these objects have been published. The one
long established as a standard is the General Catalogue of Nebula? and
Clusters, by Sir John Herschel. With each object Herschel gave a
i ondensed description. Recently Herschel's catalogue has been super-
seded by the general catalogue of Dreyer, based upon it.

Some of the more conspicuous of these objects are worthy of being
individually mentioned. At the head of all must be placed the great
nebula of Orion. This is plainly visible to the naked eye and can be

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS.

seen without difficulty whenever the constellation is visible. Note the
three bright stars lying nearly in an east and west line and forming
the belt of the warrior. South of these will be seen three fainter
ones, hanging below the belt, as it were, and forming the sword. To
a keen eye, which sharply defines the stars, this middle star will appear
hazy. It is the nebula in question. Its character will be strongly
brought out by the smallest telescope, even by an opera-glass. Draw-
ings of it have been made by numerous astronomers, the comparison of

Fig. 9. The Great Nebula of Andromeda Photographed by Roberts.

which has given rise to the question whether the object is variable. It
cannot be said that this question is yet decided; but the best opinion
would probably be in the negative. In recent times the improvements
of the photographic process have led to the representation of the object
by photography. A photograph made by Mr. A. A. Common, F.R.S.,
with a reflecting telescope, gives so excellent an impression of the ob-
ject that by his consent we reproduce it.

The most remarkable feature connected with the nebula of Orion

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

is the so-called Trapezium, already described. That these four stars
form a system by themselves cannot be doubted. The darkness of the
nebula immediately around them suggests that they were formed at
the expense of the nebulous mass.

Great interest has recently been excited in the spiral form of cer-
tain nebulas The great spiral nebula M. 51 in Canes Venatici has long
been known . We reproduce a photograph of this object and another.
It is found by recent studies at the Lick Observatory that a spiral form
can be detected in a great number of these objects by careful examina-
tion.

Fig. 10. The Great Spiral Nebula M. 51, as Photographed with the
Crossley Reflector at the Lick Observatory.

Another striking feature of numerous nebulas is their varied and
fantastic forms, of which we give a number of examples. The Triphid
nebula' is a noted one in this respect.

The great nebula of Andromeda is second only to that of Orion.
It also is plainly visible to the naked eye and can be more readily
recognized as a nebula than can the other. It has frequently been
mistaken for a comet. Seen through a telescope of high power, its
aspect is singular, as if a concealed light were seen shining through
horn or semi-transparent glass. It is somewhat elliptical in form, as
will be seen from a photograph by Sir William Roberts, F.E.S., which
we reproduce (page 19).

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS.

Another nebula which, though not conspicuous to the naked eye,
has attracted much attention from astronomers, is known, from the
figure of one of its branches as the Omega nebula. Sir John Herschel,
who first described this object in detail, says of it: "The figure is nearly
that of the Greek capital Omega, somewhat distorted and very un-
equally bright." From one base of the letter extends out to the east
a, long branch with a hook at the end, which, in most of the drawings,
is more conspicuous than the portion included in the Omega. The

Fig. 11. The Great Spiral Nebula M. 33, Photographed with the
Crossley Reflector of the Lick Observatory.

drawings, however, vary so much that the question has been raised
whether changes have not taken place in the object. As in other
cases, this question is one which it is not yet possible to decide. The
appearance of such objects varies so much with the aperture of the
telescope and the conditions of vision that it is not easy to decide
whether the apparent change may not be due to these causes. It is
curious that in a recent photograph the Omega element of it, if I may

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

use the term, is far less conspicuous than in the older drawings, and is,
in fact, scarcely recognizable.

Among the most curious of the nebula? are the annular ones, which,
as the term implies, have the form of a ring. It should be remarked
that in such cases the interior of the ring is not generally entirely
black, but is filled with nebulous light. We may, therefore, define these
objects as nebula1 which are brighter round their circumference than
in the center. The most striking of the annular nebulae is that of
Lyra. It may easily be found from being situated about half-way be-

Fig. 12. The Triphid Nebula, Photographed at the Lick Observatory.

tween the stars Beta and Gamma. Although it is visible in a medium
telescope, it requires a powerful one to bring out its peculiar features
in a striking way. Recently it has been photographed by Keeler with
the Crossley reflector of the Lick Observatory, who found that the best
general impression was made with an exposure of only ten minutes.

The ring, as shown by Keeler's photographs, has a quite compli-
cated structure. It seems to be made up of several narrower bright
rings, interlacing somewhat irregularly, the spaces between them be-
ing filled with fainter nebulosity. One of these rings forms the outer

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS.

boundary of the preceding end of the main ring. Sweeping around
to the north end of the minor axis, it becomes very bright, perhaps by
superposition on the broader main ring of the nebula at this place.
It crosses this ring obliquely, forming the brightest part of the whole

Fig. 13. The Triphid Nebula and. its Surroundings, as Photographed

by Barnard.

nebula, and then forms the inner boundary of the main ellipse toward

its following end. The remaining part of the ring is not so easily

traced, as several other rings interlace on the south end of the ellipse.

The central star of this nebula has excited some interest. Its light

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

seems to have a special actinic power, as the star is more conspicuous
on the photographs than to the eye.

There are several other annular nebulas which are fainter than
than of Lyra. The one best visible in our latitudes is known as
H IV. 13, or 4,565 of Dreyer's catalogue. It is situated in the con-
stellation Cygnus which adjoins Lyra. Both Herschel and Lord Eosse
have made drawings of it. It was photographed by Keeler with the

Fig. 14. Nebulous Mass in Cygntjs, including H. V. 14 and H. 2093.
Photographed at the Lick Observatory.

Crossley reflector on the nights of August 9 and 10, 1899, with expo-
sures of one and two hours, respectively. Keeler states that the nebula,
as shown by these photographs, "is an elliptical, nearly circular ring,
not quite regular in outline, pretty sharply defined at the outer edge."
The outside dimensions arc:

Major axis 42". 5

Minor axis 40 .5

Position angle of major axis 32°

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 25

The nebula has a nucleus with a star exactly in the center. This
is very conspicuous on a photograph, hut barely if at all visible with a
36-inch reflector.

Another curious class of nebulas are designated as planetary, on
account of their form. These consist of minute, round disks of light,
having somewhat the appearance of a planet. The appellation was
suggested by this appearance. These- objects are for the most part
faint and difficult.

It is impossible to estimate the number of nebulas in the heavens.
New ones have been from time to time discovered, located and de-
scribed by many observers during the last thirty years. Among these
Lewis Swift is worthy of special mention. On photographing the sky
near the galactic pole with the Crossley reflector, Keeler found no less
than seven of these objects in a space of about one-half a square degree.
He therefore estimates the whole number in the heavens capable of be-
ing photographed at several hundred thousand. It may be assumed that
only a moderate fraction of these are visible to the eye, even aided by
the largest telescopes.

Among the most singular of these objects are large diffused nebulas,
sometimes extending through a region of several degrees. A number
of these were discovered by Herschel. Barnard, W. H. Pickering and
others have photographed these for us. One of the most remarkable of
them winds around in the constellation Orion in such a way that at
first sight one might be disposed to inquire whether the impression on
the photographic plate might not have been the result of some defect
in the apparatus or some reflection of the light of the neighboring stars,
which is so apt to occur in these delicate photographic operations. But
its existence happens to be completely confirmed by independent testi-
mony. It was first detected by W. H. Pickering and afterwards inde-
pendently by Barnard.

A curious fact connected with the distribution of nebulas over the
sky is that it is in a certain sense the reverse of that of the stars. The
latter are, as we shall hereafter show in detail, vastly more numerous
in the regions near the Milky Way and fewer in number near the poles
of that belt. But the reverse is the case with the nebulas proper. They
are least numerous in the Milky Way and increase in number as we go
from it in either direction. Precisely what this signifies one would not
at the present time be able to say. Perhaps the most obvious sugges-
tion would be that in these two opposite nebulous regions the nebulas
have not yet condensed into stars. This, however, would be a purely
speculative explanation.

On the other hand, star-clusters are more numerous in the galactic
region. This, however, is little more than saying that in the regions
where the stars are so much more numerous than elsewhere many of

26 POPULAR SCIEJSGE MONTHLY.

them naturally tend to collect in clusters. It is, however, a curious
fact that, so far as yet been noticed, the large, diffused nebulas
which we have mentioned are more numerous in or near the Milky
Way. If this tendency is established it will mark a curious distinction
between them and the smaller nebulas.

The most interesting question connected with these objects is that
of their physical constitution. When, about 1866, the spectroscope
was applied to astronomical investigation by Huggins and Secchi, these
two observers found independently that the light of the great nebula
of Orion formed a spectrum of bright lines, thus showing the object to
be gaseous. This was soon found to be true of the nebulae generally.
There is, however, a very curious exception in the case of the great
nebula of Andromedas. This object gives a more or less continuous
spectrum. Why this is it is difficult to say.

Beyond the general fact that the light of a nebula does not come
from solid matter, but from matter of a gaseous or other attenuated
form, we have no certain knowledge of the physical constitution of these
bodies. Certain features of their constitution can, however, be estab-
lished with a fair approach to accuracy. Not only the spectroscopic
evidence of bright lines, but the aspect of the objects themselves, show
that they are transparent through and through. This is remarkable
when taken in connection with their inconceivable size. Leaving out
the large diffused nebulae which we have mentioned, these objects are
frequently several minutes in diameter. Of their distance we know
nothing, except that they are probably situated in the distant stellar
regions. Their parallax can be but a small fraction of a second. We
shall probably err greatly in excess if we assume that it varies between
one-hundredth and one-tenth of a second. To assign this parallax is
the same thing as saying that at the distance of the nebulas the dimen-
sions of the earth's orbit would show a diameter which might range be-
tween one-fiftieth and one-fifth of a second, while that of Neptune
would be more or less than one second. Great numbers of these ob-
jects are, therefore, thousands of times the dimensions of the earth's
orbit, and probably most of them are thousands of times the dimen-
sions of the whole solar system. That they should be completely
transparent through such enormous dimensions shows their extreme
tenuity. Were our solar system placed in the midst of one of them,
it is probable that we should not be able to find any evidence of its
existence.

A form of matter so different from any that can be found or pro-
duced on the surface of the earth can hardly be explained by our ordi-
nary views of matter. A theory has, however, been propounded by Sir
Norman Lockyer, so ingenious as to be worthy at least of mention. It
is that these objects are vast collections of meteorites in rapid motion

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 27

relatively to each other, which come into constant collision. Their
velocity is such that at each collision heat and light are produced.
In the language of our progenitors, who in the absence of matches used
flint and steel, they 'strike fire' against each other. The idea of such
a process originated with Prof. P. G. Tait, in an attempt to explain
the tail of a comet, but it was elaborated and developed by Mr. Lock-
yer in his work on the 'Meteoritic Theory.'

The objections to this theory seem insuperable. A velocity so
great, at such a distance from the center of the nebulas, would be in-
compatible with the extreme tenuity of these objects. Every time
that two meteors came into collision they would lose velocity, and,
therefore, if the mass was sufficient to hold them from flying through
space, would rapidly fall toward a common center. The amount of
light produced by the collision of two such objects is only a minute
fraction of the energy lost. The meteors which fall on the earth are
mostly of iron, and, were the theory true, numerous lines of iron
should be most conspicuous in the spectrum. But the fact is that in
the great number of these objects there is but a single bright line,
which does not seem to correspond to the line of any known substance.
The supposed matter which produces it has, therefore, been called
nebuhim.

28 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

RAPID BATTLESHIP BUILDING.

By WALDON FAWCETT.

A VARIETY of influences, aside from the occasional exigencies of
actual war conditions, have, during the past few years, combined
to force upon naval architects and shipbuilders a conviction of the need
for more expeditious work in the construction of war vessels, and es-
pecially of battleships. As the modern fighting vessel has grown in
weight and complexity of design, the interval necessitated for its con-
struction has very naturally been lengthened. That this condition of
affairs would sooner or later induce a sentiment of dissatisfaction was
the more certain from the fact that throughout the world many gov-
ernment officers have to do with the construction and operation of naval
flotilla who are inadequately informed regarding technical details.

The feeling of impatience on account of the time occupied in build-
ing a battleship has, of course, disclosed itself first of all to the ship-
builder, and the practical men of the industry have already set them-
selves to remedy the conditions in so far as it is possible. How much
has been accomplished in a comparatively brief space of time is elo-
quently attested by the records for time economy in battleship con-
struction which have been made during the past two years, particularly
in British and American yards.

Although the shipbuilder has been able to accomplish much by the
introduction of improved tools and machinery, with the attendant
speedier methods of handling material, he is becoming more and more
an advocate of the simplification of the battleship. His contentions are
receiving the indorsement of many naval constructors of ability and
experience, who are impressed by the advisability of reducing the cost
of single ships, on the theory of the old adage against placing all the
eggs in one basket. Protests have been directed particularly against
the complication and multiplying diversity of function sought by
mechanical contrivances, but of late there have been on the part of
naval architects many expressions of opinion to the effect that the
auxiliaries arc not the only features of a battleship which might be
modified with profit.

As was stated above, it is the shipbuilder who has first been brought
to a realization of the fact that he must keep pace with modern progress
by constant reductions of the time necessary to turn out a complete ar-
mor-clad. Thus the William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building
Company, of Philadelphia, has recently secured a contract from the

RAPID BATTLESHIP BUILDING.

Russian government for the construction of a battleship and a cruiser,
largely from the fact that the}' were able to guarantee delivery within
thirty-three months, whereas the French builders who made tenders
for the contract could not promise the completion of the vessels much
under five years.

Some of the most remarkable records in the reduction of the time
between the laying of a keel and the launching of a vessel have been
made in British shipyards. Notable in this respect was the battleship
'Bulwark/ which was launched at the Davenport dockyard on October
18, 1899. This vessel was laid down on March 20, 1899, and had thus
been under construction less than seven months. During that time

Fig. 1. The Battleship ' Hatsuse ' thkee months after the keel had been laid.

5,450 tons of material had been built into her, and there is nothing to
controvert the assertions of the dockyard staff that the work created
records in both the time she had been under construction and the weight
attained for the period. In order to convey a better idea of the work
accomplished it may be noted in passing that the 'Bulwark' is 400 feet
in' length between perpendiculars, 75 feet beam, 27 feet draught and
15,000 tons displacement.

The British builders have for some time past made rapidity of con-
struction a subject of study, and their more recent achievements have
been attained as the culmination of a series of performances only
slightly less creditable. Thus, but nine months and nine days inter-

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

vened between the dates of laying the keel and launching the battleship
'Canopas', a vessel of 12,590 tons displacement, and even then the work
was delayed by a strike. The cruiser 'Diadem', a sheathed vessel of
11,000 tons displacement and 16,500 horse-power, was built by the
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, of Govan,
Scotland, in 214 working days, and moreover, the vessel was fitted, be-
fore launching, with all her armor casements.

The battleship 'Majestic' of the British navy was launched complete
and ready to go into commission, and this vessel went into the water
just twenty-two months from the date of the laying of the keel. An
even two years was required for the completion of the 'Magnificent,'

Fig. 2. The Battleship 'Hatsuse' after abovt four and a half months, showing

the Protective Deck.

another battleship of the same class. A record almost equal to that of
the 'Bulwark' was that of the battleship 'Prince George', the displace-
ment of which is 14,900 tons. This vessel was built and launched in
eleven months. For purposes of comparison, the fact may be cited
that Laird Brothers, of Birkenhead, built the torpedo-boat destroyer
'Sparrow Il.iwk', a vessel which attained a speed in the neighborhood of
thirty knots on trial, in the space of one hundred days.

Taking into consideration, however, all influencing conditions, the
records made since the beginning of 1899 indicate a distinct advance
on the part of the builders. The Thames Iron Works, Shipbuilding and
Engineering Company, of Blackwall, made an excellent showing with

RAPID BATTLESHIP BUILDING.

the British battleship 'Venerable', which was christened early in No-
vember, 1899. This vessel was laid down in the first week of Janu-
ary, 1899, and her construction proceeded at such a rate that it was
possible to place her in the water in exactly ten months from the day
on which her first keel plate was laid. In this case the builders were
impelled not so much by a desire to establish a record, as to provide a
slip for the commencement of work on another naval contract.

It is a singular coincidence that the most favorable records estab-
lished thus far in the annals of naval ship-building should have been
made by three sister vessels, the trio being among the largest battle-

Fig. 3. The Battleship ' Hatsuse ' ready for Launching.

ships in the world. The performances of the 'Bulwark' and 'Venerable'
have already been noted. That of the 'London' is scarcely less credit-
able. This vessel was built at the Portsmouth dockyard and was
laid down on December 8, 1898. She was thus under construction a
little more than nine months, and during that time over five thousand
tons of material were built into her.

That all the energies of the builders of the United Kingdom are
not exerted in behalf of their own nation is attested by the showing
made by the Thames Iron Works, Shipbuilding and Engineering Com-
pany in the case of the battleship 'Shikishima', completed during the
early part of 1899 for the Japanese government. The first plate of this

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

vessel was laid down on May 1, 1897, and although the engineers' strike
resulted in a delay of more than six months in the delivery of armor,
armament and engines, the trials of the vessel were completed to the
satisfaction of all parties concerned, and the 'Shikishima' was turned
over to her owners in less than twenty -nine months from the date above
given for the commencement of the work. In its way this achievement
also constitutes a record which has had no parallel, and certainly the fact
that despite detrimental circumstances a vessel of 15,000 tons displace-
ment and 19 knots speed can be built, equipped, armored, engined and

Fig. 4. The Launching <>f the Battleship ' Hatsuse,' June 27. 1899.

tested under actual service conditions, all in little more than two years'
time, speaks well for modern erigineering methods.

The loss of the Russian contracts previously referred to — and other
circumstances — have seemingly made some impression on French ship-
builders, and a shortening of the time consumed in some of the principal
yards has already been made. For instance, it is announced that should
nothing unforeseen intervene, the first-class battleship 'Snffren\ which

RAPID BATTLESHIP BUILDING. 33

was launched at Brest on July 25, 1899, will be completed by July, 1901.
Should this promise be fulfilled the time consumed in the construction
of the vessel will be little more than thirty-one months, which is con-
siderably less than for any French battleship previously constructed.
It must also be remembered that the 'Suffren' is the largest battleship
yet designed for the French navy, her displacement being 12,728 tons.
In some respects, the 'Suffren' outranks the British vessel, as but six
months and twenty days elapsed between the laying down of the keel
and the launching.

Neither Germany nor the United States can show records to com-
pare with those of the British builders, despite the expeditious delivery
of merchant vessels which has been made by firms in both countries.
The United States has now several plants capable of building and
launching a battleship in an interval very nearly as brief as the best
of those above recorded, but American builders have been so retarded
ever since bringing their plants to the present stage of efficiency by
difficulty in securing prompt delivery of armor and other material that
the possibility of making records has been precluded, and, indeed, it is
not strange if under the circumstances there has been small ambition
to make the endeavor.

The photographs herewith reproduced as illustrative of the building
of a battleship represent the 'Hatsuse', which was launched during the
summer of 1899 at the Elswick shipyard of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whit-
worth & Co., of Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, the builders of the
cruisers 'Albany' and 'New Orleans', the only foreign-built war vessels
of any considerable size in the American navy. The 'Hatsuse' is a
battleship of the largest size, and represents in every respect the most
modern practice. She is 400 feet in length, 76^ feet beam, 27 feet
draught of water and 15,000 tons displacement. Her engines are
capable of developing 14,500 indicated horse-power.

The first photograph was taken about three months after the keel
had been laid. It shows the framing of the extreme end of the vessel,
with three tires of beams in view.

The second picture in the series, taken about six weeks later, look-
ing aft from about amidships, shows the after barbette about half con-
structed, while the protective deck is practically completed. The third
view represents the vessel ready for launching, and the fourth and last
depicts the launch on June 27, 1899. In conclusion, it may be noted
that the 'Hatsuse', the launching weight of which was fully 8,000 tons,
went down the ways several minutes before the appointed time.

VOL. LVIII.— 3

34 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ADDEESS OF THE PRESIDENT BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSO-
CIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.

By Sir WILLIAM TURNER, F. R. S.

II.

FUNCTION OF CELLS.

IT has already been stated that, when new cells arise within pre-exist-
ing cells, division of the nucleus is associated with cleavage of the
cell plasm, so that it participates in the process of new cell-formation.
Undoubtedly, however, its role is not limited to this function. It also
plays an important part in secretion, nutrition and the special functions
discharged by the cells in the tissues and organs of which they form
morphological elements.

Between 1838 and 1842 observations were made which showed that
cells were constituent parts of secreting glands and mucous membranes
{Schwann, Henle). In 1842 John Goodsir communicated to the Royal
Society of Edinburgh a memoir on secreting structures, in which he
established the principle that cells are the ultimate secreting agents; he
recognized in the cells of the liver, kidney and other organs the char-
acteristic secretion of each gland. The secretion was, he said, situated
between the nucleus and the cell wall. At first he thought that, as the
nucleus was the reproductive organ of the cell, the secretion was formed
in the interior of the cell by the agency of the cell wall; but three years
later he regarded it as a product of the nucleus. The study of the
process of spermatogenesis by his brother, Harry Goodsir, in which the
head of the spermatozoon was found to correspond with the nucleus of
the cell in which the spermatozoon arose, gave support to the view that
the nucleus played an important part in the genesis of the characteristic
product of the gland cell.

The physiological activity of the cell plasm and its complex chemical
constitution soon after began to be recognized. Some years before Max
Schultze had published his memoirs on the characters of protoplasm,
Briicke had shown that the well-known changes in tint in the skin of the
chameleon were due to pigment granules situated in cells in the skin
which were sometimes diffused throughout the cells, at others concen-
trated in the center. Similar observations on the skin of the frog
were made in 1854 by von Wittich and Harless. The movements were
regarded as due to contraction of the cell wall on its contents. In a
most interesting paper on the pigmentary system in the frog, pub-

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 35

lished in 1858, Lord Lister demonstrated that the pigment granules
moved in the cell plasma, by forces resident within the cell itself, acting
under the influence of an external stimulant, and not by a contractility
of the wall. Under some conditions the pigment was attracted to the
center of the cell, when the skin became pale; under other conditions
the pigment was diffused throughout the body and the branches of the
cell, and gave to the skin a dark color. It was also experimentally
shown that a potent influence over these movements was exercised by
the nervous system.

The study of the cells of glands engaged in secretion, even when the
secretion is colorless, and the comparison of their appearance when
secretion is going on with that seen when the cells are at rest, have
shown that the cell plasm is much more granular and opaque, and con-
tains larger particles during activity than when the cell is passive; the
body of the cell swells out from an increase in the contents of its plasm,
and chemical changes accompany the act of secretion. Ample evidence,
therefore, is at hand to support the position taken by John Goodsir,
nearly sixty years ago, that secretions are formed within the cells, and lie
in that part of the cell which we now say consists of the cell plasm; that
each secreting cell is endowed with its own peculiar property, according
to the organ in which it is situated, so that bile is formed by the cells in
the liver, milk by those in the mamma, and so on.

Intimately associated with the process of secretion is that of nutri-
tion. As the cell plasm lies at the periphery of a cell, and as it is, alike
both in secretion and nutrition, brought into closest relation with the
surrounding medium, from which the pabulum is derived, it is neces-
sarily associated with nutritive activity. Its position enables it to absorb
nutritive material directly from without, and in the process of growth it
increases in amount by interstitial changes and additions throughout its
substance, and not by mere accretions on its surface.

Hitherto I have spoken of a cell as a unit, independent of its
neighbors as regards its nutrition and the other functions which it has
to discharge. The question has, however, been discussed, whether in a
tissue composed of cells closely packed together cell plasm may not give
origin to processes or threads which are in contact or continuous with
corresponding processes of adjoining cells, and that cells may therefore,
to some extent, lose their individuality in the colony of which they are
members. Appearances were recognized between 1863 and 1870 by
Schron and others in the deeper cells of the epidermis and of some
mucous membranes which gave sanction to this view, and it seems pos-
sible, through contact or continuity of threads connecting a cell with its
neighbors, that cells may exercise a direct influence on each other.

Nageli, the botanist, as the foundation of a mechanico-physiological
theory of descent, considered that in plants a network of cell plasm.

36 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

named by him idioplasm, extended throughout the whole of the plant,
forming its specific molecular constitution, and that growth and activity
were regulated by its conditions of tension and movements (1884).

The study of the structure of plants, with special reference to the
presence of an intercellular network, has for some years been pursued by
Walter Gardiner (1882-97), who has demonstrated threads of cell plasm
protruding through the walls of vegetable cells and continuous with
similar threads from adjoining cells. Structurally, therefore, a plant
may be conceived to be built up of a nucleated cytoplasmic network,
each nucleus with the branching cell plasm surrounding it being a cen-
ter of activity. On this view a cell would retain to some extent its in-
dividuality, though, as Gardiner contends, the connecting threads would
be the medium for the conduction of impulses and of food from a cell
to those which lie around it. For the plant cell, therefore, as has long
been accepted in the animal cell, the wall is reduced to a secondary posi-
tion, and the active constituent is the nucleated cell plasm. It is not
unlikely that the absence of a controlling nervous system in plants re-
quires the plasm of adjoining cells to be brought into more immediate
contact and continuity than is the case with the generality of animal
cells, so as to provide a mechanism for harmonizing the nutritive and
other functional processes in the different areas in the body of the plant.
In this particular, it is of interest to note that the epithelial tissues in
animals, where somewhat similar connecting arrangements occur, are
only indirectly associated with the nervous and vascular systems, so that,
as in plants, the cells may require, for nutritive and other purposes, to
act and react directly on each other.

NERVE CELLS.

Of recent years great attention has been paid to the intimate struc-
ture of nerve cells, and to the appearance which they present when in
the exercise of their functional activity. A nerve cell is not a secreting
cell — that is, it does not derive from the blood or surrounding fluid a
pabulum which it elaborates into a visible, palpable secretion charac-
teristic of the organ of which the cell is a constituent element, to be in
due course discharged into a duct which conveys the secretion out of
the gland. Nerve cells, through the metabolic changes which take place
in them, in connection with their nutrition, are associated with the pro-
duction of the form of energy specially exhibited by animals which
possess a nervous system, termed nerve energy. It has long been known
that every nerve cell has a body in which a relatively large nucleus is
situated. A most important discovery was the recognition that the
body of every nerve cell had one or more processes growing out from it.
More recently it has been proved, chiefly through the researches of
Schultze, His, Golgi and Ramon y Cajal, that at least one of the pro-

ADDRESS BEFORE TEE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 37

cesses, the axon of the nerve cell, is continued into the axial cylinder of
a nerve fiber, and that in the multipolar nerve cell the other processes,
or dendrites, branch and ramify for some distance away from the body.
A nerve fiber is, therefore, an essential part of the cell with which it is
continuous, and the cell, its processes, the nerve fiber and the collaterals
which arise from the nerve fiber collectively form a neuron or structural
nerve unit (Waldeyer). The nucleated body of the nerve cell is the
physiological center of the unit.

The cell plasm occupies both the body of the nerve cell and its pro-
cesses. The intimate structure of the plasm has, by improved methods
of observation introduced during the last eight years by Nissl, and con-
ducted on similar lines by other investigators, become more definitely
understood. It has been ascertained that it possesses two distinct char-
acters which imply different structures. One of these stains deeply on
the addition of certain dyes, and is named chromophile or chromatic
substance; the other, which does not possess a similar property, is the
achromatic network. The chromophile is found in the cell body and
the dendritic processes, but not in the axon. It occurs in the form of
granular particles, which may be scattered throughout the plasm, or
aggregated into little heaps which are elongated or fusiform in shape
and appear as distinct colored particles or masses. The achromatic
network is found in the cell body and the dendrites, and is continued
also in the axon, where it forms the axial cylinder of the nerve fiber.
It consists apparently of delicate threads or fibrillae, in the meshes of
which a homogeneous material, such as is found in cell plasm generally,
is contained. In the nerve cells, as in other cells, the plasm is without
doubt concerned in the process of cell nutrition. The achromatic fibrillae
exercise an important influence on the axon or nerve fiber with which
they are continuous, and probably they conduct the nerve impulses
which manifest themselves in the form of nerve energy. The dendritic
processes of a multipolar nerve cell ramify in close relation with similar
processes branching from other cells in the same group. The collaterals
and the free end of the axon fiber process branch and ramify in asso-
ciation with the body of a nerve cell or of its dendrites. We cannot say
that these parts are directly continuous with each other to form an in-
tercellular network, but they are apparently in apposition, and through
contact exercise influence one on the other in the transmission of nerve
impulses.

There is evidence to show that in the nerve cell the nucleus, as well
as the cell plasm, is an effective agent in nutrition. When the cell is
functionally active, both the cell body and the nucleus increase in size
(Vas, G. Mann, Lugaro); on the other hand, when nerve cells are
fatigued through excessive use, the nucleus decreases in size and
shrivels; the cell plasm also shrinks, and its colored or chromophile con-

38 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

stituent becomes diminished in quantity, as if it had been consumed
during the prolonged use of the cell (Hodge, Mann, Lugaro). It is
interesting also to note that in hibernating animals in the winter season,
when their functional activity is reduced to a minimum, the chromo-
phile in the plasm of the nerve cells is much smaller in amount than
when the animal is leading an active life in the spring and summer
(G. Levi).

When a nerve cell has attained its normal size it does not seem to be
capable of reproducing new cells in its substance by a process of karyo-
kinesis, such as takes place when young cells arise in the egg and in the
tissues generally. It would appear that nerve cells are so highly special-
ized in their association with the evolution of nerve energy, that they
have ceased to have the power of reproducing their kind, and the meta-
bolic changes, both in cell plasm and nucleus, are needed to enable them
to discharge their very peculiar function. Hence it follows that
when a portion of the brain or other nerve-center is destroyed, the
injury is not repaired by the production of fresh specimens of their
characteristic cells, as would be the case in injuries to bones and tendons.

In our endeavors to differentiate the functions of the nucleus from
that of the cell plasm, we should not regard the former as concerned
only in the production of young cells, and the latter as the exclusive
agent in growth, nutrition and, where gland cells are concerned, in the
formation of their characteristic products. As regards cell reproduc-
tion also, though the process of division begins in the nucleus in its
chromosome constituents, the achromatic figure in the cell plasm un-
doubtedly plays a part, and the cell plasm itself ultimately undergoes
cleavage.

A few years ago the tendency amongst biologists was to ignore or
attach but little importance to the physiological use of the nucleus in
the nucleated cell, and to regard the protoplasm as the essential and
active constituent of living matter; so much so, indeed, was this the case
that independent organisms regarded as distinct species were described
a6 consisting of protoplasm destitute of a nucleus; also, that scraps of
protoplasm separated from larger nucleated masses could, when isolated,
exhibit vital phenomena. There is reason to believe that a fragment of
protoplasm, when isolated from the nucleus of a cell, though retaining
its contractility, and capable of nourishing itself for a short time, cannot
increase in amount, act as a secreting structure, or reproduce its kind:
it soon loses its activity, withers and dies. In order that these qualities
of living matter should be retained, a nucleus is by most observers re-
garded as necessary (Nussbaum, Gruber, Haberlandt, Korschelt), and
for the complete manifestation of vital activity both nucleus and cell
plasm are required.

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 39

BACTERIA.

The observations of Cohn, made about thirty years ago, and those of
De Bary shortly afterwards, brought into notice a group of organisms to
which the name 'bacterium' or 'microbe' is given. They were seen to
vary in shape; some were rounded specks called cocci, others were
straight rods called bacilli, others were curved or spiral rods, vibrios or
spirilla?. All were characterized by their extreme minuteness, and re-
quired for their examination the highest powers of the best microscopes.
Many bacteria measure in their least diameter not more than j~^ of an
inch, T^ the diameter of a human white blood corpuscle. Through the
researches of Pasteur, Lord Lister, Koch and other observers, bacteria
have been shown to play an important part in nature. They exercise a
very remarkable power over organic substances, especially those which
are complex in chemical constitution, and can resolve them into simpler
combinations. Owing to this property, some bacteria are of great
economic value, and without their agency many of our industries could
not be pursued; others again, and these are the most talked of, exercise
a malign influence in the production of the most deadly diseases which
afflict man and the domestic animals.

Great attention has been given to the structure of bacteria and to
their mode of propagation. When examined in the living state and
magnified about 2,000 times, a bacterium appears as a homogeneous par-
ticle, with a sharp definite outline, though a membranous envelope or
wall, distinct from the body of the bacterium, cannot at first be recog-
nized; but when treated with reagents a membranous envelope appears,
the presence of which, without doubt, gives precision of form to the
bacterium. The substance within the membrane contains granules
which can be dyed with coloring agents. Owing to their extreme
minuteness it is difficult to pronounce an opinion on the nature of the
ehromatine granules and the substance in which they lie. Some observ-
ers regard them as nuclear material, invested by only a thin layer of
protoplasm, on which view a bacterium would be a nucleated cell.
Others consider the bacterium as formed of protoplasm containing
granules capable of being colored, which are a part of the protoplasm
itself, and not a nuclear substance. On the latter view, bacteria would
consist of cell plasm enclosed in a membrane and destitute of a nucleus.
Whatever be the nature of the granule-containing material, each bac-
terium is regarded as a cell, the minutest and simplest living particle
capable of an independent existence that has yet been discovered.

Bacteria cells, like cells generally, can reproduce their kind. They
multiply by simple fission, probably with an ingrowth of the cell wall,
but without the karyokinetic phenomena observed in nucleated cells.
Each cell gives rise to two daughter cells, which may for a time remain

4o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

attached to each other and form a cluster or a chain, or they may sep-
arate and become independent isolated cells. The multiplication,
under favorable conditions of light, air, temperature, moisture and food,
goes on with extraordinary rapidity, so that in a few hours many
thousand new individuals may arise from a parent bacterium.

Connected with the life-history of a bacterium cell is the formation
in its substance, in many species and under certain conditions, of a
highly refractile shiny particle called a spore. At first sight a spore
seems as if it were the nucleus of the bacterium cell, but it is not always
present when multiplication by cleavage is taking place, and when
present it does not appear to take part in the fission. On the other
hand, a spore, from the character of its envelope, possesses great power
of resistance, so that dried bacteria, when placed in conditions favorable
to germination, can through their spores germinate and resume an ac-
tive existence. Spore formation seems, therefore, to be a provision for
continuing the life of the bacterium under conditions which, if spores
had not formed, would have been the cause of its death.

The time has gone by to search for the origin of living organisms by
a spontaneous aggregation of molecules in vegetable or other infusions,
or from a layer of formless primordial slime diffused over the bed of the
ocean. Living matter during our epoch has been, and continues to be,
derived from pre-existing living matter, even when it possesses the sim-
plicity of structure of a bacterium, and the morphological unit is the
cell. '

DEVELOPMENT OF THE EGG.

As the future of the entire organism lies in the fertilized egg cell, we
may now briefly review the arrangements, consequent on the process of
segmentation, which lead to the formation, let us say in the egg of a
bird, of the embryo or young chick.

In the latter part of the last century, C. F. Wolff observed that the
beginning of the embryo was associated with the formation of layers,
and in 1817 Pander demonstrated that in the hen's egg at first one layer,
called mucous, appeared; then a second or serous layer, to be followed by
a third, intermediate or vascular layer. In 1828 von Baer amplified our
knowledge in his famous treatise, which from its grasp of the subject
created a new epoch in the science of embryology. It was not, however,
until the discovery by Schwann of cells as constant factors in the struc-
ture of animals and in their relation to development that the true nature
of these layers was determined. We now know that each layer consists
of cells, and that all the tissues and organs of the body are derived from
them. Numerous observers have devoted themselves for many years to
the study of each layer, with the view of determining the part which it
takes in the formation of the constituent parts of the body, more es-

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 4<

pecially in the higher animals, and the important conclusion has been
arrived at that each kind of tissue invariably arises from one of these
layers and from no other.

The layer of cells which contributes, both as regards the number and
variety of the tissues derived from it, most largely to the formation of
the body is the middle layer, or mesoblast. From it the skeleton, the
muscles and other locomotor organs, the true skin, the vascular system,
including the blood, and other structures which I need not detail, take
their rise. From the inner layer of cells the principal derivatives are
the epithelial linings of the alimentary canal and of the air passages.
The outer layer of cells gives origin to the epidermis or scarf skin, and
to the nervous system. It is interesting to note that from the same layer
of the embryo arise parts so different in importance as the cuticle — a
mere protecting structure, which is constantly being shed when the skin
is subjected to the friction of a towel or the clothes — and the nervous
system, including the brain, the most highly differentiated system in
the animal body. How completely the cells from which they are de-
rived had diverged from each other in the course of their differentiation
in structure and properties is shown by the fact that the cells of the
epidermis are continually engaged in reproducing new cells to replace
those which are shed, whilst the cells of the nervous system have appar-
ently lost the power of reproducing their kind.

In the early stage of the development of the egg, the cells in a given
layer resemble each other in form, and, as far as can be judged from
their appearance, are alike in structure and properties. As the devel-
opment proceeds, the cells begin to show differences in character, and in
the course of time the tissues which arise in each layer differentiate from
each other and can be readily recognized by the observer. To use the
language of von Baer, a generalized structure has become specialized,
and each of the special tissues produced exhibits its own structure and
properties. These changes are coincident with a rapid multiplication
of the cells by cleavage, and thus increase in size of the embryo ac-
companies specialization of structure. As the process continues, the
embryo gradually assumes the shape characteristic of the species to
which its parents belonged, until at length it is fit to be born and to
assume a separate existence.

The conversion of cells, at first uniform in character, into tissues of
a diverse kind, is due to forces inherent in the cells in each layer. The
cell plasm plays an active, though not an exclusive part in the special-
ization; for as the nucleus influences nutrition and secretion, it acts as
a factor in the differentiation of the tissues. When tissues so diverse
in character as muscular fiber, cartilage, fibrous tissues and bone arise
from the cells of the middle or mesoblast layer, it is obvious that, in
addition to the morphological differentiation affecting form and struc-

42 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ture, a chemical differentiation affecting composition also occurs, as the
result of which a physiological differentiation takes place. The tissues
and organs become fitted to transform the energy derived from the food
into muscular energy, nerve energy and other forms of vital activity.
Corresponding differentiations also modify the cells of the outer and
inner layers. Hence the study of the development of the generalized
cell layers in the young embryo enables us to realize how all the complex
constituent parts of the body in the higher animals and in man are
evolved by the process of differentiation from a simple nucleated cell —
the fertilized ovum. A knowledge of the cell and of its life-history is,
therefore, the foundation stone on which biological science in all its de-
partments is based.

If we are to understand by an organ in the biological sense a complex
body capable of carrying on a natural process, a nucleated cell is an
organ in its simplest form. In a unicellular animal or plant, such an
organ exists in its most primitive stage. The higher plants and animals
again are built up of multitudes of these organs, each of which, whilst
having its independent life, is associated with the others, so that the
whole may act in unison for a common purpose. As in one of your
great factories each spindle is engaged in twisting and winding its own
thread, it is at the same time intimately associated with the hundreds
of other spindles in its immediate proximity, in the manufacture of the
yarn, from which the web of cloth is ultimately to be woven.

It has taken more than fifty years of hard and continuous work to
bring our knowledge of the structure and development of the tissues and
organs of plants and animals up to the level of the present day. Amidst
the host of names of investigators, both at home and abroad, who have
contributed to its progress, it may seem invidious to particularize in-
dividuals. There are, however, a few that I cannot forbear to mention,
whose claim to be named on such an occasion as this will be generally
conceded.

Botanists will, I think, acknowledge Wilhelm Hof meister as a master
in morphology and embryology; Julius von Sachs as the most important
investigator in vegetable physiology during the last quarter of a century,
and Strasburger as a leader in the study of the phenomena of nuclear
division.

The researches of the veteran professor of anatomy in Wiirzburg,
Albert von Kolliker, have covered the entire field of animal histology.
His first paper, published fifty-nine years ago, was followed by a suc-
cession of memoirs and books on human and comparative histology and
embryology, and culminated in his great treatise on the structure of the
brain, published in 1896. Notwithstanding the weight of more than
eighty years, he continues to prosecute histological research, and has

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 43

published the results of his latest, though let us hope not his last, work
during the present year.

Amongst our countrymen, and belonging to the generation which
has almost passed away, was William Bowman. His investigations be-
tween 1840 and 1850 on the mucous membranes, muscular fiber and
the structure of the kidney, together with his researches on the organs
of sense, were characterized by a power of observation and of inter-
preting difficult and complicated appearances which has made his
memoirs on these subjects landmarks in the history of histological in-
quiry.

Of the younger generation of biologists, Francis Maitland Balfour,
whose early death is deeply deplored as a loss to British science, was
one of the most distinguished. His powers of observation and philo-
sophic perception gave him a high place as an original inquirer, and the
charm of his personality — for charm is not the exclusive possession of
the fairer sex — endeared him to his friends.

GENERAL MOEPHOLOGY.

Along with the study of the origin and structure of the tissues of
organized bodies, much attention has been given during the century to
the parts or organs in plants and animals, with the view of determining
where and how they take their rise, the order of their formation, the
changes which they pass through in the early stages of development and
their relative positions in the organism to which they belong. Investi-
gations on these lines are spoken of as morphological, and are to be dis-
tinguished from the study of their physiological or functional relations,
though both are necessary for the full comprehension of the living
organism.

The first to recognize that morphological relations might exist be-
tween the organs of a plant, dissimilar as regards their function, was the
poet, Goethe, whose observations, guided by his imaginative faculty, led
him to declare that the calyx, corolla and other parts of a flower, the
scales of a bulb, etc., were metamorphosed leaves, a principle generally
accepted by botanists, and, indeed, extended to other parts of a plant,
which are referred to certain common morphological forms, although
they exercise different functions. Goethe also applied the same prin-
ciple in the study of the skeletons of vertebrate animals, and he formed
the opinion that the spinal column and the skull were essentially alike
in construction, and consisted of vertebras, an idea which was also in-
dependently conceived and advocated by Oken.

The anatomist who in our country most strenuously applied himself
to the morphological study of the skeleton was Eichard Owen, whose
knowledge of animal structure, based upon his own dissections, was un-
rivaled in range and variety. He elaborated the conception of an ideal.

44 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

archetype vertebrate form which had no existence in nature, and to
which, subject to modifications in various directions, he considered all
vertebrate skeletons might be referred. Owen's observations were con-
ducted to a large extent on the skeletons of adult animals, of the knowl-
edge of which he was a master. As in the course of development modi-
fications in shape and in the relative position of parts not unfrequently
occur, and their original character and place of origin become obscured,
it is difficult, from the study only of adults, to arrive at a correct inter-
pretation of their morphological significance. When the changes which
take place in the skull during its development, as worked out by
Reichert and Eathke, became known and their value had become ap-
preciated, many of the conclusions arrived at by Owen were challenged
and ceased to be accepted. It is, however, due to that eminent
anatomist to state from my personal knowledge of the condition
of anatomical science in this country fifty years ago, that an enormous
impulse was given to the study of comparative morphology by his writ-
ings, and by the criticisms to which they were subjected.

There can be no doubt that generalized arrangements do exist in the
early embryo which, up to a certain stage, are common to animals that
in their adult condition present diverse characters, and out of which the
forms special to different groups are evolved. As an illustration of this
principle, I may refer to the stages of development of the great arteries
in the bodies of vertebrate animals. Originally, as the observations of
Rathke have taught us, the main arteries are represented by pairs of
symmetrically arranged vascular arches, some of which enlarge and con-
stitute the permanent arteries in the adult, whilst others disappear. The
increase in size of some of these arches, and the atrophy of others, are so
constant for different groups that they constitute anatomical features
as distinctive as the modifications in the skeleton itself. Thus in mam-
mals the fourth vascular arch on the left side persists, and forms the
arch of the aorta; in birds the corresponding part of the aorta is an en-
largement of the fourth right arch, and in reptiles both arches persist to
form the great artery. That this original symmetry exists also in man
we know from the fact that now and again his body, instead of corre-
sponding with the mammalian type, has an aortic arch like that which
is natural to the bird, and in rarer cases even to the reptile. A type
form common to the vertebrata does, therefore, in such cases exist,
capable of evolution in more than one direction.

The reputation of Thomas Henry Huxley as a philosophic compara-
tive anatomist rests largely on his early perception of, and insistence on,
the necessity of testing morphological conclusions by a reference to the
development of parts and organs, and by applying this principle in his
own investigations. The principle is now so generally accepted by both
botanists and anatomists that morphological definitions are regarded as

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 45

depending essentially on the successive phases of the development of the
parts under consideration.

The morphological characters exhibited by a plant or animal tend
to be hereditarily transmitted from parents to offspring, and the species
is perpetuated. In each species the evolution of an individual, through
the developmental changes in the egg, follows the same lines in all the
individuals of the same species, which possess, therefore, in common,
the features called specific characters. The transmission of these char-
acters is due, according to the theory of Weismann, to certain properties
possessed by the chromosome constituents of the segmentation nucleus
in the fertilized ovum, named by him the germ plasm, which is con-
tinued from one generation to another, and impresses its specific char-
acter on the egg and on the plant or animal developed from it.

As has already been stated, the special tissues which build up the
bodies of the more complex organisms are evolved out of cells which are
at first simple in form and appearance. During the evolution of the
individual, cells become modified or differentiated in structure and func-
tion, and so long as the differentiation follows certain prescribed lines
the morphological characters of the species are preserved. We can
readily conceive that, as the process of specialization is going on, modi-
fications or variations in groups of cells and the tissues derived from
them, notwithstanding the influence of heredity, may in an individual
diverge so far from that which is characteristic of the species as to as-
sume the arrangements found in another species, or even in another
order. Anatomists had, indeed, long recognized that variations from
the customary arrangement of parts occasionally appeared, and they de-
scribed such deviations from the current descriptions as irregularities.

DARWINIAN THEORY.

The signification of the variations which arise in plants and animals
had not been apprehended until a flood of light was thrown on the entire
subject by the genius of Charles Darwin, who formulated the wide-
reaching theory that variations could be transmitted by heredity to
younger generations. In this manner he conceived new characters
would arise, accumulate and be perpetuated, which would in the course
of time assume specific importance. New species might thus be evolved
out of organisms originally distinct from them, and their specific char-
acters would in turn be transmitted to their descendants. By a con-
tinuance of this process new species would multiply in many directions,
until at length, from one or more originally simple forms, the earth
would become peopled by the infinite varieties of plant and animal
organisms which have in past ages inhabited, or do at present inhabit
our globe. The Darwinian theory may, therefore, be defined as
heredity modified and influenced by variability. It assumes that there

46 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

is an heredity quality in the egg, which, if we take the common fowl for
an example, shall continue to produce similar fowls. Under conditions,
of which we are ignorant, which occasion molecular changes in the cells
and tissues of the developing egg, variations might arise in the first in-
stance probably slight, but becoming intensified in successive genera-
tions, until at length the descendants would have lost the characters of
the fowl and have become another species. No precise estimate has
been arrived at, and, indeed, one does not see how it is possible to obtain
it, of the length of years which might be required to convert a variation,
capable of being transmitted, into a new and definite specific character.

The circumstances which, according to the Darwinian theory, deter-
mined the perpetuation by hereditary transmission of a variety and its
assumption of a specific character depended, it was argued, on whether
it possessed such properties as enabled the plant or animal in which it
appeared to adapt itself more readily to its environment, i. e., to the
surrounding conditions. If it were to be of use, the organism in so far
became better adapted to hold its own in the struggle for existence with
its fellows and with the forces of nature operating on it. Through
the accumulation of useful characters the specific variety was perpetu-
ated by natural selection so long as the conditions were favorable for its
existence, and it survived as being the best fitted to live. In the study
of the transmission of variations which may arise in the course of devel-
opment, it should not be too exclusively thought that only those varia-
tions are likely to be preserved which can be of service during the life of
the individual, or in the perpetuation of the species, and possibly avail-
able for the evolution of new species. It should also be kept in mind
that morphological characters can be transmitted by hereditary descent,
which, though doubtless of service in some bygone ancestor, are in
the new conditions of life of the species of no physiological value. Our
knowledge of the structural and functional modifications to be found
in the human body, in connection with abnormalities and with tend-
encies or predisposition to diseases of various kinds, teaches us that
characters which are of no use, and indeed detrimental to the individual,
may be hereditarily transmitted from parents to offspring through a suc-
cession of generations.

Since the conception of the possibility of the evolution of new
species from pre-existing forms took possession of the minds of natural-
ists, attempts have been made to trace out the line on which it has
proceeded. The first to give a systematic account of what he conceived
to be the order of succession in the evolution of animals was Ernst
Haeckel, of Jena, in a well-known treatise. Memoirs on special depart-
ments of the subject, too numerous to particularize, have subsequently
appeared. The problem has been attacked along two different lines:
the one by embryologists, of whom may be named Kowalewsky, Gegen-

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 47

baur, Dohrn, Kay Lankester, Balfour and Gaskell, who, with many
others, have conducted careful and methodical inquiries into the stages
of development of numerous forms belonging to the two great divisions
of the animal kingdom. Invertebrates, as well as vertebrates, have been
carefully compared with each other in the bearing of their development
and structure on their affinities and descent, and the possible sequence
in the evolution of the Vertebrata from the Invertebrata has been dis-
cussed. The other method pursued by palaeontologists, of whom Hux-
ley, Marsh, Cope, Osborn and Traquair are prominent authorities, has
been the study of the extinct forms preserved in the rocks and the com-
parison of their structure with each other and with that of existing
organisms. In the attempts to trace the line of descent the imagination
has not unfrequently been called into play in constructing various con-
flicting hypotheses. Though from the nature of things the order of
descent is, and without doubt will continue to be, ever a matter of
speculation and not of demonstration, the study of the subject has been
a valuable intellectual exercise and a powerful stimulant to research.

We know not as regards time when the fiat went forth, 'Let there be
Life, and there was Life.' All we can say is that it must have been in the
far-distant past, at a period so remote from the present that the mind
fails to grasp the duration of the interval. Prior to its genesis our earth
consisted of barren rock and desolate ocean. When matter became
endowed with Life, with the capacity of self -maintenance and of resist-
ing external disintegrating forces, the face of nature began to undergo
a momentous change. Living organisms multiplied, the land became
covered with vegetation and multitudinous varieties of plants, from
the humble fungus and moss to the stately palm and oak, beautified
its surface and fitted it to sustain higher kinds of living beings. Animal
forms appeared, in the first instance simple in structure, to be followed
by others more complex, until the mammalian type was produced. The
ocean also became peopled with plant and animal organisms, from the
microscopic diatom to the huge leviathan. Plants and animals acted
and reacted on each other, on the atmosphere which surrounded them
and on the earth on which they dwelt, the surface of which became
modified in character and aspect. At last Man came into existence. His
nerve-energy, in addition to regulating the processes in his economy
which he possesses in common with animals, was endowed with higher
powers. When translated into psychical activity it has enabled him
throughout the ages to progress from the condition of a rude savage to
an advanced stage of civilization; to produce works in literature, art
and the moral sciences which have exerted, and must continue to exert,
a lasting influence on the development of his higher Being; to make
discoveries in physical science; to acquire a knowledge of the structure
of the earth, of the ocean in its changing aspects, of the atmosphere and

48 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the stellar universe, of the chemical composition and physical properties
of matter in its various forms, and to analyze, comprehend and subdue
the forces of nature.

By the application of these discoveries to his own purposes Man has,
to a large extent, overcome time and space; he has studded the ocean
with steamships, girdled the earth with the electric wire, tunneled the
lofty Alps, spanned the Forth with a bridge of steel, invented machines
and founded industries of all kinds for the promotion of his material
welfare, elaborated systems of government fitted for the management
of great communities, formulated economic principles, obtained an in-
sight into the laws of health, the causes of infective diseases and the
means of controlling and preventing them.

When we reflect that many of the most important discoveries in ab-
stract science and in its applications have been made during the present
century, and, indeed, since the British Association held its first meeting
in the ancient capital of your county sixty-nine years ago, we may look
forward with confidence to the future. Every advance in science pro-
vides a fresh platform from which a new start can be made. The human
intellect is still in process of evolution. The power of application and of
concentration of thought for the elucidation of scientific problems is by
no means exhausted. In science is no hereditary aristocracy. The army
of workers is recruited from all classes. The natural ambition of even
the private in the ranks to maintain and increase the reputation of the
branch of knowledge which he cultivates affords an ample guarantee
that the march of science is ever onwards, and justifies us in proclaim-
ing for the next century, as in the one fast ebbing to a close, that
Great is Science, and it will prevail.

POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 49

THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES DUEING
THE NEXT TEN CENTUEIES.

By H. S. PRITCHETT,

PRESIDENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.

IS it possible to predict with any degree of certainty the population
of a country like the United States for a hundred years to come?

Doubtless the average intelligent person would say a priori that
the growth of population is not a matter which can be made the sub-
ject of exact computation; that this growth is the result of many
factors; and that those factors are subject to such great fluctuations that
an estimate of the population a hundred years hence can be, in the
nature of the case, only a rough guess.

It is true that the growth of population depends on a number of
factors. It is also true that these factors vary in accordance with laws
which are at present not known. Nevertheless it does not by any
means follow that because the law of these variations is unknown we
cannot represent the variations themselves by a mathematical equation.
The problem of representing mathematically the law connecting a series
of observations for which theory furnishes no physical explanation is
one of the most common tasks to which the mathematician is called.
And it does not in the least diminish the value of such a mathematical
formula, for the purposes of prediction, that it is based upon no knowl-
edge of the real causes of the phenomena which it connects together.

To illustrate: The black spots on the sun have been objects of the
greatest interest to astronomers ever since Galileo pointed the first
feeble telescope at his glowing disc. These spots, as observed from
the earth, seem to pass across the disc from east to west as the sun
rotates on its axis.

Among the problems with which the possessors of the first tele-
scopes busied themselves were the observation of these spots for de-
termining the period of the sun's rotation. The observation is a very
simple one and consists merely in noting the time which elapses be-
tween successive returns of a spot to the central meridian of the disc.
The earlier observers were astonished to find that the different spots
gave different results for the rotation period, but it was only within
the last thirty years that the researches of Carrington brought out the
fact that these differences follow a regular law showing that at the solar
equator the time of rotation is less than on either side of it.

The explanation which is generally accepted to account for this
peculiar state of affairs is that the spots drift in the gaseous body of the

VOL. LVIII.— 4

5o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

sun and that this drift is most rapid near the equator and diminishes
towards the poles. But this after all only pushes the explanation a
little further back, and no satisfactory theory of this drifting of the
spots has ever been reached. Doubtless the phenomenon is due to a
large number of causes, acting together, whose resultant effect is shown
in the motion of the spots as we see them.

However that may be, and although we are still unable to give any
physical explanation of the phenomenon, a formula has been devised
which fits the observations fairly well and which enables the astronomer
to predict the motion of the spots with an accuracy comparable to the
observations themselves. This formula is a complicated one, when
written in its mathematical form, and involves a trigonometric function
of the latitude of the spot raised to a fractional power.

Now no one pretends that this intricate formula expresses any real
law of nature. But it does express the mathematical relation which
connects together the observations, and by means of it the motions of
the spots at different latitudes on the sun may be predicted with all
desirable accuracy.

The problem of deriving an equation which shall represent the
growth of the population of the United States during the past one
hundred and ten years and which may be used to predict its growth
through future decades, is exactly such a case as that of the sun's spots
just mentioned. The observations in this case consist of eleven de-
terminations of the population as given in the census returns from
1790 to 1890.

In studying these observations of population, taken at regular in-
tervals of ten years, it occurred to me some years ago to examine them
with some care in order to discover whether they were related to each
other in any orderly way, and if so whether they could be represented
by an equation of reasonable simplicity. It is evident that if an equa-
tion can be found which will fit the growth of population during the
hundred years which intervened between 1790 and 1890 it would form
the most probable basis for predicting the population of the future.

Somewhat to my surprise I discovered a comparatively simple equa-
tion which represented the census enumerations very closely and which,
notwithstanding the fluctuations in the various factors which affect the
growth of population, followed the general course of this growth with
remarkable fidelity, as will be seen by the following table, which shows
the population as given by the Census Bureau and as determined by
the empirical formula. The discrepancies between the observed popu-
lation and that computed from the formula are also given for the sake
of an easy comparison. In each case the population is given to the
nearest thousand, a figure far within the limit of error of the census
count.

POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Observed
Year. Population.

1790 3,929,000

1800 5,308,000

1810 7,240,000

1820 9,634,000

1830 12,866,000

1840 17,069,000

1850 23,192,000

1860 31,443,000

1870 38,558,000

1880 50,156,000

1890 62,622,000

Computed

Population.

Discrepancy.

4,012,000

83,000

5,267,000

41,000

7,059,000

181,000

9,569,000

65,000

12,985,000

119,000

17,484,000

415,000

23,250,000

58,000

30,468,000

975,000

39,312,000

754,000

49,975,000

181,000

62,634,000

12,000

The smallness of the discrepancies and the consequent close agree-
ment of the formula with the observations show that the growth of the
population has been a regular and orderly one. There are, however,
two residuals which have abnormally large values. The census of 1860
shows a population of 975,000 larger than the computed value, while
that of 1870 falls 754,000 below that of the computed value.

The explanation of these discrepancies is not far to seek. The
devastating effect of the war would show itself in the census of 1870
and succeeding years. The effect would be to give 1870 a smaller ob-
served value than would be expected. This is precisely what we find
to be the case, the census of that year falling 754,000 short of the com-
puted value. An abnormally small value in 1870 would, of course,
have its effect on the population of succeeding decades and would also
give an apparent difference of opposite sign to the observed population
in 1860.

There is, however, good reason to believe that the population in
1870 as determined by the census was much smaller than the actual
population at that time. Mr. Robert Porter, in Census Bulletin ISTo.
12, October 30, 1890, makes the statement that the census of 1870 was
grossly deficient in the Southern States and that a correct and honest
enumeration would have shown at that time a much larger population
than that actually returned by the Census Bureau. There are, of course,
no means of ascertaining exactly the extent of these omissions, but
there is no question that the population as computed by the formula for
1870 is far nearer the truth than the value given by the census for that
year.

However this may be, it is evident that the formula represents the
general law of growth which held between 1790 and 1890 with an ac-
curacy almost comparable with that of the census determinations them-
selves. The question of immediate interest, however, is not whether
the growth of population during the last century can be represented by
a mathematical formula, but it is that which stands at the beginning

52 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of this paper, viz., can the population of the United States an hundred
years hence be predicted within reasonable limits of error?

During the past century the factors which govern the growth of
population have fluctuated enormously; there have been wars and epi-
demics; there have been decades in which large numbers of emigrants
landed upon our shores and there have been other decades in which
emigrants were few; there have been years of plenty and years of want;
booms and panics, good times and hard times have had their share in
the century which has passed. Yet notwithstanding all these varying
conditions, the growth of the population has been a regular and orderly
one, so much so that it can be represented by a comparatively simple
mathematical equation. Can this equation be trusted to predict the
population in the decades which are to come?

How closely the formula will represent the population of the future
will depend, of course, upon the continuance of the same general con-
ditions which have held in the past. This does not mean that exactly
the same factors are to operate, but that on the whole the change of one
factor will be balanced by a change in another, so that in the main the
character of the growth manifested during the past century will be con-
tinued. A decided change in the birth-rate or a widespread famine
would bring out large discrepancies. But on the whole it may be ex-
pected that the experience of the last hundred years involves so many
varying conditions that the general law of growth which satisfies that
period will continue to approximate the development of the popula-
tion for a considerable time to come.

This does not mean that any particular census enumeration of the
future will be represented closely, but simply that in the main the com-
puted values will follow the general growth of the population. The
law of probabilities will lead one to expect at times considerable varia-
tions. The preliminary announcements from the Census Office, as
given in the daily papers, indicate a result for 1900 of about 75,700,000
people, a value considerably below the computed one. This would mean
that at this epoch the formula was not representing the actual growth,
but does not at all indicate that it will cease to represent the general
growth of the succeeding centuries. In any event this method furnishes
the most trustworthy estimate which can be made for the future, since
it gives the result which is mathematically most probable and which is
based on all the data of the past. Carrying forward, therefore, the
computation we obtain the following values for the most probable popu-
lation of the future:

Computed
Year. Population.

WOO 77,472,000

W10 94,673,000

POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 53

1920 114,416,000

1930 136,887,000

1940 162,268,000

1950 190,740,000

1960 222,067,000

1970 257,688,000

1980 296,814,000

1990 339,193,000

2000 385,860,000

2100 1,112,867,000

2500 11,856,302,000

2900 40,852,273,000

The law governing the increase of population, as generally stated,
is, that when not disturbed by extraneous causes such as emigration,
wars and famines, the increase of population goes on at a constantly
diminishing rate. By this is meant that the percentage of increase
from decade to decade diminishes. It will be noticed that the figures
just given involve such a decrease in the percentage of growth. A
simple differentiation of the formula gives as the percentage of in-
crease of the population per decade 32 per cent, in 1790, 24 per cent,
in 1880, 13 per cent, in 1990, while in one thousand years it will have
sunk to a little less than three per cent. But according to the formula
this percentage of increase will become zero, or the population become
stationary, only after the lapse of an indefinite period.

The figures just quoted are, to say the least, suggestive. Forming,
as they do, the most probable estimate we can make for the population
of the future, they suggest possibilities of the highest social and eco-
nomic interest. Within fifty years the population of the United States
(exclusive of Alaska, of Indians on reservations and of the inhabitants of
the recently acquired islands) will approximate 190 millions, and by the
year 2000 this number will have swelled to 385 millions of people;
while should the same law of growth continue for a thousand years the
number will reach the enormous total of 41 billions.

How great a change in the conditions of living this growth of popu-
lation would imply is, perhaps, impossible for us to realize. Great
Britain, at present one of the most densely populated countries of the
globe, contains about 300 inhabitants to the square mile. Should the
present law of growth continue until 2900 the United States would
contain over 11,000 persons to each square mile of surface.

With the growth of population our civilization is becoming more
and more complex and the drafts upon the stored energy of the earth
more enormous. As a consequence of all this, it would seem that life
in the future must be subject to a constantly increasing stress, which
will bring to the attention of individuals and of nations economic ques-
tions which at our time seem very remote.

54 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF TAXES.*

By EDWARD ATKINSON.

IN nearly all the discussions upon the subject of taxation which have
come to my notice, it is assumed that certain specific taxes fall
upon and are borne wholly by one class; other taxes fall upon and
are borne by a second class; and so on throughout the list. For in-
stance, in the discussion regarding a protective tariff it is held by the
advocates of protection that in some cases the imposition of a duty
reduces the price of the imported article in the foreign country from
which it comes. It is, therefore, held that such a tax may be put upon
the foreign producer and is not paid by the domestic consumer. It is
held that other duties on other imported articles are added to the cost
of importation, then as far as possible added to the price, and are thus
distributed in ratio to their consumption. Unless such should be the
result of imposing duties on foreign imports, namely, that they may
either be borne in the first instance by the foreign producer, or may
be distributed on the domestic consumer, there could be no continuous
import of any foreign product. Even if it could be proved that some
duties are paid by foreign producers, such reduction in price would limit
his power of purchase of our domestic goods taken in exchange.

It is also held that excise taxes on liquors and tobacco must be
charged to the cost of production, must be recovered from the sales and
are, therefore, distributed in ratio to consumption. It is held by the
advocates of what is called the single tax that a tax on rent or rental
values will be paid out of the rents accruing to the landlord, and that
this tax cannot be distributed by him, but that it simply diminishes
his income. It is held that a tax on incomes is paid by those who enjoy
the income, diminishing their resources. Finally, it is held that a tax
on inheritances and successions is taken out of the property and that it
cannot be distributed.

All these theories, presented in different forms, are and have been
subjects of discussion. They have been debated ever since the subject
of taxation became in any measure a matter of scientific inquiry. The
conclusions reached by different persons or schools of political economy
so-called, are as much at variance now as they have ever been.

I have reached the conclusion that all taxes, wherever placed, how-
ever imposed, and through whatever agency collected by the govern-

* Read before the Section of Economic and Social Science, American Association for the
Advancement of Science, June, 1900.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF TAXES. 55

ment, either national, State, city or town, are distributed, falling ulti-
mately upon all consumers in proportion to the quantity and value
of the product of the country consumed by each person.

What is the cost of each person to the community? Is it not what
each person consumes of the materials needed for shelter, food and
clothing? What does any one get in or out of life, in a material sense,
be he rich or poor, except what we call board and clothing? Incomes
in money are distributed. When paid for service that money becomes
the means by which the person who has performed the service procures
shelter, food and clothing.

If these points are well taken, then it seems to me that the only
problem is how much time will elapse before the tax will fall upon
the consumers of all products in ratio to consumption; an incidental
question being the relative cost of collecting the taxes in one way or
another.

I have been led to this conclusion that all taxes are slowly but
surely diffused throughout the community — some directly, others indi-
rectly— by reasoning upon the subject without measuring the tax in
terms of money — money being only the medium by which the real tax
is measured and brought to the use of the government. Does not the
same distinction apply to taxes that applies to wages? We are ac-
customed to speak of money wages and real wages, meaning by real
wages the things that money will buy. May we not in the same way
speak of money taxes and real taxes, meaning by real taxes the material
substances withdrawn from the community for the support of the em-
ployees of the government? Does not the real tax consist of the ma-
terial products needed by and consumed for the subsistence of the
officers of the government and of all persons who are in the government
service?

The annual product is substantially the source of these material
substances. A small part of one year's product is carried over to start
the next year's product, a small part of that year being carried forward
on which to begin work in the next. Production is a continuous
process, but it is governed practically by each series of four seasons.
Now, if the real tax is that part of the annual product withdrawn from
general consumption to serve the special consumption of the persons
who are in the government service, or are pensioned by the government,
then by so much as the annual product measured in quantities is
lessened in order to meet that demand, will the quantity remaining
for distribution among those who directly take part in productive work
be diminished.

In the expenditure of the money derived from taxation the govern-
ment secures materials for constructing buildings, for their furnishings
and fittings; for constructing coast defenses; for building naval vessels;

56 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

for supplying food, shelter and clothing to all government employees
and dependents. With respect to armaments, military and naval, all
the materials for the construction of vessels, forts, arms and equipments
must be taken from the common stock which is derived from the annual
product. The rations and clothing of soldiers, sailors and pensioners
must be provided in the same way.

It follows that by so much as these government forces, military and
naval, are increased will the proportion of products withdrawn from
productive consumption be augmented. If these military expenditures
go beyond the absolute requirements for defense, leading to the estab-
lishment of a large standing army and a great navy, every one must
bear his proportion of that burden, because what is taken from the
common stock for these destructive purposes is nothing but the material
for shelter, food and clothing which would otherwise be constructively
or productively expended. By so much as the burden of militarism is
augmented must poverty be increased.

I do not mean to give the idea that many of the functions of govern-
ment are not necessary and are not productive in a true sense. The
functions of the civil government are as necessary to the conduct of
productive industry and the government employees in this service are
as much needed as are the services of any other body of men who are
not directly occupied in the mechanical and manual work of production
or distribution. The officials of a just government supply mental
energy, the fourth and paramount factor in all production. Hence, the
constructive work of governments must be carefully kept distinct from
the destructive work of militarism. All that is taken from the annual
product either to pay debt incurred in war, or the interest thereon,
or for the support of armies or navies, is destructive and not con-
structive in its immediate application to any given year. By so much
as food, shelter and clothing are taken from the annual product for
military or destructive purposes, by so much is the quantity lessened
which would otherwise be consumed for reproductive purposes. Whether
or not such destructive consumption may be justified or otherwise is not
a question at issue in this discussion; I merely present the facts and
intend to show what militarism costs.

We now come to the relative burden of taxation. If by way of tax-
ation so large a part of the annual product is taken for destructive pur-
poses as to leave less than a sufficient supply for necessity and comfort,
then the time has come for revision and removal of taxes lest degenera-
tion should ensue. The case of Italy may be cited. It is stated by
Italian economists that from twenty-five to thirty per cent, of the an-
nual product of Italy is expended in support of the government, mainly
for the destructive purposes of militarism; the consequences being that
great bodies of people cannot get enough to eat — there is not enough to

THE DISTRIBUTION OF TAXES. $7

go round. Of course, the richer classes can buy what they need, there-
fore the ultimate and destructive burden of militarism falls upon the
poor and the incapable. I think it cannot fail to be admitted that by so
much as products are taken by the government for consumption outside
the civil service, mainly for military purposes, in the form of food, fuel,
metal, timber and the like, by so much is there less of these materials
to be expended for subsistence and for the construction of dwelling
houses, factories, workshops and the mechanism of productive industry.
If such productive consumption is retarded by an excessive tax on in-
heritances or on incomes, then the accumulation of capital is retarded,
and by so much must the rate of interest or profit be higher than it
would otherwise have been. The distribution may be very remote, but
it is very certain, unless one is prepared to admit the absurd cry of
over-production and to defend a waste of substance by way of taxation
in order to get rid of it.

All these material substances which are applied in the end to the
supply of shelter, food and clothing are the joint product of land, labor,
capital and mental energy. They are derived directly or indirectly from
the field, the forest, the mine or the sea. There can be no large produc-
tion conducted exclusively by labor; tools are necessary. Tools are capi-
tal, whether used by hand or worked by power. On the other hand, there
can be no production exclusively derived from capital; tools and mechan-
ism without human power or direction are inert. Land is the basis of all
production, yet raw land is practically inert. Land is but a tool or in-
strument of production and has been so ever since the nomadic life
gave place to civilized life. Again, there can be no great product,
of either land, labor or capital, of either manual or mechanical work,
without the directing or coordinating power of mental energy, bringing
all these material forces to a constantly augmenting product in ratio to
the number of persons occupied in their conduct.

If, then, the entire product of land, labor, capital and mental energy
in a given period, consisting of four seasons or one year, is represented
by the symbol A, that part of the product which is converted to the
uses of government by taxation may be represented by the symbol B;
then A minus B equals X, the unknown quantity. If X, the unknown
quantity, is the share of the annual product of material substances
used for shelter, food and clothing, then the whole burden of taxation,
wherever imposed and however collected, with all the expenses of col-
lection, be they greater or less, must fall in the end upon all consumers
in proportion to their consumption by diminishing the quantity or value
of X.

It follows that if the demand of governments takes so large a por-
tion of the product that what is left is insufficient to meet the necessity
and comfort of those who are not in the government service, then, aa

58 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

a matter of course, the people with the larger incomes will buy all they
need with the necessary consequence that the final burden falls on those
least able to bear it.

All systems of taxation have adjusted themselves more or less logi-
cally to these conditions.

It has been found in practice among all civilized nations that any
large amount of taxation must be derived from a few articles of very
general use; as, for instance, our national taxes on liquors and tobacco
have for twenty years preceding the Spanish war annually averaged two
dollars and a half ($2.50) per head, that rate sufficing to meet the nor-
mal expenses of the government during the same period. That is to
say, taxes on liquors and tobacco, domestic and foreign, have annually
yielded a revenue in money sufficient for twenty years prior to the
Spanish war for the support of the civil service, and the army and the
navy before these forces were augmented beyond the requirement of
national defense. The taxes necessary to meet pensions and interest
have been derived from other sources. In other words, under normal
conditions, had we paid the national debt, as we might have many
years ago without feeling the burden in any considerable measure, and
had our pensions been limited to true cases, the people of this country
would only have been called upon to forego a part of their consumption
of liquors and tobacco in order to support the national government. At
the present time, under the augmented taxes on liquors and tobacco, the
revenue from these sources is between three dollars and a half ($3.50)
and four dollars ($4) per head.

Great Britain, France and Germany derive a large part of their
revenues from the same sources, namely, from these and other articles
which are consumed in largest measure by the millions rather than by
the millionaires. These taxes are collected at the least cost for collec-
tion and they meet a true canon of taxation, taking from consumers a
part of a product which consumers can spare without impairing their
productive energy.

Again, we may find the almost necessary resort of the British Gov-
ernment in India to a salt tax, because it is only through the tax on
salt that the masses of the people can be reached, the next great resource
of East Indian revenue being what is practically a single tax on land,
assessed directly without regard to the relative product year by year.
These taxes on salt and land admittedly reduce a large part of the popu-
lation of India to such condition of extreme poverty that when a bad
year comes famine devastates the land. The hoards of wealth in India
are enormous, but they cannot be reached. The problem of taxation
in India is not a question of will but of power to collect.

The octroi tax imposed upon the traffic of the city with the country,
now in force in France, Italy and some other countries, rendered neces-

THE DISTRIBUTION OF TAXES. 59

sary by the magnitude of the burden of taxation, is one of the most ob-
noxious of all methods of distributing military burdens.

Finally, the relative burden of taxation cannot be estimated nation
by nation by mere computation in symbols or money. The taxation
by the measure of money of the United States for national purposes be-
fore the war with Spain was five dollars per head, tending to lessen.
In Great Britain and Germany taxes for the same purposes were about
ten dollars per head; in France about fifteen dollars. But this is no
measure of the true burden of taxation. The annual product of this
country measured by quantities is vastly greater than that of any Euro-
pean country. It may be approximately estimated twenty-five per cent,
greater than that of the people of Great Britain and Ireland, thirty to
forty per cent, greater than that of France, double that of Germany,
and much more than double that of Italy. Hence, the real taxation of
these European countries under their military establishments is vastly
more than the mere symbols in money make it appear.

It follows that if all taxes in money stand for that part of the annual
product required by Government, and that by so much as the product is
diminished will the share falling to labor and capital be lessened, the
only way to prevent taxation becoming a cause of pauperism or poverty
is to limit the taxes to the necessary conduct of civil government and to
national defense, avoiding aggression and forbidding armaments for any
purpose except defense.

6o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT NOW AND A HUNDRED

YEARS AGO.

By CLINTON ROGERS WOODRUFF.

A HUNDRED years has wrought marvelous changes. The maps
of Asia, Europe and America, of the world, have been changed.
The United States of America has fought four wars and demonstrated
her prowess on sea and land, at home and abroad. The country has
grown from a handful of States strung along the Atlantic seaboard to
a great and powerful nation, extending from sea to sea, conquering
and subduing in its growth a mighty continent — the mightiest in its
latent possibilities on the face of the globe. Commerce and industry
and transportation have grown with equal, if not greater, strides, and
the time is not far distant, if it has not already arrived, when America
will dominate the world along these lines.

Our development thus far has been extensive; during the coming
century it will be intensive. A few more decades and the partition
of the globe among the world powers will be practically completed;
then we shall be compelled to cultivate with closer attention and greater
zeal and more care our resources. Intensive culture will succeed ex-
tensive cultivation. The great mechanical inventions of the nine-
teenth century have directly aided the extensive movement — the steam
railway, the steamship, the telegraph, the cable, the telephone; the
inventions of the next century will as directly aid the intensive move-
ment— they will be designed to make the most of what we have.

Our political problems have also been problems of extension. First,
the government and division of the Northwest Territory; then the
acquisition and organization of the Louisiana Territory; of Florida; of
Texas; of the Southwest Territory; of the Oregon country and Cali-
fornia; then the settlement of the great question as to whether the
country should be divided, and its reconstruction on the principle that
it was one and indivisible; and latterly, Hawaii, Porto Rico and the
Philippines. The political problems of the twentieth century will deal
with questions of internal development and improvement. The gov-
ernment control, ownership and operation of the great natural monop-
olies, civil service and constitutional reforms will occupy the time and
attention of our statesmen.

Our municipal growth and development during the past hundred
years has likewise been along the lines of extension. Our cities have
grown in numbers, population and territory. The figures are so

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 61

familiar and have been so frequently exploited as to obviate the neces-
sity of repetition. The papers are and have been full of Metropolitan
Boston, Greater New York, Greater Chicago, Greater Jersey City,
Greater Newark — Philadelphia has been Greater Philadelphia since
1854, when the Consolidation Act made the City and County of Phila-
delphia co-terminous. Indeed, municipal expansion seems to be quite
as much the vogue, quite as much the logical sequence of events, quite
as much the outgrowth of an inherent Anglo-Saxon instinct, as national
expansion.

This development has not been confined to population and terri-
tory, but has extended to municipal functions as well. In 1800, if
an American city provided for paving the streets and cleansing them
of the grosser and fouler impurities; for a few night watchmen and a
handful of constables; for cleaning and repairing the sewers and docks;
and for lighting the streets with miserable oil-lamps, its 'Fathers'
thought that they were performing their whole duty to the inhabitants.

According to a recent authority (Parsons, in 'Municipal Monopolies',
1898), the various courts of this country have decided that the fol-
lowing are now proper public purposes and proper objects of municipal
control and ownership: "Roads, bridges, sidewalks, sewers, ferries,
markets, scales, wharves, canals, parks, baths, schools, libraries,
museums, hospitals, lodging houses, poorhouses, jails, cemeteries, pre-
vention of fire, supply of water, gas, electricity, heat, power, transpor-
tation, telegraph and telephone service, clocks, skating-rinks, musical
entertainments, exhibitions of fireworks, tobacco warehouses, employ-
ment offices."

We have made but a beginning, however, according to the testi-
mony of another recent writer (Dr. Milo E. Maltbie, in 'Municipal
Functions', page 784), who says:

"Whither is all this tending? Whatever a few years since may
have been the answer suggested by conservatism, there is to-day but
one, and that so obvious as scarcely to be questioned. The extension
of municipal functions in the direction in which the city is to act as
the servant of the individual has barely begun; and its scope, certain
to be indefinitely increased in a comparatively near future, is to be
measured only by the resources of developing invention and enterprise,
so rapidly developing of late that their early realization will be such as
to be unthinkable now. The individual will have cheap facilities for
transport and communication. The product of his labor will be mul-
tiplied in advantage to him by the cooperation for which cities alone
give a chance. He will not be left to the hard paths which chance
may afford for education of his mind and his senses, but have this
facilitated by every device of civilization. It is, therefore, natural,
inevitable, indeed, that there should be provided for him first, water,
the prime essential of life and health; next, the first of its conveniences
— artificial light; later, those universal incidents of its growth — high-

62 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

way facilities (including power supply, as well as a clear path); and,
finally, education and recreation."

The tremendous advances of municipal government during the
present century can be best and most graphically demonstrated by a
comparison of the respective budgets of a single city for the years
1800 and 1899. Let us take Philadelphia as an example. According
to Allinson & Penrose, in their work on the 'Government of Philadel-
phia' (pages 115-116), the budget for the former year as contained
in the ordinance of February 20, 1800, was as follows

To meet the deficiency of the tax of 1799 $1,315.44

Interest on water loan 4,200.00

Interest on debts due the banks 1,200.00

Purchase of paving stones and repair of old pavements 1,600.00

Repairs to unpaved streets, &c, paving intersections 2,400.00

For cleansing city 11,250.00

Cleansing and repairing sewers and docks 1,850.00

Lighting and watching the city 18,000.00

Repaifs-ef pumps and wells 2,500.00

Regulating streets 400.00

Center Square improvements 1,650.00

Salaries of City Commissioners and clerk 2,800.00

Expenses of City Commissioners and clerk 100.00

Salaries to Mayor, Recorder, High Constable, clerks and

messengers of Councils 3,000.00

Pay of constables for patrolling streets on the Sabbath day. . 156.00

Incidental expenses of Councils 600.00

Residuary fund for preventing and removing nuisances 4,478.56

Reimbursement from tax fund to corporate fund, 1799 165.92

Other advances by citizens 360.00

Salaries of clerks of markets 1,200.00

Menial service in markets 560.00

Repairs, &c 700.00

Meeting contract engagements for maintenance of two steam

engines 8,000.00

Total $68,485.92

The expenditures for 1899 (exclusive of the amounts appropriated
for the maintenance of the county offices) were:

Mayor's Office $587,770.00

Bureau of Charities 500,308.00

Bureau of Correction 203,295.00

Department of Public Safety —

' Director's Office 18,721.25

Bureau of Health 251,838.08

Bureau of Building Inspectors 46,636.75

Bureau of City Property 777,751.73

Electrical Bureau 1,118,017.78

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 63

Bureau of Boiler Inspection $15,650.00

Bureau of Fire 979,501.20

Bureau of Police 2,732,483.31

Department of Public Works —

Director's Office 27,963.49

Bureau of City Ice Boats 22,900.00

Bureau of Highways 3,343,789.92

Bureau of Street Cleaning 903,033.00

Bureau of Lighting 287,690.00

Bureau of Surveys 5,014,008.36

Bureau of Water 2,519,425.00

Board of Port Wardens 20,208.40

Board of Eevision 147,255.00

Department of City Commissioners 921,054.50

Department of City Comptroller 60,249.52

Department of Law 155,490.00

Department of City Treasurer 4,416,867.43

Department of Clerks of Councils 140,237.95

Fairmount Park Commission 596,104.69

Reed Street Prison 87,172.25

Holmesburg Prison 84,307.43

Public Building Commission 1,011,194.43

Department of Receiver of Taxes 163,205.93

Department of Sinking Fund Commissioners 1,450.00

Department of Education 5,068,253.94

Nautical School of Pennsylvania 20,000.00

Department of Gas 5,921.54

Total $30,958,382.88

In the year 1897, $3,399,672.43 were appropriated to the Bureau of
Gas; but in that year the city (through its Councils and the Mayor)
leased the gas works to a private corporation, so that now the city has
to maintain a department for inspection only.

The population in 1800 was 70,287, the budget $68,485.92; the per
capita expense, therefore, 97 cents. The population in 1899 was ap-
proximately 1,115,000; the budget $30,958,382.88; the per capita ex-
pense, $27.76. This great increase is due mainly to the fact that the
city does more for the citizen than it did one hundred years ago, and is
constantly doing more, and partly to the fact that a much larger ter-
ritory is covered.

In 1897 Philadelphia had 433 public schools, with 3,465 teach-
ers; in 1800 there were none. In 1899 there were 2,191 policemen,
commanded by 6 captains, 34 lieutenants, 196 sergeants, with 23 patrol
wagons, and requiring an appropriation of $2,732,483.31; in 1800 there
was a handful of constables, paid out of an appropriation of $18,000
'for lighting and watching the city', and another of $156 for 'patrolling
streets on the Sabbath day\ In 1899 there were 46 fire engines, 32
combination wagons and chemical engines, 15 chemical engines, 13

64 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

hooks and ladders, 15 hose carts, manned by 736 firemen, including 1
chief, 8 assistant chiefs and 57 foremen, and the appropriation for the
whole bureau amounted to $979,501.20: in 1800 the city was dependent
on volunteer fire companies of limited usefulness. In 1899 the sum of
$1,118,017.78 was appropriated for electric lighting and $279,930.00
for gasoline lighting, and 19,417 gas lamps were lighted by the gas
company; in 1800, $18,000 sufficed for 'watching and lighting" the
city.

It is when we come to consider the activities of a bureau like the
Electrical Bureau of Philadelphia, however, that we find the most
amazing developments. I was about to say changes and advances, but
there was nothing corresponding to it a century ago. Chief Walker, of
the Electrical Bureau, in a recent report to the Director of Public
Safety, summed up the situation in these words:

"Among the many bureaus in the department over which you so
ably exercise the directorship, there is none, perhaps, whose duties
are so varied and which embraces a system so diversified in its branches
and which is required to be so persistently active, as the Electrical
Bureau. Correspondents from other cities frequently ask what duties
are concentrated in, and what knowledge is necessary to an effectual
supervision of the affairs of the Electrical Bureau. An enumeration
of the various duties assigned includes, among others, the Police Tele-
graph, the artery through which the orders and wishes of the officials
of the executive branches of the municipality are transmitted, and the
medium of communication for all municipal affairs requiring immediate
attention; the Fire Signal System, over whose wires the signals are sent
from localities threatened with the dangers of a conflagration; the Fire
Alarm System, by means of which the signals received over the Fire
Signal System are transmitted to those skilled and trained in the
handling of the magnificent apparatus provided for the suppression of
fire; the Fire Signal and Telephone System, a very efficient auxiliary to
the Bureau of Fire, by means of which verbal communication is pos-
sible between the Chief of the Bureau and his aids, and which at the
same time serves as an additional means of transmitting alarms to the
Bureau of Fire; the Police Signal and Telephone System, by means of
which the officials of the Bureau of Police are in almost constant touch
with the patrolmen while on their respective beats, and which has
proved its value many times over; the Trunk Line, between the local and
long distance telephone exchanges entering the City Hall, which are of
necessity under control of this office, centering at a switchboard in the
operating room, where the necessary connections are made by employees
of this bureau; the Telephone Service between the police stations and
their sub-stations, by means of which the officers in charge of the district
are in constant communication with their subordinates. The armories
of the National Guards and the officers of the various hospitals are in
direct communication with and the services connecting them are super-
vised and maintained by this bureau.

What might be termed the general municipal telephone system,
embracing the system of inter-communication in City Hall and con-

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 65

nections with all officers that are not yet installed therein, and all other
municipal telephone connections are centered in and controlled by this
bureau.

All electric lights authorized by Councils are located and their erec-
tion supervised by this bureau. Tests of electric lights so authorized
and erected are made by us, and if not up to contract standard, deduc-
tions are made from the contracting companies' bills.

By ordinance of Councils, we are required to locate each and every
pole for telegraph, telephone, electric light, trolley, or whatever elec-
trical purpose, to issue a license for the same, for which, with the ex-
ception of the trolley poles, a fee payable at the City Treasury is charged.
No poles or wires can be erected within the city limits without a permit
issued from this bureau, describing its location, if a pole, and its di-
rection, if a wire.

All conduits for municipal electrical purposes authorized by Coun-
cils are laid by this bureau, as are cables necessary for the connection
of the various municipal electrical services. All scientific electrical
tests of cables are also made by this bureau.

As a member of the Board of Highway Supervisors, the Chief of the
Bureau is required to pass upon the location and position of all electrical
constructions under and over the highways, and to approve of the ma-
terials used and the methods employed in its installation and main-
tenance. All minor details of electrical construction necessary to the
needs of a municipality are formulated and carried forward to successful
completion."

Surely a wonderful work; unheard of, yes — I venture to say, un-
thought of, in the mind of the most imaginative thinker a century ago!

Search we never so carefully, we can find nothing in the budget or
reports of 1800, or for those of many years later, which in anywise ap-
proaches or approximates this work — for the simplest of reasons — that
electricity had not as yet been harnessed to bring the distant near and to
eliminate space. Fancy the constable of 1800 communicating every
hour with his headquarters without leaving his beat; or having an
alarm of fire sounded simultaneously in every section of the city, no
matter how remote! Imagine the look of incredulity which would
descend upon a citizen who was told that he could be placed in com-
munication with a city official in less than a minute and without leaving
his office!

Our municipalities have grown and have developed along extensive
lines to an unexpected degree, and the same factors that have been at
work in our national development in the same direction have been at
work in our municipal development, and the same observation will ap-
ply— the next century's development in our cities will be along inten-
sive lines. Already, we see the tide setting in this direction. Take, for
instance, the growing demand for charter reform. During the ex-
pansive period of a city, everything is sacrificed to size and numbers;
the form and methods of government are considered as of secondary

VOL. LVIII.— 5

66 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

importance. When this period is passed there comes a time when the
necessity for a conscious adjustment of the form of government to the
new conditions and environment becomes paramount; then follows the
demand for a new charter; and charter amendments and charter con-
ventions become the order of the day.

Recognizing that we had reached this stage of our development, the
National Municipal League, at its Louisville meeting, held in 1897,
adopted the following resolution :

"Resolved, That the Executive Committee appoint a committee of
ten to report on the feasibility of a municipal program, which will em-
body the essential principles that must underlie successful municipal
government, and which shall also set forth a working plan or system,
consistent with American industrial and political conditions, for putting
such principles into practical operation; and such committee, if it finds
such municipal program to be feasible, is instructed to report the same,
with the reasons therefor, to the League for consideration."

The committee thus authorized presented its preliminary report at
the Indianapolis Conference for Good City Government in 1898, and
its final report to the Columbus Conference in 1899. While it is fully
aware that its "recommendations do not constitute the last word on
the subject, nevertheless the fact that a body of men of widely divergent
training, of strong personal convictions, and who approached the matter
in hand from essentially different points of view, could and did come
to unanimous agreement that a 'Municipal Program' was feasible and
practicable, and by fair and full comparison of opinion were able to
embody the result of their agreement in definite propositions, is a
hopeful augury." This committee realized that "good government is
not to be achieved at a stroke, nor do we exaggerate the importance
of the form of governmental organization as a factor contributory to
this end. Civic advance in general, and municipal efficiency in par-
ticular, are the result of a combination of forces, of which higher stand-
ards of public opinion and lofty civic ideals are the most important."

Another sign of the times is the formation of organizations like
the League of American Municipalities, the State Leagues of Muni-
cipalities, the American Society of Municipal Improvements, the Na-
tional Association of Municipal Electricians, the various societies of
fire and police and other municipal officials. These indicate that those
who are actually and directly responsible for the administration of
municipal government are awakening to their responsibilities, to the
need of conference to advance the interests committed to their care.
The time was, and that not very far distant, when the principal rivalry
between cities was confined to population figures and extent of territory.
Now a healthful and auspicious competition based on efficiency is

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 67

springing up, and such societies and organizations as those to which I
have referred foster and encourage this tendency.

We have only to examine the program of conventions such as that
held under the auspices of these societies to be convinced of the earnest-
ness and sincerity of purpose of their sponsors. Hard practical ques-
tions of municipal administration are to the front. The men come
together to exchange views and ideas as to how to conduct certain lines
of municipal business — not to listen to useless, though perhaps grace-
ful, oratory and senseless bombast and adulation. Some may decry con-
ventions; but certainly not such as serve so useful a purpose as those
conducted under the associations already mentioned. They are a sign
of the times — a most auspicious sign of the times. Do you read any-
where a century ago that the mayors or aldermen or constables of that
time came together to confer about municipal affairs? We may not
hear of them a century hence, because they may have performed their
function and gone the way of other good and useful means to an end;
but at this time they indicate the change taking place in our develop-
ment; the change in emphasis.

I do not propose to indulge in prophecy. I am not so gifted with
foresight as to be able to peer into the future and read its message.
I can only express a personal opinion as to the possible result of present
tendencies, based upon a study of present and past developments. I
have already indicated what I believe will be the greatest change, that
from extensive to intensive growth and development, and with this will
come a great amelioration of many of the present-day evils.

The instinct for territorial expansion gratified, the various world
powers and their possessions will tend more and more to assume a con-
dition of permanent equilibrium. Great armaments and vast armies
will become less and less necessary. Economic causes plus political
necessity plus moral growth will gradually result in the substitution of
mediation, arbitration and conciliation for warfare and bloodshed. Al-
ready the beginning of this substitution is at hand. We have the
Argentine-Italian treaty providing for the submission of practically
every difficulty to arbitration; similar treaties under consideration; and
the Delagoa Bay arbitration has just been completed.

The accomplishment of these ends will result in a transfer of
political energy and ability. Constructive statesmanship, liberated
from considerations of expansion and colonization, will be free to devote
itself to the great questions of internal improvement. Our muni-
cipalities will correspondingly benefit and will have at their command
that genius and that ability which seem to be a chief characteristic
of the Anglo-Saxon race, but which hitherto have been absorbed by
national and international activities.

Civil service reform, which lies at the very foundation of efficient

68 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

government, will become an accomplished fact from the very necessity
of things. A century ago there was no need for it, because the number
of offices was so small and the interests involved practically so limited.
A century hence the number of offices will be so great and the interests
so vast, that it will be an impossibility to administer them upon any
other basis. Public opinion on fundamental political questions changes
slowly; but already we see evidences that there is a growing resentment
to the use of public office to pay political debts. The business instinct
of the people is slowly but surely asserting itself to the same end.
There is a growing appreciation of the fact that an electrical bureau
or an engineering bureau or a survey bureau cannot be successfully and
efficiently conducted on a spoils basis.

No one doubts or denies that municipal reform is to-day a great
and pressing problem, constantly attracting more and more attention
and bidding fair, in the course of advancing years, to become a domi-
nating one. When we have accomplished what we are now striving
for — civil service reform, the elimination of State and national politics
from the consideration of municipal affairs, the conduct of the latter
upon enlightened principles, the extension of educational facilities,
municipal reform will choose other objects for its end; otherwise,
America would not be true to its Anglo-Saxon heritage. One reform
achieved, then the Anglo-Saxon presses forward to another. He would
not be true to his instinct if he did not. We may not, and I for one
believe we shall not, be discussing civil service reform, ballot reform,
municipal ownership, a century hence; nor will a National Municipal
League perhaps be needed to preach the doctrine of an aroused civic
consciousness. These will be accomplished facts, if we may judge of
the future by the past and present — but none of these things will come
to pass unless every one who now feels the obligations of his political
duties is true to the best that is within him. The secret of the greatness
of America and England in the civilization of the world is that there
has always been a sufficient number of men to respond when a Nelson
eaid, 'England expects every man to do his duty.' Whenever that day
passes, then the greatness of the Anglo-Saxon race shall have departed.

CHINA. 69

CHINA.*

By WILLIAM BARCLAY PARSONS.

EVEE since the days when Marco Polo brought back to Europe the
seeming fairy tales of the wonderland of the Far East, the coun-
try to which we have applied the name of China has been a field more
and more attractive for commercial conquest.

At the close of the nineteenth century, when the ever-rising tide of
industrial development has succeeded in sweeping over Europe,
America, the better portion of Africa, of Western Asia and India, it is
the Chinese Wall alone that resists its waves. The movement, however,
is irresistible, and not even the exclusiveness of the Chinese and their
extreme disinclination to change their ways will be a sufficient protec-
tion against it; the recent so-called 'Boxer5 outbreak will probably prove
to be the death knell to Chinese resistance. Whatever may be the out-
come of this outbreak, in so far as it affects the government, or the
political integrity of the country, it can be predicated in safety that the
commercial and industrial life of China will be revolutionized, and the
beginning of the twentieth century will be found to mark the dawning
of a new era.

The present moment when we are about to pass from the old into the
new state of things is a fitting time to survey the field of industrial enter-
prise by examining into what has been done and to ascertain the sort of
foundation that has been prepared, on which the Chinese people, aided
at first by foreigners, will eventually of themselves erect their own in-
dustrial structure.

In the consideration of this very interesting land there seems to be
a surprise at every turn, and one of the most peculiar is that we are met
at the outset by the curious circumstance that it is a country without a
name. The Chinese themselves have no fixed designation for their
country, using as a general thing either the 'Middle Kingdom,' or the
'Celestial Kingdom,' or the 'Great Pure Kingdom.' The interpretation
of the first is that the people consider China to be the center of the
world, all the other countries surrounding and being tributary to it;
although the term probably originated when what is now the Province
of Ho-nan was the central kingdom of several other kingdoms which
went to make up a united country. The name 'Celestial Kingdom' is a
piece of self -flattery, the Chinese Emperor being called in like manner

*Thia article will form part of a book entitled "An American Engineer in China," to be
published shortly by Messrs. McClure, Phillips & Co.

70 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the 'Son of Heaven;' while the last name, that of the 'Great Pure King-
dom,' follows the designation of the present ruling house, which styles
itself the 'Pure Dynasty,' in contradistinction to the preceeding dynasty
which it overthrew, and which was called the Ming or 'Bright Dynasty.'
The foreigner's appellation of China is of uncertain origin, hut it is sup-
posed to mean the land of Chin or Tsin, a family that ruled about
250 B. c, and even this name is used indiscriminately as covering two
areas very different in size. When we use the word China it may mean
the Chinese Empire proper, the empire of the eighteen provinces; or it
may mean the eighteen provinces and the dependencies of Manchuria,
Mongolia and Tibet, whose bond of attachment to the empire, in
strength, is in the above order. The eighteen provinces comprise in
area about 1,500,000 square miles, or an area about equal to that por-
tion of the United States lying east of Colorado. The shape of the
empire proper is substantially rectangular, extending from the latitude
of 42° north, which is about that of New York, to 18° north, or the lati-
tude of Vera Cruz. When the dependencies are included under the title
of China the northern boundary is carried to the forty-eighth parallel, or
6ay the latitude of New Foundland, and the whole has an area of over
4,000,000 square miles, a greater surface than that of Europe, or of the
United States and Alaska combined. This great area is reputed to sup-
port a population of upwards of 400,000,000; figures, however, which
I will later point out to be, in my belief, a gross exaggeration, but
the balance, even after the most conservative reductions, will still easily
be the greatest single contiguous conglomeration of people under one
ruler. Racially speaking, they are a conglomeration. Who the Chinese
were originally is not known. It is generally believed that they came
from Western or Central Asia, and, conquering the scattering nomadic
tribes inhabiting what is now China, seized their country.

In the dependencies and Chinese proper we find distinctly different
peoples, with their individual customs; while scattered about the empire
proper are settlements of strange tribes, whose origin is absolutely un-
known but who are believed to be relics of the aboriginal inhabitants.

Lack of intercommunication has allowed the language of the Chinese
to become locally varied, and to such an extent, that although the
written characters are the same, the spoken dialect of the North and
South are so different as to be mutually unintelligible. There are said
to be in the empire proper eight dialects, each again being many times
subdivided by local colloquialisms. Of these dialects the most im-
portant is the so-called Mandarin or Pekingese, the dialect of the North
and the official language of the country, for it is the one which all gov-
ernment officials are required to learn and use. It therefore holds the
position in respect to other dialects that the French formerly held in
Europe as the Court tongue, or language of diplomacy and officialism.

CHINA.

Historically, China enjoys the distinction of being the oldest con-
tinuing nation in the world. Fairly authentic records trace back the
course of events to about 3,000 years b. c, so that it rightly claims an
existence of at least 5,000 years. Previous to this period there is a vast
amount of legendary matter in which probability and fiction have not
yet been separated.

China's own historians, with characteristic conceit, make out their
country's history to be contemporaneous with time. Owing to her
seclusion and isolation from the affairs of other nations, China's history
possesses a local rather than a world's interest, and for the most part is
a record of the rise and fall of the several tribes or peoples going to make
up the nation, each such change establishing a new dynasty. However,
there are certain epochs of general interest and certain salient points in
the nation's development and growth that should be understood and
kept in mind if any study of China or of things Chinese is undertaken.

Accepted Chinese chronology begins with the reign of Fuh-hi in
the year 2852 b. c. As to the significance of that date it is interesting
to note that it is four hundred years before the rise of the Egyptian
monarchy, five hundred years before that of Babylon and precedes the
reputed time of Abraham by a period almost as long as the whole record
of English history, from the conquest to the present time.

In the Chau Dynasty, which lasted from b. c. 1122 to b. c. 249, we
find the great period in Chinese literature, an era comparable with that
of Elizabeth in our records. In 550 b. c. Confucius was born, whose
philosophical reasonings, owing to the long time he antedated the spread
of Christianity and Mohammedanism, have affected the thought of more
human beings than the writings or sayings of any other man, with the
possible exception of Buddha.

Although Confucius is the central figure of the epoch, there are at
least two other men substantially contemporaneous with him, and who
are but only a little less prominent, Liao-tze, who preceded him fifty
years, and Mencius, who followed him one hundred years. The former
was a religious philosopher, on whose writings there has been founded
the doctrine of Taoism. This philosophy is based on Eeason (Tao) and
Virtue (Teh), and is of interest in that it leans towards an eternal mono-
theism. According to his theory the visible forms of the highest Teh
can only proceed from Tao, and Tao, he says, is impalpable, indefinite.
Taoism, therefore, contemplates the indefinite, the eternal and a pre-
existent something which Liao-tze likens to the 'Mother of all things/
or what we call a creator.

In Chinese literature there are the nine classics, the five greater and
the four lesser books. The former are Yih-King, the Book of Changes;
Shu-King, Historical Documents; Shi-King, the Book of Odes; Li-Ki,
the Book of Rites, and Chun-Tsin, a continuation of the Shu-King. Of

72 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the above, the second, third and fourth, although long antedating Con-
fucius, were edited by him, while the fifth is from his pen. The four
lesser classics are Ta-Hioh, Great Learning; Chung- Yung, the Just
Medium; the Analects of Confucius; and the writings of Mencius. The
last is the great production of Mencius, while the first three are a digest
of the moralizings of Confucius as gathered by his disciples.

On these nine books are founded Chinese philosophy, morals,
thought, religion, education, ethics and even etiquette. The spirit of
the matter in the classics is essentially lofty, moral and good.

In China, learning transcends all else in importance, and as Con-
fucius is considered as the fountain head of literature and learning, so
he has become to be regarded as Europeans in the Middle Ages regarded
saints, and temples to his honor are found in all large cities. The most
important is the beautiful example of Chinese architecture in Peking,
where the Emperor annually worships before his tablet. In spite of this
apparent adoration, Confucius is not regarded by the Chinese as a god,
but is clearly understood by them to have been a man, a philosopher and
the embodiment of wisdom, and is revered as such. He was not the
founder of a religion, nor was he a religious writer, although his senti-
ments have become woven in the complicated fabric of Chinese faith.
The name by which foreigners know him is a latinized corruption of
Kung-tze, the Master Kung, the last being his family name, as Mencius
is a similar corruption of Mang-tze, the Master Mang.

Following the Chau dynasty comes that of Tsin, which was noted for
supplying the foreign appellation of the country and for the great works,
both good and bad, of its name-giving Emperor. It was he who united
the varieus peoples of Eastern Asia under one sway; laid the foundation
for at least internal commerce by beginning the construction of the
Chinese system of canals, started the construction of the Great Wall and
succeeded in raising his country to a point of material greatness not be-
fore reached. Then, with a view to make all records begin with him,
he ordered burned all books and writings of every description, includ-
ing those of Confucius and the other philosophers. Fortunately, in
spite of an energetic attempt, this sacrilegious act was not completely
consummated.

From this period to the Tang dynasty in 618 a. d. the history of this
country is a succession of different reigning houses, internal wars, rebel-
lions, more or less successful, and during which the capital was fre-
quently moved, part of the time being located at Nan-king on the
Yang-tze, which many of the Chinese of to-day regard as the proper
site. The great single event of this long stretch of years, and practically
the only one of foreign interest, was the introduction of Buddhism at the
close of the first century a. d.

The Emperor Ming-ti sent an embassy to the West to bring back the

CHINA. 7i

teachings of the foreign god, rumors of whose fame had already reached
the Pacific shore. It has since been supposed by some that this meant
tidings of Christ; but the basis for such an inference is doubtful. At
any rate the embassy found its way to India and returned thence with
the doctrines of Buddhism, which at once became the established re-
ligion of the country, spreading over the whole of China and eventually
Japan. It makes an interesting speculation to consider what the effect
on the world would have been if the embassy had taken a more north-
ern route, bringing it to Palestine instead of to India.

The Tang dynasty a. d. 618 to 908 marks perhaps the zenith of
Chinese development, when, there is no doubt, its civilization and culti-
vation outshone those of Europe at the same period. Literature flour-
ished; trade was nurtured, the banking system developed, laws were
codified and the limits of the empire were extended even to Persia and
the Caspian Sea. The art of printing was discovered, certainly in block
form and probably by movable type. The fame of China reached India
and Europe, whence embassies were despatched bearing salutations
and presents. Monks of the Nestorian order were received by the Em-
peror Tai-tsung, who gave permission for them to erect churches, and
thus was Christianity first publicly acknowledged in China. Although
the efforts of the Nestorian monks continued for many years from
perhaps as early as 500 a. d. to 845, yet they were without permanent
results, as they left no monuments behind them, and the practice of
Christianity was suspended for some centuries.

In 1213 a. D. the Chinese for the first time passed under a foreign
rule, when Genghis Khan, the great Mongol, crossed the wall and began
to lay waste the country. When he had captured Peking and estab-
lished a Mongol dynasty, he turned his attention to further conquests,
and in 1219 led a force westward. With it he overran Northern India,
Asia Minor, and even entered Europe in Southern Eussia. He then
withdrew to Peking, having established the largest empire in the world's
history. Under his degenerate successors this vast power dwindled, the
only permanent result being found in Europe; for the presence of the
Turks on that continent is due to the invasion of Genghis, as he drove
them before him out of their own Asiatic country.

The last purely Chinese dynasty was the Ming (Bright) which occu-
pied the throne from 1368 to its overthrow by the Manchus in 1644.
The capital of this house was originally at Nan-king, but was moved by
the great Emperor Yung-loh to Pekin in 1403, where he constructed
the famous Ming Tombs forty miles northwest of the city, where he
and his successors of Ming lie buried in solitary grandeur. He also es-
tablished the laws under which China is governed to-day, and under
him the seeds of Christianity were permanently planted in China in
1582 by the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci. About two hundred and

74 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

fifty years before a temporary foothold had been gained by the same
order. The first effort lasted, however, for but seventy-five years, and
then, like the Nestorian movement, quietly died without practical re-
sults. It was also during this dynasty that the first foreign settlement
was made on Chinese soil, in the Portuguese port of Macao in 1557.

In the seventeenth century the northern tribes set up a rebellion.
Gaining adherents to their cause they captured Peking in 1644, swept
away Chinese rule and established a Manchu dynasty, to which they
gave the name of 'Ta Tsing* or the 'Great Pure/ The principal effects
of this change were to establish the northern races in control of the
government and to stamp upon the whole people their most striking
outward distinguishing mark in the queue, which was a distinctly
Manchu custom, the Chinese having cut their hair like Western people.
On their establishment the Manchu rulers ordered all people to wear the
queue as a token of subjugation which the Chinese natives still do,
although the Tibetans and Mongols continue to cut their hair as of old.
Manchus and Chinese can be readily recognized by their names. Thus
one of Manchu descent has but a double name, like Tung-lu, while a
Chinese has three characters as, Li Hung-chang.

The government of China is an absolute imperialism, with powers
vested in an Emperor, whose position is well indicated by his most used
title, the 'Son of Heaven.' He is assisted by two councils under whom
are the seven boards of: Civil Service, Revenue, Rites, War, Punish-
ment, Works and Navy, who severally attend to the administration of
affairs in their respective departments. Then there is the Tsung-Li-
Yamen, or foreign office; a bureau composed of twelve ministers, with
and through whom all relations with other nations and foreigners gen-
erally are conducted.

The communication between the Imperial authority and the people
is through the local governments of the provinces. These provinces in
their organization closely resemble an American State, varying in size
from Che-kiang, the smallest, within an area of 35,000 square miles, to
Sz-chuen, the largest, embracing 170,000 square miles. These are re-
spectively comparable with the States of Indiana (36,350 square miles)
and California (156,000 square miles). Each province is ruled by a gov-
ernor appointed by the throne, and he exercises his authority through
a chain of officialism. The province is divided into circuits, each circuit
being controlled by an intendant of circuit or taotai. In addition to the
regular taotais, there are special ones appointed to look after the large
treaty ports, like Shanghai. Such taotais have immense powers and the
positions are much sought after. The circuits or 'Fu' are usually again
subdivided into two or more 'Chau' or prefectures under a prefect, and
each perfecture into Hsiens or districts, under a magistrate. Cities
where such officials dwell are usually indicated by adding 'Fu/

CHINA.

'Chau' or 'Hsien' to their names. The Hsien magistrates are the men
who come in direct contact with the people. The Governor in turn
reports to an officer properly styled a Governor-General, but whose title
foreign nations have translated as Viceroy, each of whom usually con-
trols two provinces. These Viceroys form the real government of the
country. Their powers are absolute. It is to them, armed with judg-
ment of life and death, that the people look for justice and protection,
and to them, also, the throne itself looks for support. Each Viceroy
maintains his own army, in some instance a portion of which has been
foreign drilled, which army he has a right to decide whether he will use
for national purposes or not.

Of the existing college of Viceroys, there are three who have brought
themselves by their acts, abilities and force of character to the forefront,
and who are known as the three great Viceroys. These men are Li
Hung-chang, formerly Viceroy of Pe-chi-li, but now of Canton, ruling
the provinces of Kwang-tung and Kwang-si, and so usually referred to
as the Viceroy of the two Kwang; Chang Chi-tung, the Viceroy of
Wu-chang, in like manner called the Viceroy of the two Hu, as his
dominion covers the provinces of Hu-peh and Hu-nan, and Liu Kun-yi,
the Viceroy of Nan-king, ruling the provinces of Kiang-su and Ngan-
whui.

Li Hung-chang, whose reputation is international, needs no intro-
duction. The other two, while, perhaps not so well known, are in China
of scarcely less importance, especially as they have a personal hold on
their people that is not equaled by any other official. They are not rich,
which is almost the same as saying that they are honest, and, although
they are decidedly pro-foreign in their views, nevertheless they are at
the same time imbued with a strong and earnest desire to ameliorate the
condition of their charges and, therefore, are honored and respected by
their people. To accomplish this end they do not hesitate to avail
themselves of occidental ideas or means if therein they see a possibility
of benefit.

When the Empress Dowager in 1898 executed her coup d'etat and
notified the Viceroys of what she had done, Chang Chi-tung and Liu
Kun-yi were the only ones who had courage to express their disapproval.
In consequence there is little doubt that she would have removed or
beheaded them if she had dared to brave the outcry of the people of the
four provinces, which would certainly have followed. In any reorgani-
zation of China these three men will play an important part in which
the influence of Chang Chi-tung and Liu Kun-yi will certainly be of
weight as they enjoy the esteem and confidence of both foreigner and
native.

In the appointing of all officials there is one rule that is curiously
indicative of Chinese reasoning and methods. No official is allowed to

76 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

serve in a district in which he was born. The reason for this is that,
being a stranger, without local prejudice or interest, it is believed that
he will administer justice quite impartially. Unfortunately, human
nature being the same in China as elsewhere, the official, on account of
his lack of local prejudice, administers justice in such a manner as will
best promote his own interests and secure his advancement.

Topographically considered, China lies on the eastern flank of the
great Central Asian plateau and, therefore, its main drainage lines lie
east and west. There are three great valleys: that of the Yellow, in the
north; Yang-tze in the center; and the Si (or West), in the south. The
Yellow Eiver, or Hoang-ho, or as it is frequently called, on account of
its erratic and devastating floods, 'China's Sorrow,' is a stream very
much resembling the Mississippi, carrying a great amount of alluvium,
which it deposits at various places, forming bars and shoals. In
order to protect the shores from inundations, the Chinese for many years
have been building dykes with the result of gradually raising the bot-
tom of the river through the deposition of alluvium. There are now
many places where the bottom of the stream is actually higher than the
normal banks. Under such circumstances the breaking of a dyke means
untold destruction, with possible permanent change of bed. The loca-
tion of its mouth shows the character of this great river. Eighty years
ago it flowed into the Yellow Sea, south of the Shang-tung Peninsula.
To-day it enters the Gulf of Pe-chi-li two hundred and fifty miles in a
direct line northwest of its previous location, or about six hundred miles,
when measured around the coast line. The Yang-tze, on the other
hand, rightly merits its name of 'China's Glory.' This noble stream,
whose length is about 3,500 miles, of which 1,100 miles are navigable by
steam vessels, divides the country, approximately equally north and
south. Its drainage area covers more than one-half of the empire,
the richest and most valuable portion. This stream, like the Hoang-ho,
carries a large amount of alluvial matter, but it is much more orderly
and well regulated. Practically at its mouth, the gateway to Central
China, although actually on a small tributary called the Wang-Poo, is
Shanghai. The West River, or Si-Kiang, drains the southern and
southwestern section of the er ,ire, flowing into the sea at Canton,
where with the Pei (North) and Pearl rivers it forms the broad estuary
known as the Canton River.

In agricultural possibilities and mineral wealth China is particularly
fortunate. On account of its great dimensions north and south it en-
joys all varieties of climate from the tropical to the temperate, and in
consequence possesses the ability to raise almost any crop. The great
bottom lands of the Yang-tze, Hoang and other rivers, which are sub-
ject to annual overflow, are thus by nature enriched and automatically
fertilized as are the bottom lands along the Mississippi and other allu-

CHINA. yy

vium-bearing streams. In addition to the ordinary advantages of soil
and variety of climate to which such a large expanse is naturally en-
titled, China enjoys one special favor in the singular deposit known as
Loess.

The country lying north from the Yang-tze to the Gulf of Pe-chi-li,
part of which area has been made by the alluvial deposits of the Yang-
tze and Yellow rivers, is known as the Great Plain. Of this territory
there is a considerable section in the provinces of Shen-si, Shan-si and
Shan-tung, which is known as the Loess formation. This particular soil
is yellow in appearance, resembling alluvial material, but on exami-
nation is found to consist of a network of minute capillary tubes. The
best theory for its deposit is that it is the fine dust of dried vegetable
matter carried down by the winds from the northwest plains and
dropped where found. The fine tubes are accounted for by believing
them to be the spaces occupied by the roots of grasses, as the latter have
been continually raising themselves to keep on the consequently rising
surface. The Loess soil is of great and unknown thickness, of extraor-
dinary fertility and with great capacity for withstanding droughts, as
the tubes by their capillary action serve to bring up moisture from the
ground water below. This part of the Great Plain has been supplying
crops for many centuries without fertilizing and supports the densest
part of the Chinese population.

In minerals, China is particularly rich. Of the precious metals, gold
and silver are known to exist, and probably in paying quantities, while of
the less valuable metals, copper, lead, antimony and others have been
found, and but await the introduction of proper transportation methods
to be developed. Petroleum occurs in Sz-chuen, the extreme western
province lying next to Tibet. But China's greatest mineral wealth lies
in iron and coal. The great fields of the latter are in Pe-chi-li, Shen-si,
Shan-si, Sz-chuen, Kiang-si and Hu-nan, where all varieties from soft
bituminous to very hard anthracites are found. Of the former there are
coals, both coking and non-coking, fit for steel-making or steam uses,
while of the latter there are those adapted for domestic use, with suffi-
cient volatile matter to ignite easily, and others sufficiently hard to bear
the burden in a blast furnace and sufficiently low in phosphorus, sulphur
and volatile substances to render them available for the manufacture of
Bessemer pig, as is done in Pennsylvania. Chinese houses are usually
without chimneys, and, therefore, the native is compelled to use for
domestic purposes an anthracite, or, as he calls it, a non-smoking coal,
which he burns in an open fireplace, the products of combustion escap-
ing through the doors, unglazed windows or the many leaks which are
usually found in Chinese roofs.

In opposing the introduction of occidental reforms, methods and
commercial relations, China has invited, if not actually obliged, the

78 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

forming of bases by other nations from which to push their trade.
Chinese soil is now heid, through some excuse and under various con-
ditions, by Portugal, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan.
In addition to this Italy has made an unsuccessful attempt to secure a
foothold at San Mun Bay.

The Portugese possession is Macao, situated on the western side of
the mouth of the Canton Eiver, a charming settlement covering the city
and a few square miles of territory separated from the main land by a
narrow neck. It is a delightful little piece of southern European re-
finement in an Oriental setting, and perhaps the only point on the coast
to which the word charming can be rightly applied. It was the first
foreign settlement in China, being ceded to Portugal in 1557 in return
for services in putting down pirates. On account of the shallowness of
the harbor, the importance of Macao as a trading point or military base
is very small.

The British possessions are Hong Kong, Kow-loon and Wei-hai-wei.
As a result of the Opium War of 1841, the island of Hong Kong, whose
greatest dimension is but nine miles, and wholly mountainous, located
at the eastern side of the Canton estuary, directly opposite to Macao, but
distant therefrom about forty miles, was given over by China as a part
of the indemnity. In 1860 there was added the shore of the main land,
called Kow-loon, across the roadstead whose width is rather more than a
mile, in order to complete the harbor. On this island the English have
established a colony, built the city of Victoria, and through the mag-
nificent land-locked harbor, have developed a trading point, whose com-
merce ranks with that of the world's greatest ports. There are no cus-
toms dues, no restricting conditions — all nations and nationalities have
an equal footing, so that Hong Kong has become the great entrepot or
warehouse for nearly the whole of the Orient, and absolutely so for
Southern China, whose gateway it controls. A year's record shows that
over 11,000 vessels enter and clear, not including upwards of 70,000
junks. Thus have the English converted an apparently useless island
into a most valuable possession for themselves and a great stepping-
stone for the world's commerce.

The next country to establish a foothold on Chinese soil was France,
who acquired from Annam, by war and treaty, between the years 1860
and 1874, part of the province of Tong-king. In 1882 further trouble
arising between France and Annam, the latter appealed to her pro-
tector, China, and war ensued. The result was the permanent occupa-
tion of the whole of Tong-king and the placing of the French frontier
next to that of China.

At the conclusion of the Japanese war, the island of Formosa was
permanently ceded by China and an arrangement made for the tempo-
rary occupation of Port Arthur. Then Russia interfered, insisted on

CHINA.

the withdrawal of the Japanese troops from the North, and, as her price
for aiding China, secured a lease for twenty-five years of the Liao-tung
Peninsula, covering eight hundred square miles, including the harbors
of Port Arthur and Talien-wan, and so, practically obtained the control
of Chinese Manchuria.

In 1897 two German missionaries having been killed, the German
Emperor demanded as compensation a share of Chinese soil, which was
granted through a 'lease' of Kiao-Chau Bay for ninety-nine years.

The following abbreviated quotations indicate the tenor of these
curious arrangements:

"I. His Majesty the Emperor of China, being desirous of preserving
the existing good relations with His Majesty the Emperor of Germany
and promoting an increase of German power and influence in the Far
East, sanctions the acquirement under lease by Germany of the land ex-
tending for one hundred li at high tide.

"Germany may engage in works for the public benefit, such as water-
works, within the territory covered by the lease, without reference to
China. Should China wish to march troops or establish garrisons
therein she can only do so after negotiating with and obtaining the
express permission of Germany.

"II. His Majesty the Emperor of Germany being desirous, like the
rulers of certain other countries, of establishing a naval and coaling
station and constructing dockyards on the coast of China, the Emperor
of China agrees to lease to him for the purpose all the land on the south-
ern and northern sides of Kiao-Chu Bay for a term of ninety-nine years.
Germany is to be at liberty to erect forts on this land for the defense of
her possessions therein.

"III. During the continuance of the lease China shall have no voice
in the government or administration of the leased territory. It will be
governed and administered during the whole term of ninety-nine years
solely by Germany, so that the possibility of friction between the two
powers may be reduced to the smallest magnitude.

"If at any time the Chinese should form schemes for the develop-
ment of Shan-tung, for the execution of which it is necessary to obtain
foreign capital, the Chinese government, or whatever Chinese may be
interested in such schemes, shall, in the first instance, apply to German
capitalists. Application shall also be made to German manufacturers
for the necessary machinery and materials before the manufacturers of
any other power are approached. Should German capitalists or manu-
facturers decline to take up the business, the Chinese shall then be at
liberty to obtain money and materials from other nations."

While the area actually covered by the lease is small, the shore line
being but one hundred li (thirty-three miles), nevertheless the Germans
have thrown a sphere claim over the whole province of Shan-tung, an

80 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

area as large as New England, based on the special commercial conces-
sion, as above quoted.

The strongholds of Kiao-Chau and Port Arthur, for the Germans
and Eussians immediately set about fortifying them, so threatened the
balance of power in the North, that the British government in 1898, de-
manding something to offset them, secured the harbor of Wei-hai-wei,
directly opposite Port Arthur and with it marking the entrance to the
Gulf of Pe-chi-li. This territory is to be held as long as the Eussians
hold Port Arthur. At the same time Great Britain extended the limits
of the Kow-loon possession by two hundred square miles, so as to abso-
lutely protect the harbor of Hong Kong, and secured from the Chinese
government a promise that no territory in the Yang-tze Valley should
be alienated to any other power, thus obtaining a so-called sphere of
influence over the richest half of the empire. France, not wishing to
see her commercial rivals outdo her, demanded, as her share of the
plunder, the harbor and port of Kiang-chau-wau near her province of
Tong-king and secured a lease of the same for ninety-nine years. Thus
has the Chinese government given away its patrimony.

In addition to the above possessions of territory actually held under
the domination of their respective governments, there are at the various
treaty ports the so-called foreign concessions, which have been given by
the Chinese government to the temporary care of the people of other
nationalities, permitting them to establish a police force, courts of jus-
tice, fire protective service, to collect taxes for local use, and otherwise to
maintain local governments according to foreign regulations and prac-
tically without interference by the Chinese government. Such conces-
sions remain, in name, at least, Chinese territory. The largest and most
important of them is Shanghai, where grants were made some years ago
to the English, American and French. The first two have been com-
bined into the Shanghai municipality, under a system of popular gov-
ernment with annual elections, where the rate-payers are voters and
which in all functions closely resembles an independent republic. The
theory that all nations are on an equal footing within the limits of the
municipality is carried out to such an extreme that not only does the
Chinese government maintain a post-office, but so also do all other
countries whose citizens operate lines of mail steamers to and from the
port. There are thus to be found, in addition to the Chinese post-office,
regular establishments of the United States, Great Britain, Germany
and Japan, while France has hers in the French concession, at all of
which the stamps of the several countries are for sale.

Such in a few words is the political and physical status of that nation
and that country on which the attention of the civilized world is
focused, and whose development and regeneration will probably be the
leading feature of the early years of the new century.

RESCUE WORE IN HISTORY. 81

EESCUE WORK IN HISTOEY.

By President DAVID STARR JORDAN,

LELAND STANFORD, JK., UNIVERSITY.

AT the November meeting of the Astral Camera Club, Mr. Asa
■ Marvin presiding, Prof. Abram Gridley, the learned master of
the Alcalde Union High School, spoke on the unique topic of his pro-
posed 'Rescue Work in History/

He began with the bold declaration that the two great discoveries,
twin triumphs of the human mind, which will make this age memo-
rable, were these, the Banishment of Space and the Annihilation of
Time. He proposed to illustrate the results of these discoveries and to
show how they could be turned to the advantage of mankind by means
of an esoteric foray through the echoing aisles of the past.

"It has been shown by the great Dr. Hickok," said Professor Grid-
ley, "that matter is but a portion of space rilled with a modicum of
'force, which is actively engaged in holding itself still.' When this
activity becomes passive, matter is no more. Thus as matter has no
real existence, space, which is its matrix, is banished also from the
category of realities.

"Even more remarkable is the discovery of the famous Dr. Hensoldt
that time could be literally 'rolled away as a scroll,' and therefore prac-
tically annihilated. This fact is stated in these memorable words: 'We
count our time by the rotations of our planet. If you were to go
close to the north pole and then travel around it in a westerly direction
you could walk back all the lost days of your childhood. And if you
are moderately swift-footed you might run around that pole until you
caught the earth where it was when Julius Cassar first landed in Britain
or when the pyramids were built."

"Only this year," continued the learned schoolmaster, "has the
practical significance of all this been brought to light." Referring to
the phenomena of thought-transference, our friend and guide, the ven-
erable sage of Angels, spoke before us these words:

" 'All manner of sensations,' Mr. Dean has told us, 'may be trans-
mitted, and these over any distance or through any time. It is as easy,
for example, for me as an adept to speak to Marcus Brutus as for me
to speak to the Lama of Thibet, and equally easy for Plato or Ptolemy
to speak to me. Through this power I may yet dissuade Brutus from
his awful deed or save Caesar from that ambition through which fall the

VOL. LVIII. — 6

82 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

emperors and the angels. In history nothing is too late and the great
tangled fabric of the past is ever open to reconstruction.'

"With all this knowledge gained," said Professor Gridley, "the work
of these adepts should not lapse for want of initiates bold enough to
act." He proposed that the Astral Club add to its purposes that of
serious effort in the direction formerly occupied by space and time.
His thought was nothing less than the perfection of the human race
through the correction of history. This could be best accomplished
by collective personal influence on the lives of great men. The value
of such influence all teachers must admit. That it is not too late is
now a certain fact, and to work in unison is to do the best work.

Mr. Dean had already devoted many esoteric and soulful hours to
this labor, but he had used only the method of telepathy, subtle enough
in its action, but not powerful enough for large results. Because it is
dependent on etheric vibrations and electric inductions, it is practically
ineffective except in settled weather. The turbulent atmosphere of the
Middle Ages renders settled communication difficult if one tries to go
back far enough for his influence to be worth while. It is also much
better to use personal presence than any form of esoteric induction, if
the former is possible.

If you wish a thing to be well done, the great Franklin assures us,
you must do it yourself, and few of us moderns could speak with higher
authority on electrics and etherics than he. The mere extension of
a personal aura backward through history, Mr. Dean has privately ad-
mitted, fails of the highest results, and nothing short of the best can
be satisfactory to the initiates of Alcalde. Still less can we count on
projecting such an aura into the future. The forms of men and nations
of future centuries are now in Devachan, in the subastral or plasto-
nebulose state. A human aura can have little definite influence upon
them, especially because, not knowing what influence should be exerted,
the sensator would work in utter astral darkness which could yield no
tangible result. It is evident that this great work needs the personal
presence. How to produce this Dr. Hensoldt's discovery clearly
indicates.

If we go around the earth from west to east, as the sun seems to go,
we have added one whole day for each revolution. If we go to the high
north, the circles grow shorter, and barring certain difficulties in trans-
portation, it is easier to go around. If we ascend to the very pole,
which by the aid of the non-friable astral body is not so very difficult to
adepts, we find a circle of revolution only a few feet in circumference.
"Let us suppose," continued Professor Gridley, "that we have ar-
rived at the north pole on the first day of August. A single circuit
around it to the eastward and we reach the second of August. A dozen
circuits and we have August the fourteenth. With the aid of the

RESCUE WORK IN HISTORY. 83

mechanical skill now so easily acquired it will be easy to prepare an
electric turn-table by which these revolutions can be accomplished.
This can be set in rotation by the electric force of the Northern Lights.
Seated upon its edge and whirled eastward for a dozen minutes, one
would find himself, perhaps, in the midst of the twenty-sixth century.
Then turning southward to the abodes of men, the adept would be
received with the greatest eagerness. To these far-off people, 'the latest
progeny of time,' he would appear as a Mahatma wise to overflowing
with the lore of bygone centuries. It is even possible that such an in-
vention was already in the hands of the ancient Mahatmas. Of such
origin beyond a doubt were the sages or Old Men of the Mountains, who
from time to time in the past have appeared in the cities of men, filled
with forgotten information and equipped with magic power. Such a
one of a surety was Trismegistos, three times greatest, and such was
Peter the Hermit and Gautama. In the light of our present knowledge,
the appearance of Van Winkle at the town of Falling Waters should be
carefully reinvestigated. The explanation currently given is far from
conclusive, and the little men of the Catskills were probably of an astral
nature and not contemporaneous with the ignorant villagers who
scoffed at their existence.

"But far more important than any result from the projection of
the personal presence into the future are those derived from its retro-
jection into the scenes of the past. For this purpose the machinery of
the turn-table should be attuned to the greatest possible accuracy. Its
movement must be as perfect as that of the finest chronometer. A
whirl or two too much or too little might leave the personal presence
stranded in an age on which its influence would be wasted. For in-
stance, the attempt to rescue Caesar from his ambitions or Brutus from
his crime would be futile if attempted before Caesar was born. A single
day too late and the whole matter must needs be gone over again from
the first, with large chances that the drifting floes of the North may
have swept away the turn-table. In such case the painful journey on
foot round and round the pole till the desired meridian is reached
would be inexpressibly tedious. Even the most eager adept could
hardly be blamed if he directed his steps toward his own century and
his bodily home. To prevent gross accidents and to secure the best
results, therefore, a considerable number of people should cooperate.
We should make of the matter a kind of Salvation Army. Seated on
the turn-table a hundred adepts could be whirled round and round to
the westward, each descending at the time his mission might desig- (
nate. Miss Jones, for example, would descend in 1776 to gain the con-
fidence of Benedict Arnold and thus save him from his treason. Our
friend, Doctor Cribbs, perhaps could descend in the reign of James II.,
and by a few doses of Swamp Root cure the judge's sad malady and save

84 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

England from the strain of the Bloody Assizes. Mr. Marvin could
muffle the bell of St. Germain l'Auxerrois and the name of St. Bartholo-
mew would lose its dark suggestion. Miss Lucy Wilkins could leave us
to the north of Cologne and in the time of St. Ursula. This good
woman could be turned from her useless quest and her sad host of
martyred virgins could each become a German Hausfrau. Again, our
fair friend from Fideletown, Miss Violet Dreeme, could find scope for
her powers in the rescue of Guinevere. These serve simply as illus-
trations. We may vary them as we please.

"The preliminary difficulties once surmounted, the auroral turn-
table once in operation and in the hands of a few hundred adepts, mis-
sionaries of the present to the past, the tangled jungles of history would
be turned to a field of the Cloth of Gold. By keeping open telepathic
connection with the esoteric clubs at home, we can inform the world
that is, of the progress of our work, and the changes we make in history
could be announced in our schools.

"Grand indeed is our conception," said Professor Gridley, "and it is
not far from realization. The initial expense is but a trifle. A few
hundred dollars in tense springs, clockwork and dynamos, a table of
the finest rosewood and the service of a skilled mechanic, an adept in
electricity and skilled in astral impersonation, and it is done.

"More than this," continued Professor Gridley impressively, "all
this is already provided. I have here a letter from the editor of the
New York Sunday 'Monarch,' an offer of all expenses and a generous
salary in return for the first telepathic advices, going back beyond the
present century. For each preceding century, the sum will be doubled.
I have, indeed, contracted with the great journal for the exclusive ac-
count of my interviews with the great Bacon, whose noble but polluted
nature it shall be my life work to redeem."

JAMES EDWARD KEELER. 85

JAMES EDWARD KEELEE.

By Prof. W. W. CAMPBELL,

ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE LICK OBSERVATORY.

THE Lick Observatory has lost an ideal director. Astronomy has
suffered a loss it can ill afford. Colleagues and friends widespread
will miss a companionship which was simply delightful.

James Edward Keeler was born in La Salle, 111., on September 10,
1857. Ealph Keeler, his first American ancestor, settled in Hartford
in 1635. His father, Wm. F. Keeler, was an officer of the original
'Monitor' at the time of its engagement with the 'Merrimac' His
mother (still living) is the daughter of Henry Dutton, former Governor
of Connecticut and Dean of the Yale Law School.

In 1869 the family removed from La Salle, 111., to Mayport, Fla.
Here Keeler prepared for college, under the tutelage of his father and
his older brother. Here his fondness for astronomical studies was de-
veloped. He established 'The Mayport Astronomical Observatory' in
1875-77. It included, at the least, a quadrant, a two-inch telescope, a
meridian circle and a clock. Under date of 1875, September 22, his jour-
nal records an observed altitude of Polaris secured with 'my quadrant.'
Other entries read:

"1875, November 14. Sent to Queen last night for lenses for my
telescope."

"1875, November 29. Lenses from Queen came to-night; one two-
inch achromatic, and two plano-convex lenses for eyepiece."

"1875, December 12. Directed my telescope to the stars, and saw
the rings of Saturn for the first time. . . ."

"December 14. Saw the Annular Nebula in Lyra. One satellite of
Saturn. . . . All four of the stars in the Trapezium. . . ."

"1876, January 26. Got up at half-past four this morning and ap-
plied my telescope to Jupiter for the first time. . . ."

In 1877, at the age of twenty years, he constructed a meridian-circle
instrument. The telescope was that of a common spyglass, 1.6-inch
aperture and 13.45-inch focus. The axis was turned out of wood.
Brass ferrules, driven on the ends of the axis and turned down, formed
the pivots. The wooden circle, 13.3 inches in diameter, was graduated
to 15'.*

* Keeler's original sketch of this instrument and his written description of it will be pub-
lished in the next number of the ' Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.'

86 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

His 'Kecord of Observations made at the Mayport Observatory' con-
tains beautiful colored sketches of Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mars, the
Orion Nebula, of double stars and of 'Scenery on the Moon'; and in
addition, data of a numerical character. These early drawings are
characterized by the refined taste and skill so well known from his later
professional work.

Keeler entered Johns Hopkins University late in 1877; and, fol-
lowing major courses in physics and German, he was graduated with
the de°ree of A. B. in 1881. At the end of his freshman year he
accompanied Professor Hastings, as a member of Professor Holden's
party from the Naval Observatory, to observe the total solar eclipse of
July 29, 1878, at Central City, Col. Although his part was the modest
one of making a drawing of the corona, his written report on the work
is a model scientific paper, and may be read with profit by visual observ-
ers of eclipses.

In the spring of 1881 Professor Langley, desiring an assistant in the
Allegheny Observatory, requested the Johns Hopkins University to rec-
ommend a suitable man for the place. Keeler was named and accepted
the appointment, beginning work at Allegheny several weeks before re-
ceiving his degree. I was speaking in June of this year (1900) with one
of the physicists who had recommended Keeler for the Allegheny posi-
tion, and the subject of this very appointment came up. "I told Pro-
fessor Langley," said he, "that one of my strongest reasons for the rec-
ommendation is that Keeler doesn't claim to know everything." To
the end of his life this charming trait remained unimpaired. It is to
Keeler's credit that he largely defrayed his own expenses in college by
acting as assistant to some of the lecturers in the experimental courses.

Professor Langley made his noted expedition to the summit of Mt.
Whitney, Cal., in June-September, 1881, to determine the value of the
'Solar Constant.' Keeler accompanied the expedition in the capacity
of assistant, and carried out his share of the program with skill and
efficiency. Eeturning at once to Allegheny, his work until May, 1883,
was closely related to the many problems arising from the Mt. Whitney
expedition.

The year 1883-84 was devoted to study and travel abroad. The
months of June, July and August, at Heidelberg, were given to the
study of light and electricity under Quincke, chemistry under Bunsen,
and integral calculus under Fuchs. In the winter semester in Berlin
he heard the lectures on physics by Helmholtz and Kayser, on differen-
tial equations by Runge and on quarternions by Glan. His main in-
vestigation in the physical laboratory was on 'the absorption of radiant
heat by carbon dioxide' — a problem suggested no doubt by his Mt.
Whitney experiences.

From June, 1884, to April, 1886, Keeler again served as assistant in

JAMES EDWARD KEELEE. 87

the Allegheny Observatory, affording most efficient help to Professor
Langley in his classical researches on the lunar heat and on the infra-
red portion of the solar spectrum.

Early in 1886, on Professor Holden's recommendation, Keeler was
appointed assistant to the Lick trustees. He arrived at Mt. Hamilton
on April 25, 1886, and immediately proceeded to establish the time
service. The telegraph line to San Jose was perfected, the transit in-
strument, the clocks and the sending and receiving apparatus at both
ends of the line were installed. The signals were sent out on and after
January 1, 1887, north to Portland, east to Ogden and south to San
Diego and El Paso. In addition to the time service, he assisted the
trustees in installing the various instruments.

When the observatory was completed and transferred to the regents
of the University of California, on June 1, 1888, Mr. Keeler was ap-
pointed astronomer: the original staff consisting of Astronomers Holden,
Burnham, Schaeberle, Keeler and Barnard, and Assistant Astronomer
Hill.

Professor Keeler was placed in charge of the spectroscopic work of
the observatory. The large star spectroscope, constructed mainly from
his designs, has no superior for visual observations. Of the many results
obtained with this instrument we may mention the observations of
Saturn's rings and Uranus, with reference to their atmospheres; of
the bright and dark lines in the spectra of y Cassiopeia? and /? Lyra?;
of the color curve of the 36-inch equatorial, and of the spectra of
the Orion Nebula and thirteen planetary nebula?.

His beautiful observations on the velocities in the line of sight of
these fourteen nebula? mark a distinct epoch in visual spectroscopy. His
memoir on the subject took its place as a classic at once. The probable
error of the final result for each nebula, based on the mean of several
observations, is only 3.2 kilometers per second. Attention should be
called to one extremely important fact established by these measures,
viz., the velocities of the nebulae in their motion through space are of
the same order of magnitude as the velocities of the stars.

The recognition of the fact that a great refracting telescope is also
a most powerful spectroscope for special classes of objects, by virtue of
the chromatic aberration of the objective, is due to Professor Keeler.
Among the first objects observed with the 36-inch equatorial were the
planetary nebula? and their stellar nuclei. The observers were struck
with the fact that the focal length for a nebula is 0.4 inch longer than
for its stellar nucleus; a discrepancy which Professor Keeler at once ex-
plained by recalling that the star's light is yellow, whereas that of the
nebula is greenish-blue.

Astronomical readers will remember Keeler's splendid drawings of
the planets Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, made with the assistance of the

88 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

36-inch telescope during 1888-90. His faithful and artistic drawings of
Jupiter have no equal.

He was in charge of the very successful expedition sent by the Lick
Observatory to Bartlett Springs, Cal., to observe the total solar eclipse
of January 1, 1889.

Professor Keeler resigned from the Lick Observatory staff on June
1, 1891, to succeed Professor Langley as director of the Allegheny Ob-
servatory, and professor of astrophysics in the Western University of
Pennsylvania. The Allegheny Observatory has perhaps the poorest loca-
tion of any observatory in this country for spectroscopic work. But in
spite of this disadvantage Heeler's investigations continued and pro-
moted the splendid reputation established for the observatory by his
predecessor. He comprehended the possibilities and limitations of his
situation and his means, and adapted himself to them. His spectro-
scopic researches were largely confined to the orange, yellow and green
regions of the spectrum, since these would be less strongly affected by
the smoky sky for which that vicinity is famous.

The Allegheny spectroscope, designed and constructed soon after
his acceptance of the position, contained several valuable improve-
ments. The use of three simple prisms in its dispersive train was a de-
parture which has been followed with great advantage in many later
instruments. With this instrument he made an extensive investigation
of the Orion Nebula and the stars immersed in it, establishing the fact
that the nebula and the stars are closely related in physical condition.*
His beautiful observations of Saturn's rings, proving that they are a
cluster of meteorites — myriads of little moons — have never been sur-
passed in interest in the entire astronomical field. These observations
are so well known to every one interested in astronomy that one sen-
tence suffices. He proved spectrographically, using the Doppler-Fizeau
principle, that every point in the ring system is moving with the velocity
which a moon would have if situated at that distance from the planet.
Professor Keeler's main piece of work at the Allegheny Observatory, on
the spectra of the third (Secchi) type stars, remains unpublished, but
the measures and reductions are left in an advanced stage.

The regents of the University of California appointed Professor
Keeler to the position of Director of the Lick Observatory on March 8,
1898. The ties which bound him and his family to Allegheny were
difficult to sever; but the greater opportunities offered by the instru-
ments and the atmospheric conditions at Mt. Hamilton decided him in
favor of accepting the appointment. He entered upon his new duties
on June 1, 1898.

Without making any rearrangement of the work of the staff, but

* Simultaneous observations of the same object made at another observatory led to the same
conclusion.

JAMES EDWARD KEELER. 89

affording them every possible encouragement to continue along the
same lines, Professor Keeler arranged to devote his own observing time
to the Crossley reflector. He recognized that the instrument was not
in condition to produce satisfactory results. He made one change after
another, overcoming one difficulty after another, until, on November
14, he secured an excellent negative of the Pleiades, and on November
16 a superb negative of the Orion Nebula. The enormous power of the
reflector in nebular photography was established, and he entered upon
the program of photographing all the brighter nebulae in Herschel's
catalogue. More than half the subjects on the program have been
completed. The observatory possesses a set of negatives of the principal
nebulae which is priceless and unequaled. These photographs have
already led to many discoveries of prime importance; and they furnish
a vast amount of material for future investigations of questions bearing
especially upon the early stages of sidereal evolution. The photographs
record incidentally great numbers of new nebulae — as many as thirty-one
on a single plate covering less than one square degree of the sky. A
conservative estimate places the number within reach of the Crossley
reflector at 120,000, of which only ten or fifteen thousand have thus
far been discovered.

It had previously been supposed that the great majority of nebulae
were irregular and without form, and that only a few were spiral.
Professor Keeler's photographs have recorded more spiral nebulae than
irregular ones. This discovery bears profoundly on theories of cosmog-
ony, and must be considered as of the first order.

It is time to refer to Professor Keeler's work as director. I but
faintly reflect the views of every member of the staff, and indeed of all
who have been interested in the work of this observatory, when I say
that his administration was completely successful. He cherished and
promoted ideal conditions in this ideal place. He made a success of his
own work in a splendidly scientific manner, and he saw to it that
every one had all possible opportunities to do the same. No member of
the staff was asked to sacrifice his individuality in the slightest degree.
Nor were demands made for immediate results: no one's plans were
torn up by the roots to see if they were growing. The peace of mind
of the investigator, so absolutely essential for complete success, was
full and undisturbed. Withal, Professor Keeler's administration was
so kind and so gentle — and yet so effective — that the reins of govern-
ment were seldom seen and never felt.

The elements of his successes are simple and plainly in view. His
openness and honesty of character, his readiness and quickness to see
the other man's point of view, his strong appreciation of the humorous
as well as the serious, and above all, his abounding good sense —
these traits made his companionship delightful and charming. Scien-

90 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tifically Professor Keeler never groped aimlessly in the dark. He would
not attack a problem until he had as fully as possible comprehended its
nature and the requirements for success. With the plan of attack com-
pletely considered, and the instruments of attack at hand, the execution
of his plans involved little loss of time. The Crossley reflector affords
a case in point. Assisted by a fellow in astronomy and by the instru-
ment-maker, he devoted five months to preparing the reflector for turn-
ing out the magnificent results which at once followed.

Professor Keeler's published papers have a finish and a ripeness
which are rarely seen. His love of the beautiful and his artistic skill
are evident in all his work.

To speak of the people who had afforded him encouragement at dif-
ferent times in his life was one of his pleasures. His father's friend,
Mr. Chas. H. Rockwell, of Tarrytown, was constant in urging the de-
velopment of so promising a career. He did not forget Professor Hast-
ings' continual kindness and interest during his college days. He fre-
quently spoke of the great value of Mr. William Thaw's interest and
encouragement, both to himself and to the Allegheny Observatory; an
interest which was continued after Mr. Thaw's death by other members
of his family.

The honorary degree of Sc. D. was conferred upon Professor Keeler
in 1893 by the University of California. He received the Rumford
Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1898 and
the Henry Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in
1899. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, an
Associate of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow and
Foreign Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society, a Fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member and
officer of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America, an
honorary member of the Toronto Astronomical and Physical Society,
the president of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, a member of
the Washington Academy of Sciences, and of various other organiza-
tions. Professor Keeler was an associate editor of 'Astronomy and As-
tro-physics' during 1892-94, and editor with Prof. George E. Hale of
'The Astrophysical Journal,' since 1895.

It appears that Professor Keeler had long been a mild sufferer from
heart weakness; to run even fifteen steps caused him great physical dis-
tress. It is feared that on Mt. Hamilton he worked beyond his strength.
His weakness seemed to develop rapidly this summer. He went away
from the observatory on July 30, in the best of spirits and with no
anxiety, to secure medical treatment and to spend a brief vacation in the
northern part of the State. Increasing difficulty in breathing led him
to seek skilled treatment in San Francisco on August 10. His dangerous

JAMES EDWARD KEELER. 91

condition was recognized on the 11th, and on the 12th a stroke of apo-
plexy proved fatal.

Professor Keeler married Miss Cora S. Matthews, at Oakley Planta-
tion, Louisiana, on June 16, 1891. Of her great sorrow and of the
grievous loss to the two children it would be futile to speak.

When the dangerous weakness of his heart was discovered by the
physicians, Professor Keeler's main regret was that he would have to
leave Mt. Hamilton and its opportunities in order to live at a lower alti-
tude. It is known that he had planned his work with the Crossley re-
flector far into the future. A small spectrograph which he was most
anxious to employ on certain interesting spectra was completed on the
day of his leaving the observatory.

The absence of one so old in experience and so ripe in judgment
will be seriously felt throughout his profession.

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY
HISTORIANS.

The address of Mr. Thomas Ford
Rhodes, president of the American His-
torical Association, on the subject of
history, delivered before the midwinter
meeting of that body, and published in
the 'Atlantic Monthly' for February, has
gone forth to the world with a high de-
gree of authority and impressiveness.
Nevertheless, there are some members
of the Association — the writer humbly
trusts enough to make a large ma-
jority— for whom the president does not
speak, and who dissent widely from his
views.

Mr. Rhodes begins by representing
himself as an advocate 'holding a brief
for history,' and proceeds to make im-
portant concessions to those who re-
fuse it a place in the front rank of sub-
jects of human thought. "It is not the
highest form of intellectual endeavor;
let us at once agree that it were better
that all the histories ever written were
burned than for the world to lose Homer
and Shakespeare." One more concession
yields "to the mathematical and physical
sciences precedence in the realm of in-
tellectual endeavor over history." But,
having admitted so much, Mr. Rhodes
is still of the opinion that the his-
torian's place in the field remains se-
cure. Why he thinks so ia not
made quite clear. It is true enough
that there has never been 'so propitious
a time for writing history as in the last
forty years ' ; that 'there has been a
general acquisition of the historic
sense ' ; that 'the methods of teaching
history have so improved that they may
be called scientific'; and that 'the
theory of evolution is firmly estab-
lished.' There is, however, in all this
nothing to attract the youth conscious

of intellectual strength and brimming
with energy and courage to a study
which cannot claim to rank among the
highest forms of intellectual endeavor.
Shall we suppose that the historian's
'place in the field remains secure' only
because the giants do not care to wan-
der that way? If so, those who love
history better than they love the his-
torians will find little satisfaction in
this security.

But, following Mr. Rhodes further,
one finds the apparent gist of his con-
tention to be that the new thought
throughout the country, which has re-
sulted in better work in almost every
direction, has had no such result in
historiography; that "with all our ad-
vantages" we do not "write better his-
tory than was written before 1859,
which we may call the line of demar-
cation between the old and the new,"
and that Thucydides and Tacitus are
still the best models for the historian.
The whole address appears to breathe
the spirit of a somewhat over-reverent
devotion to the Classics, and the hearers
may well have imagined that they were
listening to an appeal for the study of
Greek and Latin. When the Lord of
the vineyard comes, there will no doubt
be a sufficiently grave indictment
against the keepers of the historical
portion for the waste they have made
of the last eighteen hundred years; but
it is hard to believe that they will be
found guilty of having failed to im-
prove on the methods of the classical
writers.

Has science, then, done nothing for
history? Somewhat, even according to
Mr. Rhodes himself. In addition to
acknowledgments already quoted, he
goes on to say: "The publication of
the 'Origin of Species,' in 1859, converted
it (the theory of evolution) from a

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

poet's dream and philosopher's specula-
tion to a well-demonstrated scientific
theory. Evolution, heredity, environ-
ment, have become household words,
and their application to history has in-
fluenced every one who has had to trace
the development of a people, the growth
of an institution, or the establishment
of a cause." Yet it seems that this
has not enabled us to equal the excel-
lence of two or three writers who
flourished more than two-thirds of the
way back to the dawn of European civil-
ization. Let us at least be frank with
ourselves, if such be the fact, and not
refuse to recognize the disheartening
nature of the conclusion.

There are some iconoclasts, however,
who will not accept it; and, if they
allowed the barbarian that is in them to
speak out, in spite of their high respect
and deference for Mr. Rhodes, it would
probably assert that there is little hope
for the elevation of history to the
highest rank of intellectual endeavor
by champions so imbued with the spirit
of the past. He that would show the
subject worth the attention of the most
gifted, the strongest and the most pene-
trating minds can be no worshipper be-
fore the marble god of the Classics. He
must — difficult as the task would seem
to Mr. Rhodes — write history better
than Thucydides or Tacitus wrote it.
But this is, after all, not so difficult
if the proper meaning is given to the
words. There are several men living
who do it. This I fully believe; and I
wish to say that the assertion is made
in no spirit of defiance to the standards
of my generation, but rather in the
spirit of respect for these standards as I
see them.

There seems, in fact, to lie some
subtle poison in the classics whereby
their devotees become intoxicated. Their
admiration for the ancient languages
and literatures, for the civilizations in
which their chosen work lies, appears
to grow until they lose faith in the
present and depreciate it correspond-
ingly. Modern education, which is
aimed to fit, rather than to unfit men

for the life they must live, to adjust
them to their environment rather than
to put them out of harmony therewith,
would not be wholly unjustified in en-
tering its caveat for all who undertake
the study of Greek and Latin.

"If indeed there haunt
About the moulder'd lodges of the Past
So sweet a voice and vague, fatal to

men,
Well needs it we should cram our ears

with wool
And so pace by."

These expressions are not prompted
by any sympathy with materialism. I
am well aware that humanity fed upon
such meat will never be great. But
must we look back over two thousand
years to find ideals — even in the matter
of history writing ? It will be a sad day,
if it ever come, when the teaching of
Greek and Latin shall fail in our uni-
versities and men shall cease to study
them; but it is certainly unnecessary
that the classical measuring rod shall be
laid to all the dimensions of modern
thought. Shall we not be free? Shall
there never be a literary mortmain to
lift the dead hand of the classics and
leave us at liberty to render service
where it is due?

Wherein lies the hitherto unequaled
excellence of Thucydides and Tacitus?
Not in their superior 'accuracy, love of
truth and impartiality'; for 'Gibbon
and Gardiner among the moderns pos-
sess equally the same qualities.' Mr.
Rhodes would doubtless deprecate any
suggestion of placing his own name in
this honorable company, but I believe
it would occur at once to those who are
familiar with his works. Certainly it is
not difficult for the unprejudiced reader
to see in him a conscientious and brave
fidelity to the truth that can be found
in a higher degree in no historian, an-
cient or modern.

Nor does the advantage of the classi-
cal historians lie "in the collection of
materials, in criticism and detailed an-
alysis, in the study of cause and effect,

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

in applying the principle of growth, of
evolution," in all of which 'we certainly
surpass the ancients.' This with char-
acteristic fairness Mr. Rhodes admits,
but it is still his conviction that we
have not risen to the classical standard
of historiography.

Where, then, is the advantage in
favor of Thucydides and Tacitus? The
answer of their advocate is that they
"are superior to the historians who have
written in our century, because, by long
reflection and studious method, they
have better digested their materials and
compressed their narrative. Unity in
narration has been adhered to more rig-
idly. They stick closer to their subject.
They are not allured into the fascinat-
ing by-paths of narration, which are so
tempting to men who have accumulated
a mass of facts, incidents and opinions."

Lest this discussion should resolve it-
self into an unprofitable difference about
words, it may be worth while to con-
sider just at this point the meaning of
'better history,' as Mr. Rhodes uses the
term. He can hardly mean better from
the scientific standpoint; for he admits
that our historical science is superior
to the ancient. If, therefore, we put
that into the history we write, we shall
make it better in so far at least. No
doubt he means better from the stand-
point of historiographic art.

Here lies, I take it, the crux of the
controversy. Here begins the diver-
gence between the scientific and the lit-
erary historians. They differ as to the
relative values of the elements they
represent, and this difference rests upon
another still more fundamental as to
the relative values of ancient and mod-
ern thought. This will serve to explain
the objections I have already made to
the attitude of Mr. Rhodes. I would
not deny the justice nor the propriety
of judging any historical work from the
artistic standpoint. It would not be
going too far to say that no history
which fails when brought to such a test
can be called good. But there is no
art that can neglect its fundamental sci-
ence. Other things being equal, that is

the best history — even from the artistic
point of view — which gives the clearest
explanation of the unfolding of national
life; and in this respect modern his-
toriography is beyond all comparison
superior to ancient. It is, therefore, not
conclusive of the preeminent excellence
of Thucydides and Tacitus to show the
admirable proportion and conciseness of
their narratives. If the historians of the
present century show some loss in this
respect, they do more than make it up
by gain in others. It is not enough that
the ancient writers of history told so
well what they saw and understood;
there was so much that they did not see
and understand. If historical literature
is to be distinguished from other forms
and have canons peculiar to itself at all,
its expository completeness must be con-
sidered in estimating it as good or bad.

It must be confessed, however, that
the indictment of Mr. Rhodes against
modern historians for prolixity is well-
deserved. It could be sustained not only
against the historians, but against
nearly all book-makers of our time, and
is far graver than his degree of empha-
sis would indicate. Life is short, and
there is continually more to be crowded
into it. The literature of almost every
field of progressive thought is outgrow-
ing the capacity of its workers, who are
striving in truly reckless fashion to add
thereto each what he can. Conciseness
and proportion are, if not the most
priceless jewels of all literature, at least
their most useful and attractive setting.
Blessed is he, and a benefactor of his
race, who can deliver his message in few
words, and for the rest keep silent.

One other point made by Mr. Rhodes
deserves attention, namely, the advan-
tage of writing contemporaneous his-
tory. Three difficulties lie in the way of
it: First, that of getting the perspec-
tive; second, that of so far removing
one's prejudices as to see the truth;
third, that of telling the truth as seen,
in spite of popular prejudice. If they
can be overcome, the history of any
epoch can be written best by those be-
longing to it. Mr. Rhodes has himself

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

shown how this can be done. But I do
not think that he has established the
superiority of Thucydides and Tacitus
over modern historians. Their work may
excel in conciseness and proportion, but
that of the moderns has a more than
compensatory advantage in deeper in-
sight and clearer exposition. Partisans
of either may fail to see that the shield
is silver on one side and gold on the
other; or, seeing this, they may fail to
agree as to which is the golden side.
"Let every man be fully persuaded in
his own mind."

George P. Garrison.
University of Texas.

THE RETARDATION OF SCIENCE.

We hear a good deal about the ad-
vancement of science. There are huge
associations which make it the object
of their existence; there are universi-
ties, colleges, societies, museums, in-
stitutes and laboratories which reckon
this as at least one of their aims; and
the individual scientific workers, even
those who look upon science as

"The milch-cow of the field,
Their only care to calculate how much
butter she will yield" —

Even they, we say, profess to regard
science as 'the goddess great,' and base
their claim to honor on the service they
have rendered to her. And, at this
turning year of time, as we indulge in
self-complaisant retrospect, we boast
that, as a result of all this, science
really has advanced. Contradictions,
inconsistencies, harkings back: these
we frankly admit; but the shattered
theories line an onward path, and the
discovered errors are lamps on the way
of truth. We do well to rejoice; but
we shall not do ill to look also at the
other side of the shield. Might we not
be advancing more rapidly, surely and
easily? Are there not opposing forces
which combine to effect the retarda-
tion of science?

Space need not be occupied by in-
sisting on the inertia of governments,
composed of ministerialists rather than

statesmen on the lethargy and igno-
rance of the mass of people; on the
curse of Babel, or on any such obvious
hindrances to progress. But every
scientific student knows that many of
the difficulties in his way have no ne-
cessity in the nature of things, and
that many of them are raised by scien-
tific men themselves. We expect to
meet with difficulties when we read
a foreign language, but we resent hav-
ing to ferret out an author's meaning
when he publishes in our own tongue.
This is what one has to do too often,
for a vast number, if not the majority,
of scientific men write abominably. It
is all very well for the chemist in a
factory, or the electrician to a lighting
company, to be careless about the parts
of speech ; it hurts no one except himself
and his employer. But for the student
who makes researches in pure science,
the case is altered. The object of the
former is to earn his daily bread, and
the sooner the better; the object — pro-
fessed, at least — of the latter is to en-
lighten the world. A man may be a
profound investigator, and may pene-
trate far into the mystery of the un-
known, but if he cannot give an in-
telligible report to his colleagues, his
travels in the undiscovered country will
be disregarded. Worse than this, his
fellow-workers waste valuable time in
trying to read his riddles or very likely
are led astray by his bungling presen-
tation of veritable facts, and so science
is retarded.

We do not propose to arouse the
anger of our scientific friends by quot-
ing elegant extracts from their writings
to support our contention. We pass
over the phraseology, to consider the
general plan and the details of the ar-
rangement. There are, it is true, mas-
ters in science who are also masters of
method. But they have gained their
mastery of the latter, as of the former,
in the school of experience. This would
be all very well were it not that we
others have to suffer during their ap-
prenticeship. Their immature essays,
with all the faults of a beginner, have

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

to be read and reckoned with, and are
just as much part of the self-styled lit-
erature of science as are their magna
opera. This would not be worth a com-
plaint were it inevitable; but that is
just what it is not. If only scientific
people in general could be got to care
a little about these things, and if only
their opinion could be organized and
brought to bear more directly on the
evil-doers, improvement would soon fol-
low. The fact is that we are too con-
tent to muddle along, and what is
everybody's business is nobody's busi-
ness. Hence the student fresh from
college, or while still a pupil, is set
to attack some problem in science,
which, with the help of his professor,
he solves in a satisfactory manner.
Then he must print, and here, too often,
the help of the professor seems to be
lacking. The student has had next to
no training in the composition of scien-
tific articles and none in the preparation
of work for the press. He does not
know how to find the previous litera-
ture, and when found he does not know
how to quote it. Having no experience
in the use of other men's writings, he
does not know what to insert, what to
omit, or what faults to avoid. He is,
perhaps, a good draughtsman, but his
media have been pencil and paint, and
he has no idea how to do black-and-
white work for the photo-engraver. He
begins with a title in the style of the
eighteenth century, that takes up three
lines and leaves you in the dark as to
the contents of his paper. Full of en-
thusiasm and imbibed knowledge, he
either plunges into his subject without
explaining what his subject is, or else he
introduces it by a lengthy 'history,'
mostly copied from the last worker that
preceded him. He ends with a nicely-
rounded period, but you search in vain
for a summary of his results.

One cannot be hard on the poor
young fellow, who doubtless will do
well enough in time; but one can pro-
test against the nonchalance that per-
mits this state of things. There are
two sources from which a remedy may

spring, and to each we herewith make
appeal. First, let the colleges provide
instruction in the technique of author-
ship, just as they provide it in the
technique of research. This will not
help to swell the flood of publication, too
great already; rather it will diminish
it, by entailing more rigorous prepara-
tion on would-be authors. Let the stu-
dent be taught the conventional rules
that govern the formal aspect of his
science, just as he is taught the laws
of chemical combination or dental for-
mulae. In zoology and botany, for in-
stance, he should be taught the rules
of nomenclature, or at least those gen-
erally followed, and taught how to
write the names of animals and plants
in the accepted manner. He should be
made to study the classical memoirs of
great masters from the noint of view of
presentation — of manner rather than of
matter. And even then he should not
be turned loose on an unwilling public,
but should be practised in writing and
drawing for the press, in proof-correct-
ing and so forth. The examiners of
doctoral theses should consider their
style and arrangement no less than
their contents, and, if necessary, should
insist on formal alterations being made
before they give permission to publish.
So much for the universities. The
second source of help lies in the editors,
whether of independent periodicals or
of publishing societies. The editor has,
by tacit agreement, great powers. But
in the case of publications devoted to
pure science, those powers often seem
to be very little used. There is a preju-
dice against interfering with an author's
statement of his case; for here the sub-
stance is regarded as everything and the
form as nothing, and an editor fears
lest, in re-shaping the form, he may
hack away an essential portion of the
substance. This delicacy is likely to be
more appreciated by the author in ques-
tion than by his readers. The editors
of purely scientific publications labor,
of course, under a peculiar disadvantage
in that both the contribution and the
publication of matter are voluntary of-

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

fices with no binding contract; the edi-
tor is often only too glad to get 'copy,'
and dare not risk offending a contribu-
tor. But the experience of many years
in the conduct of many classes of pub-
lications has led us to the conviction
that the authors most likely to be of-
fended by judicious editing are those
whose services can best be spared.
Many, and especially beginners, often
express their gratitude for editorial ad-
vice, and in most cases an editor has
only to act suaviter in modo to be able
to proceed fortiter in re. Moreover, in
the case of the more serious and tech-
nical papers, these positions of author
and editor are often reversed, since it
is not so easy for an author to get his
memoir published, especially with the
requisite illustrations. Here, then, the
editor has the whip hand, and his
power is enhanced if he be acting for a
learned society of which the author is
a member. In brief, editors, as a rule,
have the power, and we beg them to
use it. Not every author can have a
university training, but all (except the
few rich and foolish enough to publish
for themselves) must submit their man-
uscripts to the blue pencil of an editor.
We want to see that blue pencil used.

But this leads us to another unfortu-
nate influence tending to retard science,
and that is the ignorance and incom-
petence of editors. We speak as one of
the fraternity. How can an editor
know the conventions of physicists, of
zoologists, of botanists, of chemists, of

geologists and all the rest? Specializa-
tion has proceeded so far that the editor
of a general scientific journal nowadays
must have, some may think, either
enormous learning or vast audacity.
But this is not quite a fair view of the
case. Most scientific journals of any
importance are, like other journals, run
by a large staff of specialists in co-
operation with one managing editor.
Theoretically, at least, this is the case,
as may be seen by reference to the cov-
ers of the 'American Journal of Science,'
the 'American Naturalist,' 'Science,' and
many more. If all these associate edi:
tors could be got to do editorial work,
the supposed difficulty would vanish.
Sorrowfully we admit that even editors
do not always act rightly, and that 'Edi-
tor, edit thyself!' may be a true re-
proach. But the realization of a defect
goes half-way towards curing it.

To put in few words what we have
tried to make clear in these notes:
Among the causes tending to retard
science is carelessness as regards form
and expression. The prevalence of this
carelessness is largely due to want of
training, and this defect can be rem-
edied. We appeal, therefore, to teach-
ing bodies to insist on instruction in
the methods of scientific authorship:
and we appeal to editors to exercise
their powers in all questions of gram-
mar, lucidity, arrangement and the
formal conventions of each science.

An Editor.

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

CHRISTMAS ISLAND.

Those areas of the earth's surface
outside of the Polar regions which re-
tain their original fauna and flora un-
modified by the action of man and the
organisms which accompany him in his
migrations are very few and are rap-
idly passing away. It is obvious that
it is of great importance that we should
know something of the conditions, ani-
mals and plants which exist under such
circumstances, in order that the effects
of the influx of human beings into a
virgin wilderness may be determined
and recorded.

Opportunities for such researches
are very rare and in a few years will
be non-existent. A settlement has re-
cently been made upon the isolated bit
of land known as Christmas Island,
which lies some two hundred miles
southwest of the western part of Java
and is separated from it by sea which
reaches a depth of three thousand
fathoms. At the initiative and expense
of Sir John Murray, known from his
connection with the Challenger expe-
dition, Mr. C. W. Andrews, of the Brit-
ish Museum, was granted leave of ab-
sence for the purpose of making a thor-
ough biological survey of this island,
and the report which is the result of
his observations and collections, assisted
by a number of expert naturalists in
working up the material, has just been
issued by the Museum. It is believed
to be the most elaborate account of the
animal and plant life of an oceanic
island ever published.

The island is of volcanic origin and
comprises, beside igneous rocks, a va-
riety of tertiary and recent limestones.
Most of the life upon it is of the Malay-
sian type, the prevalent winds being
from that quarter. However, there is
a recognizable portion of it which is

related to that of Ceylon and another to
that of Australia, though the latter
country is nine hundred miles away.
About ten per cent, of the plants and
forty-five per cent, of the three hundred
and nineteen species of animal or-
ganisms are regarded as peculiar to the
island. There are thirty-one species of
birds, five of mammals and six of rep-
tiles, of which sixteen are known only
from this island. These figures, of course,
exclude all pelagic forms. Altogether,
many interesting facts have been
brought out and several puzzling ques-
tions raised in the discussion of the
data which form the basis of this val-
uable report.

PALEONTOLOGY.

The absence of a text-book on pale-
ontology in English which in any ade-
quate measure reflected the philosophic
illumination of modern zoology has long
been a subject of regret. The only man-
ual worthy of the name which has en-
joyed any wide reputation among scien-
tific paleontologists has been that of von
Zittel, published originally in German,
but since well rendered into French
with some additions. Dr. C. R. East-
man, of Harvard University, having in
view a translation of von Zittel's 'Grund-
ziige,' with the permission of the au-
thor, submitted the different sections
of the work to various American spe-
cialists for revision. The original work
was lavishly illustrated with excellent,
mostly original figures, which have been
utilized in the present translation. The
task of revision was undertaken by a
number of experts as a labor of love, in
the desire that the deficiency in our
text-book literature, above referred to,
might be done away with and that Eng-
lish-speaking students might possess a
work of reference in which modern ideas

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

of classification and of the relations and
development of organic life on the globe
would find a place. This task pre-
sented many difficulties, both for the
revisers and for the editor, and one can
not but regret that the cost of illus-
tration and the difficulties of finding
a publisher for a wholly new work
stood in the way of preparing a manual
which should be avowedly, as well as
practically, independent. The excel-
lent work of von Zittel, good as it is,
was designed on the lines of the science
as it was a quarter of a century ago.
The revision, though in several depart-
ments fundamental, is naturally more
or less uneven, the restrictions of space
insisted on by the publishers and
other causes hampering the freedom of
treatment desirable, while the compos-
ite nature of the work, part of which
was stereotyped before other portions
were received in manuscript, has inev-
itably resulted in some incongruities.
However, in spite of such minor de-
ficiencies, the result has been the most
notable advance in the treatment of in-
vertebrate paleontology as a whole
since text-books began to be made.
This is especially evident in such
groups as the Polyzoa, Mollusca,
Brachiopods and Trilobites, in which
the illustrations and a part of the bib-
liography are all that remain of the
older work. Any work in which the
latest views of large divisions of the
animal kingdom are summed up by
such experts as Wachsmuth, Ulrich,
Schuchert, Hyatt and Beecher must ap-
peal strongly to students and long re-
main an indispensable aid to science,
whether all matters of detail meet with
final acceptance or not. Wholesale
changes, such as are indicated in sev-
eral of the groups, might very well be
unacceptable to the original author of
the work thus modified, but, while sus-
pending his opinion on the advisability
of some of the novel methods, Dr. von
Zittel, in his preface to the present
work, has been moved by the true
scientific spirit which, while holding
fast to that believed to be good, is ever

ready to welcome any new light. The
untouched riches of American fossilifer-
ous horizons, especially above the
Paleozoic, are almost incalculable, and
the existence of Dr. Eastman's valuable
text-book can not but be a most impor-
tant factor in the training of those who
will hereafter bring to light the riches
now awaiting the advent of paleonto-
logical explorers.

ZOOLOGY.

There has been somewhat of a
dearth of works on natural history dur-
ing the past few months. Among those
which have appeared is 'Nature's Cal-
endar,' by Ernest Ingersoll, a book in-
tended to stimulate the reader's power
of observation by inducing him to note
down, day by day, what he sees going
on in the world of animals and plants
about him. There are twelve chapters,
one for each month, in which the au-
thor writes pleasantly of what is being
done by the more familiar beasts and
birds, reptiles, fishes and insects, as well
as plants, in an ordinary season in the
vicinity of New York. The limits,
however, have not been very rigidly
drawn, and we read of deer, bears and
wildcats, animals not commonly found
about that city. We are told, as the
case may be, how animals and plants
are guarded against extremes of heat
and cold, at what time the animals
make their appearance, when the wood-
chuck comes from his burrow and the
shad and herring ascend the streams;
when they mate; at what time the eggs
are deposited or the young come forth;
at what time the buds burst and the
blossoms open, and of many other oc-
currences. Each chapter is preceded by
a full-page plate, after photographs by
Clarence Lown, of some landscape in
accord with the text, and at the end of
each chapter is a 'calendar,' in which
the birds naturally appear in the major-
ity, stating what animals are present,
the approximate times at which, if they
migrate, they come or go, or the dates
on which they go into or come out of
winter quarters. The compact text oc-

100

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

cupies less than half the page, the re-
mainder being left for recording the ob-
servations of the reader, who thus be-
comes a joint author and has the
pleasure of seeing whether or not he is
in agreement with his collaborateur.

The book is written in a pleasing
style and while here and there a little
loose in its statements, one should not
hold the author too strictly to account,
since the very object of the book is to
induce the reader to make his own ob-
servations and draw his own deduc-
tions, and the possibility of proving
someone wrong is a great stimulus to-
wards this end.

The recent issue of part four, con-
sisting of 283 pages of text and 392
plates, completes Jordan and Ever-
mann's 'Fishes of North and Middle
America,' published as Bulletin No. 47
of the U. S. National Museum. The
'Synopsis of the Fishes of North Amer-
ica,' by Jordan and Gilbert, issued in
1882, was a single volume of 1,074
pages, with no plates, containing de-
scriptions of 1,340 species of fishes; the
present work is in four volumes, con-
sisting of 3,528 pages, 240 of which are
devoted to the index and 392 plates, and
over 3,000 species are described. Natu-
rally, a considerable portion of this in-
crease is due to the extension of the
area covered, but still a large part is
caused by the increased number of
species now known to ichthyologists.
The work is in no sense of a popular
nature and it goes without saying that
it is simply indispensable to the student
of North American ichthyology; it will
doubtless be many years before any
revision of it is attempted. It is not
our purpose to review the work — to do
that would require much knowledge
and much time — but to congratulate
the authors on the completion of their
task.

Six years ago Mr. Robert Ridgway,
at the request of Dr. Goode, undertook
the preparation of a work that should
do for birds what Jordan and Ever-

mann have done for fishes, give a de-
scription of all forms inhabiting North
America north of the Isthmus of
Panama, including as well the West
Indies, the Galapagos and the islands
of the Caribbean Sea. Although sev-
eral times interrupted by the illness of
Mr. Ridgway, the manuscript of the
first volume is now ready for the printer
and the second is so far advanced that
it will probably be completed by the
end of the year. The outlines for the
entire series, which will, it is estimated,
fill seven octavo volumes of 600 pages
each, are drawn up, and several of the
other volumes are well under way.

The total number of species and sub-
species to be treated is, roundly speak-
ing, 3,000, and the first volume, de-
voted to the Fringlllidae, comprises
descriptions of over 370 species and sub-
species. There are keys to the families,
genera and species, and besides a care-
ful technical description and very full
synonymy, the range of each species is
given; all extra-limital families are in-
cluded in the keys, but extra-limital
genera and species only when their
number is small. As much more work
has been done in ornithology than in
ichthyology, the synonymy will be
much more extensive than in Jordan
and Evermann's 'Fishes of North and
Middle America,' and as particular at-
tention has been given to the verifi-
cation of references and ascertaining the
original spelling of generic and specific
names, this part of the work has neces-
sitated an amount of labor that can
only be appreciated by those who have
been engaged in similar tasks. In ad-
dition, the type locality of each species
and the present location of each type
has been given whenever it could be
ascertained.

The work is based on the collections
of the U. S. National Museum, but
much material has been examined be-
longing not only to other museums, but
to private individuals who have gener-
ously placed their specimens at Mr.
Ridgway's disposal. The collections of
the Biological Survey of ilie Depart-

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

101

ment of Agriculture have been particu-
larly helpful in the case of Mexican
species.

AGRICULTURE.

'The Use of Water in Irriga-
tion' is the title of an extensive bulle-
tin just issued by the U. S. Department
of Agriculture, under the authorship of
Prof. Ehvood Mead, expert in charge of
irrigation investigations, and C. T.
Johnston, assistant. It embodies the
results of extensive investigations con-
ducted last year with the assistance of
a number of collaborators in ten States
of the arid region and presents an array
of data on the use which is being made
of water under different systems of
management, such as has never before
been collected for the irrigated region
of this country. It constitutes a part
of the irrigation studies which are being
carried on under the U. S. Department
of Agriculture.

To many readers the lavish prodigal-
ity which has characterized the diver-
sion and application of water for irri-
gating will come as something of a
surprise, when the paramount impor-
tance of water in developing the arid
country is considered. This has been
fostered by the fact that "the laws
which govern appropriations of wa-
ter from streams have, in most cases,
no relation to the actual practice of
irrigation and therefore fail to secure
either the systematic distribution or
best use of the available supply."
Ditches diverted more water than was
used : their owners claimed more than
they could divert, while decrees gave
appropriators titles to more water than
the ditches could carry and many times
what the highest floods could supply.
Little was known as to the quantity of
water needed to irrigate an acre of land,
and in the absence of such information
the ignorance and greed of the specu-
lative appropriator had its opportunity.

In the investigations reported, farm-
ers whose fields were under observation
were instructed to use water as they had
hitherto been in the habit of doing. The

result of the measurements of the water
used showed very forcibly the influence
of waste in lowering the 'duty of water'
and of care and skill in increasing it.
They confirm the conviction long held
by students of the subject that the
amount of water used in practice bears
no definite relation to the requirements
of the crop, but is subject to the whim
of the individual and the supply of wa-
ter provided by the contract with the
canal company. For instance, the aver-
age amounts of water used in different
part of New Mexico varied from less
than three feet to nearly seven feet.
This was independent of the rainfall.
In many cases the farmers using the
least water got quite as good crops as
those who used enormous quantities.
On some soils which were not well
drained there was a very marked injury
from excessive irrigation. In the Boise
Valley in Idaho it was found by meas-
urement that fully one-half the water
now diverted by canals is wasted under
present methods. Apart from the losses
from extravagant use of water, there
are heavy losses, under present manage-
ment, from evaporation and seepage
from the canals. The average of the
measurements made show the loss from
this source to be fully thirty per cent.
Mr. Mead expresses the conviction that
throughout the sections where measure-
ments were made last year it will be
possible, through improved methods, to
double the average duty of water now
obtained, so that the quantity now re-
quired for one acre will serve to irri-
gate two.

The importance of this becomes more
strikingly apparent when it is remem-
bered that there is a limit to the
amount of land which can be reclaimed
with the available water supply, gen-
erally estimated at about seventy mil-
lion acres, or approximately one-fifth
of the arid region, and that the thou-
sands of miles of canals and laterals
thus far constructed have only re-
claimed an area approximately as great
as the State of New York.

The results reported in this bulletin

102

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

not only furnish the basis for improv-
ing the existing methods of irrigation
and for framing more equitable laws,
but they indicate the lines along which
investigation should be directed.

This year marks the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the establishment of agri-
cultural experiment stations in the
United States. Beginning with a single
station in Connecticut in 1875, the num-
ber has steadily grown until to-day we
have a system of experiment stations
embracing every State and Territory in
the Union. The history of this move-
ment and the present status of the sta-
tions is the subject of an interesting and
attractive volume of over six hundred
pages, prepared by Dr. A. C. True, di-
rector of the Office of Experiment Sta-
tions, and Mr. V. A. Clark, assistant,
and published by the United States De-
partment of Agriculture. It is a com-
prehensive account of the evolution and
development of the experiment station
enterprise; the organization, lines of
work and equipment of the stations;
some of the more striking results of
practical application which they have
attained; and a description of each of
the fifty-six stations individually. These
latter descriptions are illustrated by one
hundred and fifty-three plates, showing
the buildings, fields, laboratories, herds,
etc., of the different stations. The
greatest impulse to the station move-
ment was given by the passage of the
Hatch Act, in 1887, providing for the
establishment of experiment stations in
connection with the land-grant colleges,
and appropriating $15,000 a year
to each State and Territory for their
maintenance. At that time there were
some twelve stations, a part of which
received regular State appropriations.
During 1888 stations sprang into exist-
ence rapidly all over the country, and
in a surprisingly short time these sta-
tions had justified the expectations of
their advocates and proved their useful-
ness to the agriculture of the country.

During the past ten years more than
ten million dollars have been expended

in their maintenance, seven million of
which has come from the Federal Gov-
ernment. Dr. True reviews the mani-
fold benefits which have come from their
operations, and points out their value
in (1) the introduction of new agricul-
tural methods, crops or industries, and
the development of those already exist-
ing; (2) the removal of obstacles to ag-
riculture, such as diseases of plants and
animals, injurious insects and other
natural enemies; (3) the defense of the
farmer against fraud in the purchase of
fertilizers, feeding stuffs, insecticides
and in other ways; (4) aiding in the
passage and administration of laws for
the benefit of agriculture; and (5) in an
educational way. Brief as this summary
necessarily is, it brings out very forcibly
the wide range of usefulness of the ex-
periment stations to the farming com-
munity, touching nearly every phase of
agricultural operation, and their very
potent influence in arousing widespread
interest in the various forms of agricul-
tural education. "The stations are not
only giving the farmer much informa-
tion which will enable him to improve
his practice of agriculture, but they are
also leading him to a more intelligent
conception of the problem with wnich
he has to deal, and of the methods he
must pursue to successfully perform his
share of the work of the community
and hold his rightful place in the com-
monwealth." One large result of the ed-
ucational work of the stations has been
the general breaking down of the popu-
lar conception that agriculture is not
capable of improvement through sys-
tematic and progressive researches in
its behalf conducted on scientific prin-
ciples. "There is now in this country a
much keener appreciation than hereto-
fore of the fact that the problems of ag-
riculture furnish adequate opportunity
for the exercise of the most thorough
scientific attainments and the highest
ability to penetrate the mysteries of na-
ture."

Considered merely as organizations
for the advancement and diffusion of
knowledge, the stations have attained

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

103

to an important position. They now
include upon their staffs nearly seven
hundred persons, who constitute a body
of organized scientific workers such as
is hardly to be found in any other field
of investigation. While they are labor-
ing primarily for the advancement of
applied science, they have made a quite
large number of important contributions
to the sciences, and their investigations
are followed with interest by workers in
similar lines the world over.

The past history of the stations gives
every assurance of increasing strength
and efficiency in the future. They have
passed through the formative period of
their existence, and year by year have
secured a better equipment and more
thoroughly trained officers. "The peo-
ple generally have come to regard the
stations as permanent institutions, and
are convinced of the usefulness of their
work. They will, therefore, enter upon
the twentieth century with bright pros-
pects for the development of their re-
searches in scientific thoroughness and
accuracy and for the securing of larger
practical results."

The lastest addition to the list of ex-
periment stations is the Alaska Station,
which was established last year, with
headquarters at Sitka. Some prelimi-
nary work to determine the practicabil-
ity of conducting station work there
was carried on the year previous. The
report of the operations of the Alaska
Station for 1899 has recently been is-
sued by the United States Department
of Agriculture.

It is only recently that Alaska has
been regarded as possessing agricultural
possibilities. Potatoes and a few other
vegetables were grown in a small way
by some of the settlers and at a few
missions, but for more than a quarter
of a century after Alaska became a part
of the United States no effort was made
to encourage agriculture. It was not
until the discovery of gold in Alaska
attracted a large number of people there
and created a demand for foodstuffs
that any interest was manifested in the

study of its agricultural capabilities, or
in the attempt to establish there at
least sufficient agriculture to meet a
considerable proportion of the needs of
its population. The results of the ex-
periments carried on by the Alaska
Station have been a surprise to those
who have regarded the country as
suited only to the fisheries, the fur trade
and mining. Professor Georgeson's re-
port shows that vegetable growing in
Alaska is no longer a matter of experi-
ment. "It has been abundantly proved
that all the common, hardy vegetables
which are grown in the gardens of the
States, such as potatoes, cabbage, cauli-
flower, kale, peas, onions, carrots, pars-
nips, parsley, lettuce, celery, radishes,
turnips, beets and the like, in their nu-
merous varieties, can be grown in Alas-
ka to a high degree of perfection and
attain a crispness and delicacy of flavor
which is rarely equaled in the best
farming regions of the States, because
they are there very frequently dwarfed
and toughened by drought and heat."
He has also shown that in Southeastern
Alaska and in Cook Inlet oats, barley,
buckwheat and spring wheat will ma-
ture with careful culture. Flax has
been grown for two years with marked
success, indicating that the climate is
particularly favorable for flax growing.
In addition to the native grasses, which
grow luxuriantly, a long list of forage
plants have been successfully grown,
and Professor Georgeson asserts that it
is safe to depend on growing an abun-
dance of feed for live stock every year,
which leads him to believe that dairy-
ing, beef, mutton and wool production
are assured of success. Thus far the ex-
periments have been confined to the
southern coast of Alaska, but the pres-
ent season work will be undertaken in
the Yukon district and at other places
in the interior.

PHILOSOPHY.

The appearance of a book by the
veteran Dr. Hutchinson Sterling, from
whose 'Secret of Hegel,' published in
1865, the rise of the neo-rationalist

104

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

school in Britain and the United States
dates, is always welcome. And, even if
scientific students lay up old scores
against him for his attack on Huxley,
and for his more recent, suggestive,
though unfair assault on the Darwin-
ians, they must remember that he rep-
resents one type of contemporary think-
ing favored by a large and influential
group; they must remember, too, that
he was trained as a physician and has
competent first-hand knowledge of the
scientific standpoint. The present
work — 'What Is Thought,' published by
the Blacks in Edinburgh, and imported
by the Scribners — although highly
metaphysical, in the Hegelian sense,
contains not a little interesting material.
The early chapters, on 'Substance,' the
'Ontological Proof,' 'Self-consciousness,'
and the like, summarize views familiar
to philosophical students, and known
more or less to scientific men through
such books as Prof. Ritchie's 'Darwin
and Hegel,' and Prof. Watson's 'Kant
and his English Critics.' Fortunately,
these chapters occupy but a third of
the volume. The three hundred pages de-
voted to some account of the develop-
ment from Kant, through Fichte and
Schelling, to Hegel, are more important,
and present, in some aspects, the best
statement of the subject at present
available in English. The long chapter
on Kant is full of points demanding
consideration from thoughtful scientific
workers; while the estimate of the re-
lations between Sehelling and Heerel
must be held of exceptional value. No
doubt, the book is hard reading; all
Dr. Sterling's works are, for he has
never been able to rid himself of the
curious Carlylese style that so strongly
marked his first, and greatest, effort.
Nevertheless, all the old vigor and all
the power remain. It may be added
that the book appeals very specially
to students of the history of European

thought in the nineteenth century a

subject which, particularly as concerns
the relation between the sciences and
philosophy, is very far from being un-
derstood as yet.

It is not easy to speak of the Eng-
lish translation from the German ver-
sion of the Danish original of Hoff-
ding's 'History of Philosophy.' Pro-
fessor Hciffding's work is admirable, as
all know; the translation — well, the
less said of it, the better. We dismiss it
with but one comment. The most laugh-
able of the translator's numerous errors
happens to be venial, as too many
others are not. He tells us that
Geulincx died at Pesth. Knowing of
the Dutch philosopher's sojourn in
Lyons, but being in ignorance of a visit
to Pesth, one naturally turned to the
original, and found Hoffding record-
ing that Geulincx died of the
plague (pest) ! This is fit companion
for the similar error (now classical)
whereby the Wolffian psychology (wolf-
fischen PsycJwlogie) was Englished as
animal psychology. Pest and Pesth
obviously bear much the same relation
to each other as Wolff and wolf! This
may be sublime, it is hardly translation.
One may venture to express a hope that
the publishers will see to a thorough re-
vision by a competent hand. The work
is far too important to be left thus;
moreover, we are unaccustomed to as-
sociate such a performance with the
house of Macmillan. As compared with
other histories of philosophy, Hoffding's
possesses quite peculiar attractions for
those whose main interests lie in the
direction of science. The space at dis-
posal compels the briefest statement of
these points. In the first place, then,
Hoffding devotes great attention to the
formation and i7nport of the Renais-
sance view of the universe. He bears
it specially in mind that this view was
evolved as much, if not more, by science
than by philosophy. Consequently, Co-
pernicus, Galileo and Newton take their
places alongside Descartes, Spinoza and
Leibnitz. The importance of this method
of treatment can hardly be exaggerated
to-day. For one of the main problems
at the moment is nothing more than a
determination of the extent to which
'modern thought' is still controlled by

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

105

the cosmic conceptions and categories of
the sixteenth, seventeenth and eight-
eenth centuries. In the same way gen-
erous consideration is accorded to think-
ers who are passed over with scant cere-
mony in the ordinary text-books. Bruno,
Bacon and Kepler are instances of this.
The same appreciation of the immense
importance of science for philosophical
inquiry marks the perspective in which
nineteenth century workers are placed.
Kant, who is more influential for science
than any other thinker, receives very
full discussion — a discussion, too, which
however one may dissent from it, as the
present writer dissents, bears every-
where the traits of prolonged study and
of first-hand acquaintance with the
principal primary sources. Similarly,
the English school of Positivists,
elbowed out in the country of its birth
as it has been by a metaphysicising
Hegelianism, is restored to its true im-

portance, and the post-Kantian ration-
alism, that has ousted it, is bidden
come down lower. In a work so ex-
tensive there are, of course, many points
on which one can not agree with the dis-
tinguished author. For example, his con-
ception of the relation between Des-
cartes and Spinoza requires revision; he
makes too much of Bruno; he has not
reasoned the standpoint of Copernicus
out to its logical conclusion; Hobbes
and Rousseau get more than their due,
and Hume less; the peculiar genius of
the English school, particularly as rep-
resented by Locke, does not seem to have
been caught. But, after all, these are
defects which appear to the expert and
do not seriously mar the book as a
whole. For the scientific man, it is the
best presentation of the constructive de-
velopment of philosophical theory from
the Renaissance till within the last
twenty-five years.

io6

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

It is frequently said that the days
of the discovery of general principles
and far-reaching laws are past, and that
students of science are now settling
down to minor questions and the elab-
oration of details. The amount of spe-
cialized work, unproductive of immedi-
ate result in general truths, is naturally
increasing, both because of the assiduity
of scientific workers and because each
general truth brings a number of minor
problems. But the acquisition of wide
theories is by no means at an end when
we are told, as we have been during the
last year, that the nebular hypothesis
of Laplace is at variance with the facts;
that the atoms are made up of smaller
bodies whose nature can be known; that
inertia and gravitation are not special
facts by themselves, but are the results
of the electrical charges of bodies. In
papers in the Journal of Geology and
the Astrophysical Journal, Prof. T. C.
Chamberlin and Dr. F. R. Moulton seek
to show that the nature of the earth's
atmosphere is not compatible with the
traditional idea of the formation of the
earth from a hot gaseous ring ; that the
force of gravity would not cause such
a ring to form a sphere; that the mat-
ter given off by a rotating spheroid of
gas would not go off in the form of
rings, and that the present mechanical
arrangement of the solar system could
not be derived from a spheroidal nebula
such as Laplace assumed. It is sug-
gested that the spiral nebulae may offer
conditions analogous to those of our
own solar system in its early stages.
The hypothesis receives confirmation
from the important paper published
just before his death by Keeler, and de-
scribed by Professor Campbell in the
obituary notice published above. Keel-
er's beautiful photographs with the
Crossley reflector, several of which are

reproduced by Professor Newcomb in
the opening article of this issue of the
Monthly, indicate that most nebulae
are in fact spiral.

Recent researches in molecular phys-
ics threaten to disqualify the time-
honored position of the atoms as the
smallest known particles of matter and
to push the analysis of material sub-
stances to a point where the dreams
of a primary order of sub-atoms or
corpuscles whose varying combinations
shall account for the so-called 'elements'
seems almost probable. The work of
Prof. J. J. Thomson and others on the
electrical condition of gases has resulted
in the hypothesis that the ions or bodies
carrying the electric charges are not
greater than one-thousandth the mass
of the hydrogen atom; further, that the
mass of each ion is the same in the
case of all the gases tried, regardless
of their atomic weights. The latter
statement indicates that atoms of
totally different constitution yet consist
of corpuscles that are alike at least in
mass. Although the experiments and
reasoning which have led to these con-
clusions are beyond the comprehension
of any but the specialist, and so cannot
be suitably given in this connection, it
should be remembered that the conclu-
sions are far from being mere specula-
tions. On the contrary, they are the re-
sult of the most careful experimental
work, accord well with a number of
facts and have already been tentatively
applied to the explanation of other
phenomena. Thus, Dr. Reginald A.
Fessenden has arrived at certain far-
reaching hypotheses concerning the pos-
sible explanation of inertia and gravita-
tion in terms of electric charges. In a
recent issue of Science he writes: "We
thus find that both inertia and gravita-

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

107

tion are electrical effects and due to the
fact that the atom consists of corpuscu-
lar charges. The constant ratio be-
tween quantity of inertia and quantity
of gravitation, for a given body, is thus
explained. We may state the theory
thus: The inertia of matter is due to
the electromagnetic inductance of the
corpuscular charges, and gravitation is
due to the change of density of the
ether surrounding the corpuscles, this
change of density being a secondary ef-
fect arising from the electrostatic stress
of the corpuscular charges."

We are able to publish in the pres-
ent issue of this Journal an article on
China, by Mr. William Barclay Par-
sons, which represents the best knowl-
edge obtainable from recent and accu-
rate observations. The present political
crisis has called forth other articles, and
books will be forthcoming, giving a cer-
tain amount of reliable information in
regard to the physical and social aspects
of the country. Still, the difference be-
tween Eastern and Western civilization
becomes apparent the moment any
definite question is asked about the
natural resources or social conditions of
China. Almost any fair question of this
nature about our own country would
meet with a ready and reasonably com-
plete answer from some one of the gov-
ernment bureaus or from general sci-
entific literature. When it is asked about
China we obtain in general only opin-
ions of travelers, missionaries or other
foreign residents, opinions based on
vague data and guided usually by medi-
ocre scientific training. On what is per-
haps the most important questions of
all: What is the mental and moral
make-up of the Chinese people? How
will they act singly or collectively under
given conditions? we get even less ac-
curate judgments than we do on the
mineral resources, the fauna and flora,
etc. It is a pity that the sciences of
human nature are not far enough ad-
vanced to make it practicable to send a
body of anthropologists and psycholo-
gists to China to examine and diagnose

the mental capacities and proclivities of
the race. Even as things are, such a
report would be worth something as a
supplement to the impressions of those
who have written about China. It
might be assumed from the general
principles of the theory of evolution
that races which have for many cen-
turies been subject to a nearly constant
environment will be greatly disturbed
by new conditions. It is not surprising
that the native tribes of America and
Australasia should be exterminated. On
the other hand, rabbits imported into
Australia and negroes imported into
America have flourished, and the Jap-
anese have adapted themselves to a new
civilization in a marvelous fashion. Com-
mon-sense and science are in equal
measure unable to foretell what will
happen to China and its peoples.

It will be remembered that the Tate
Dr. Alfred Nobel bequeathed nearly all
his great fortune, estimated at ten mil-
lion dollars, for the establishment of five
prizes. The exact terms of his will,
which have only recently been made
public, are as follows:

The capital, converted into safe in-
vestments by the executors of my will,
shall constitute a fund the interest of
which shall be distributed annually as
a reward to those who, in the course
of the preceding year, shall have ren-
dered the greatest services to humanity.
The sum total shall be divided into
five equal portions, assigned as follows:

1. To the person having made the
most important discovery or invention
in the department of physical science.

2. To the person having made the
most important discovery or having
produced the greatest improvement in
chemistry.

3. To the author of the most im-
portant discovery in the department of
physiology or of medicine.

4. To the author having produced
the most notable literary work in the
sense of idealism.

5. To the person having done the
most, or the best, in the work of estab-
lishing the brotherhood of nations, for
the suppression or the reduction of
standing armies, as well as for the for-
mation and propagation of peace con-
ferences.

io8

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

The prizes will be awarded as fol-
lows- For physical science and chemis-
try by the Swedish Academy of Sci-
ences; for works in physiology or medi-
cine by the Carolin Institute of Stock-
holm; for literature, by the Academy
of Stockholm: finally for the work of
peace, by a committee of five members
elected by the Norwegian Stortung. It
is my expressed will that nationality
shall not be considered, so that the
prize may accrue to the most worthy,
whether he be a Scandinavian or not.

The organization for executing this will
has, after an interval of about three
years, been completed, and its nature
has been formally announced in an
official communication to our govern-
ment. Nobel's intentions have not
been exactly carried out, . the chief
deviations being that part of the money
is used for the establishment of certain
Nobel institutes, the objects of which
are not exactly defined. On these in-
stitutes and on the incidental expenses
of awarding the prizes, one-fourth of
the income may be expended. Further
—and this seems to be in direct viola-
tion of the provisions of the will —
prizes need be given only once in five
years, and the money thus saved may
be used to establish special funds 'to
encourage otherwise than by prizes the
tendencies aimed at by the donor.' It
is to be hoped that the administrators
will make only judicious use of these
provisions, for Nobel's purpose to estab-
lish for eminence in science and litera-
ture a few rewards as munificent as the
world gives in politics, war or business
is too wise to be neglected. Any at-
tempt to divert the funds to the en-
couragement of local institutions or to
the education of inferior men should
be carefully guarded against. Nobel's
will explicitly ordered that the money
be awarded in prizes for eminence and
without any consideration of national-
ity.

New York University received
early in the year a gift of $100,000 from
Miss Helen Gould for the erection of a
Hall of Fame. On the colonnades are to
be inscribed the names of the most emi-

nent Americans, and thirty of these
have recently been selected by the Sen-
ate of the University, in accordance
with the votes of certain prominent men
selected as judges. Ninety-seven of
these handed in their votes, and the fol-
lowing eminent Americans received the
majority required: George Washington
97, Abraham Lincoln 96, Daniel Web-
ster 96, Benjamin Franklin 94, Ulysses
S. Grant 92, John Marshall 91, Thomas
Jefferson 90, Ralph Waldo Emerson 87,
Robert Fulton 85, Henry W. Longfel-
low 85, Washington Irving 83, Jona-
than Edwards 81, Samuel F.B. Morse 80,
David Glasgow Farragut 79, Henry Clay
74, Nathaniel Hawthorne 73, George
Pe'abody 72, Robert E. Lee 69, Peter
Cooper 69, Eli Whitney 67, John James
Audubon 67, Horace Mann 67, Henry
Ward Beecher 66, James Kent 65, Jo-
seph Story 64, John Adams 61, William
Ellery Channing 58, Elias Howe 53, Gil-
bert Stuart 52, Asa Gray 51. It will be
noticed that the list contains four in-
ventors—Robert Fulton, S. F. B. Morse,
Eli Whitney and Elias Howe— while
there are but two scientific men— J. J.
Audubon and Asa Gray, unless Benja-
min Franklin be included. The judges
probably were more interested in birds
and flowers than in the history of sci-
ence in America. Audubon and Gray
should certainly be included in a list
of eminent scientific men, but not to
the exclusion of Benjamin Thompson
(Count Rumford), Joseph Henry and
others. Twenty further names are to
be added in 1902 and thereafter five at
intervals of five years.

The papers and discussions before
many of the congresses of the
Paris Exposition were technical in
character, as is demanded by the ad-
vanced and specialized state of the sci-
ences, but there also met at Paris dur-
ing August and September a number of
congresses devoted to the mental and so-
cial sciences which perhaps presented
more aspects of interest to those who
are not special students. The only one
of these congresses that can be noted

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

109

here is that devoted to psychology, a
science intermediate, in its present state
of development, between the exact sci-
ences and those subjects in which indi-
vidual opinions are more prominent than
ascertained facts. About three hundred
students of psychology attended the
fourth international congress, which met
in seven sections, namely: (1) Psychol-
ogy in its relation to anatomy and phys-
iology; (2) Introspective psychology in
its relation to philosophy; (3) Experi-
mental psychology and psychophysics ;
(4) Pathological psychology and psy-
chiatry; (5) Psychology of hypnotism
and related phenomena; (6) Social and
criminal psychology, and (7) Compara-
tive psychology and anthropology.

Among the subjects discussed by the
Psychological Congress was the estab-
lishment at Paris of a 'Psychical Insti-
tute' under the auspices of an interna-
tional society. This Institute proposes
to do for 'psychics' what the Pasteur In-
stitute does for biology and pathology.
According to M. Janet, its aims are:

(1) To collect in a library and museum
all books, works, publications, appara-
tus, etc., relating to psychical science;

(2) To place at the disposal of research-
ers, either as gifts or as loans, accord-
ing to circumstances, such books and
instruments necessary for their studies
as the Institute may be able to acquire;

(3) To supply assistance to any labora-
tory or to any investigators, working
singly or unitedly, who can snow that
they require that assistance for a publi-
cation or for a research of recognized
interest; (4) To encourage study and
research with regard to such phenomena
as may be considered of sufficient im-
portance; (5) To organize lectures and
courses of instruction upon the differ-
ent branches of psychical science; (6)
To organize, as far as means will allow,
permanent laboratories and a clinic,
where such researches as may be con-
sidered desirable will be pursued by
certain of the members; (7) To publish
the 'Annales de l'lnstitut Psychique In-
ternational de Paris,' which will com-

prise a summary of the work in which
members of the Institute have taken
part and which may be of a character
to contribute to the progress of the
science. The Institute aims to cover
the whole field of psychology, but it ap-
pears from the discussions and from
those who are interested in the move-
ment that it will favor those more or
less occult phenomena which go under
the name 'psychical.' Thus the Ameri-
can members of the committee are Prof.
J. Mark Baldwin, Prof. J. H. Gore
and Mr. Elmer Gates, which is as if the
committee on a pathological institute
consisted of one physician, a lawyer in-
terested in homeopathy and a faith
curist.

The experiment demonstrating the
relation of mosquitoes to malarial fever,
undertaken under the auspices of the
London School of Tropical Medicine, has
apparently been successful. Its some-
what dramatic character and wide ad-
vertisement in the daily papers will
prove of benefit both in leading people
to take precautions to avoid infection
by mosquitoes and in leading to in-
creased appreciation of the importance
of experiments in medicine. Drs. Sam-
bon and Low, who have been living in
a hut in one of the most malarial dis-
tricts of Italy since last June, drinking
the water, exposed to the night air
and taking no quinine, have so far been
entirely free from malaria. The con-
verse of the experiment has been
equally successful. Dr. Patrick Man-
son's son, who had never suffered from
malaria, allowed mmself to be bitten in
London on three occasions by mosqui-
toes fed in Rome on patients suffering
from malaria. He suffered an attack of
fever and the tertian parasites were
found in his blood. Americans, and es-
pecially readers of this journal, may
be interested to learn that the earliest
article on the relation of mosquitos to
malaria was published in the Popular
Science Monthly for September, 1883.
Prof. A. F. King, still living in Wash-
ington, contributed an article entitled

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

'Insects and Disease — Malaria and Mos-
quitoes,' in which, after calling atten-
tion to the then recent researches of Dr.
Patrick Manson, in China, and others,
proving that the mosquito acts as an
intermediary host of Filaria sanguinas
hominis, he proceeds to point out in de-
tail the connection existing between
mosquitoes and malaria. Nineteen spe-
cial arguments are marshaled, several
of which deserve consideration at the
present time. Among the points urged
by Dr. King is the fact that malaria is
prevented by mosquito nets, a state-
ment being quoted to the effect that "on
surrounding the head with a gauze veil
or conopeum the action of malaria is
prevented and that thus it is possible
to sleep in the most pernicious parts of
Italy without hazard of fever." This
was, of course, written long before La-
veran discovered Plasmodium malariae,
and before exact experiment was pos-
sible, but Dr. King deserves much credit
for bringing together so much evidence
in favor of a theory the correctness of
which could only be demonstrated
twenty-seven years later.

The proper standard for atomic
weights has occasioned controversies
among chemists for nearly a century,
but at last bids fair to be settled,
through the practical agreement of an
international committee, under the aus-
pices of the German Chemical Society.
The original standard, proposed by Ber-
zelius, was the weight of the oxygen
atom taken as 100. This gave rise to
very large numbers, in the case of num-
bers with high atomic weights, and
gradually the use of hydrogen = 1
came to supersede that of oxygen = 100.
So long as it was assumed that the oxy-
gen atom was exactly sixteen times as
heavy as the hydrogen atom, this stand-
ard was satisfactory. With increasing
refinement of analytical work, it began
to appear that the atomic weight of
oxygen, with reference to hydrogen,
was slightly less than sixteen. For
some time the exact figure was supposed
to be 15.96. This necessitated a recal-

culation of the atomic weights of all
the elements, for they are for the most
part determined with reference directly
to oxygen or chlorin, and only indi-
rectly with reference to hydrogen. As
it was certain that the final word had
not been said as to the atomic weight
of oxygen, the suggestion was made by
a few chemists to use as a standard
oxygen = 16. The first article pub-
lished advocating this new standard was
by Dr. F. P. Venable, of the University
of North Carolina, in 1888. Discussion
was particularly aroused in the Ger-
man Chemical Society by Professor
Brauner, of Prague, who was strongly
supported by Ostwald and opposed by
Meyer and by Seubert. The latter, who
is one of the great authorities on atomic
weights, has since come to the support
of oxygen = 16. The recent report of
an international committee represent-
ing chemical societies of eleven coun-
tries (America, Belgium, Germany, Eng-
land, Holland, Japan, Italy, Austria,
Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland), showed
forty in favor of oxygen = 16, seven op-
posed, while two wanted both stand-
ards. Except one American, none were
opposed but Germans, and the German
vote was a tie between the two stand-
ards. The objections raised against us-
ing oxygen = 16 as a standard seem to
be solely from a didactic standpoint, in
having something other than unity as
a standard. It was clearly pointed out
by Dr. Venable in his second paper that
there was no necessary connection be-
tween the standard and unity. Some
objectors would take oxygen as unity,
but this would be impracticable, as it
would make such radical changes in the
numbers now in use. An additional
reason for the newer standard is that a
large proportion of those weights most
frequently used approach very closely
to whole numbers, a point of no slight
advantage to the technical chemist.
While the small minority of the inter-
national committee are making a vig-
orous protest against the decision of the
majority, it seems probable that this
decision will be concurred in by most
chemists throughout the world.

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

Foreign men of science have a
pleasant custom of celebrating the long
service of their colleagues. Giovanni
Virginio Schiaparelli was born in 1835,
and in June, 1860, he was appointed one
of the astronomers of the Observatory
of Milan. In June, 1900, thirty-six Ital-
ian astronomers joined in a memorial to
him which has been handsomely printed
in a pamphlet of eighty-eight pages. On
November 1 of this year Schiaparelli is
to retire to private life, after more than
forty years of active service. For thirty-
eight years he has been director of the
observatory at the Brera palace, which,
by his researches, has been raised to a
very high rank. His first observations
were made with quite small instru-
ments, but his successes with limited
means finally brought splendid modern
instruments to his observatory. His
earliest examinations of planets (1861)
were made with a small telescope of
only four inches aperture. For many
years he employed a telescope of eight
inches, but since 1887 he has had at his
disposition a refractor of eighteen inches
— one of the powerful telescopes of the
world.

Schiaparelli is best known to the world
at large by his long continued and very
successful observations of Mars. It is
not too much to say that his work has
revolutionized our notions of the phys-
ical conditions existing on that planet.
It is more than likely that some of his
conclusions will have to be revised; and
it is certain that some of his less cau-
tious followers have drawn conclusions
that the master's observations do not
warrant. However this may be, his
own work has a high and permanent
value. Astronomers rate other research-
es of Schiaparelli's quite as highly as his
studies of the planets. The relation be-
tween comets and meteor-showers was
most thoroughly worked out by him;
we owe to him also thousands of accu-
rate observations of double stars; as
well as a great number of important re-
searches on many and various questions
of mathematics, physics and astronomy.
It is interesting to note, here and there,

in the list of the 206 memoirs which he
has published, certain papers of an anti-
quarian and literary turn — on the labors
of the ancients before Copernicus;
Grseco-Indian studies; on the interpre-
tation of certain verses of Dante, etc.
The nomenclature of his topographical
chart of Mars, among other things,
proves the accuracy and elegance of his
classical learning.

He has been rewarded for a long and
laborious life by the respect and admira-
tion of his colleagues and by the con-
tinued interest of the larger public in
his discoveries. Academies of science all
over the world (with the singular excep-
tion of America) have elected him to
membership and have awarded their
medals and other honorary distinctions,
and he has been decorated with orders
of knighthood by Italy, Brazil and
Russia. Finally, he is a life-senator of
the Kingdom of Italy.

These tokens of particular appreci-
ation and his widespread popular repu-
tation are the rewards of a life devoted
strictly to science. He has not gone out
of his way to seek applause, though it
has come to him in full measure. The
graceful tribute of his colleagues signal-
izes his retirement from his official posi-
tion, but we trust that he may be
spared for many years to devote his
genius to the science he has so greatly
forwarded.

The New York Central and Hudson
River Railroad still announces in its
time tables that the Empire State Ex-
press is the fastest regular train in the
world; but this appears to be no longer
correct. The Empire State Express
traverses the distance from New York
to Buffalo, about 440 miles, in eight
hours and fifteen minutes, or at a rate
of 53.33 miles per hour. The Sud Ex-
press on the Orleans and Midi Railway
travels from Paris to Bayonne in eight
hours and fifty-nine minutes. The dis-
tance is in this case 466J miles, the
speed, including the time taken by six
stops, is 54.13 miles per hour. The en-
gine of the New York Central Railroad

112

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

has, however, a heavier load and is
cheeked by necessary slacking as it
passes through crowded streets and
past level crossings. The fastest long-
distance train in England is 'The Fly-
ing Scotsman,' which goes from London
to Edinburgh, a distance of 393* miles,
at a rate of 50.77 miles per hour. The
United States holds the record for
short distances in the run from Cam-
den to Atlantic City, which is made by
the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
at a rate of 66.6 miles per hour and by
the Pennsylvania Railroad at a rate of
64.3 miles per hour. There is a consid-
erable number of trains run at these
rates or nearly as fast, and the rate is
sometimes as great as eighty-eight miles
an hour for distances of twenty miles.
England seems to be now distinctly in-
ferior to France and America in the
speed for both long and comparatively
short distances, although the road-
beds are better, and although they do
not have to contend with level cross-
ings and runs through streets. The
greater speed of the American trains
appears to be due to the superiority of
the engines. It is a fact that the speed
of railway trains has increased little
in recent years — scarcely at all in Great
Britain for thirty years. If more rapid
transit is required it will probably be
found in the use of light trolley cars.
There seems to be no technical difficulty
in establishing a ten-minute service be-
tween Jersey City and Philadelphia, the
time being reduced to one hour.

Among recent events of scientific in-
terest we note the following: Prof. H.
A. Rowland, of the Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity, lias been awarded the grand
prize of the Paris Exposition for his
spectroscopic gratings, and Prof. A.
Michelson, of the University of Chicago,
the same honor for his echelon spectro-
scope. —The Balbi-Valier prize (3.000
francs) of the Venetian Institute of
Sciences lias been awarded to Profes-

sor Grassi, at Rome, for his work on
the relation of Mosquitoes to malaria.
— The Paris Academy of Moral and Po-
litical Sciences has awarded its Audi-
fred prize of the value of 15,000 francs to
Dr. Yersin for the discovery of his anti-
plague serum. — A movement has be-
gun in London for the erection of a
memorial in honor of the late Sir Wil-
liam Flower, which will consist of a bust
and a commemorative brass tablet to be
placed in the Whale Room of the Nat-
ural History Museum — one of the de-
partments in which he was most inter-
ested and to which he devoted special
care and attention. — A monument in
honor of Pelletier and Caventou, the
chemists, to whom the discovery of
quinine is due, was unveiled at Paris
on August 7. An address was made by
M. Moissan, president of the committee,
who presented the monument to the city
of Paris, and by other speakers. — Milne
Edwards has by his will bequeathed his
library to the Paris Jardin des Plantes,
of which he was a director. It is to be
sold and the proceeds to be applied to-
ward the endowment of the chair of
zoology which he held. He also leaves
20,000 francs to the Geographical So-
ciety, of which he was president, for the
establishment of a prize and 10,000 francs
to the SociSte des Amis des Sciences.
— The collection of jewels arranged by
Mr. George F. Kunz and exhibited by
Messrs. Tiffany & Co. at the Paris Ex-
position has been presented to the Amer-
ican Museum of Natural History by Mr.
J. Pierpont Morgan. — The New York
Board of Estimate and Apportionment
has authorized the expenditure of $200,-
000 for the Botanical Garden and $150,-
000 for an addition to the American
Museum of Natural History. — The
Peabody Academy of Science at Salem,
Mass., is trying to raise $50,000 for an
addition to the museum building. Al-
ready over $26,000 has been pledged for
the purpose.

vol. Lvni.— 8

LAVOISIER MONUMENT.
Erected in Paris i-.y International Subscription.

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE

MONTHLY.

DECEMBER, 1900.

OXYGEN AND THE NATURE OF ACIDS.

[These selections from Priestley's account of the discovery of oxygen and from Lavoisier's
first formal presentations of his theory of acids are classical examples of scientific work
which will always be worth reading. They have also the historical interest due to the fact that
the discoveries they describe served as the turning-point of chemistry to the paths it has since
followed. The dates of publication were respectively 1775, 1776 and 1777. We realize the progress
of the century when we remember that these experiments are now among the first in an elemen-
tary course. These two papers are also representatives of two well-defined types of scientific
advance ; Priestley's discovery was one of the happy accidents that often reward the investiga-
tor, one of the cases where he reaps a hundred fold, while Lavoisier's work was the result of
gifted insight and careful consideration of the entire range of phenomena concerned. Lavoi-
sier had, as is shown in this paper, the faculty of giving the right meaning to the data acquired
by others. The phlogiston theory is now so much a matter of antiquity that it seems proper to
give the modern equivalents of some of Priestley's terms : Air is used by him in the modern
sense of gas, dephlogisticated air=oxygen, inflammable air=hydrogen, phlogisticated air=nitro-
gen, marine acid air=hydrochloric acid gas, fixed air=carbon dioxid, nitrous air=nitric oxid
(N O), dephlogisticated nitrous air=nitrous oxid (N20), vitriolic acid air=sulphur dioxid,
mercurius calcinatus=red oxid of mercury.]

ON DEPHLOGISTICATED AIR.*

BY JOSEPH PRIESTLEY.

THERE are, I believe, very few maxims in philosophy that have laid
firmer hold upon the mind than that air, meaning atmospherical
air (free from various foreign matters, which were always supposed to
be dissolved, and intermixed with it), is a simple elementary substance,
indestructible and unalterable, at least as much so as water is supposed
to be. In the course of my inquiries I was, however, soon satisfied that
atmospherical air is not an unalterable thing; for that phlogiston with
which it becomes loaded from bodies burning in it, and animals breath-
ing it, and various other chemical processes, so far alters and depraves
it, as to render it altogether unfit for inflammation, respiration and
other purposes to which it is subservient; and I had discovered that agi-

* From 'Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air.' London, 1775.

n6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tation in water, the process of vegetation, and probably other natural
processes, by taking out the superfluous phlogiston, restore it to its
original purity. But I own I had no idea of the possibility of going
any farther in this way, and thereby procuring air purer than the best
common air. I might, indeed, have naturally imagined that such would
be the air that should contain less phlogiston than the air of the atmos-
phere; but I had no idea that such a composition was possible.

It will be seen in my last publication that, from the experiments
which I made on the marine acid air, I was led to conclude that com-
mon air consisted of some acid (and I naturally inclined to the acid that
I was then operating upon) and phlogiston; because the union of this
acid vapor and phlogiston made inflammable air, and inflammable air,
by agitation in water, ceases to be inflammable and becomes respirable.
And though I could never make it quite so good as common air, I
thought it very probable that vegetation, in more favorable circum-
stances than any in which I could apply it, or some other natural process,
might render it more pure.

Upon this, which no person can say was an improbable supposition,
was founded my conjecture of volcanoes having given birth to the at-
mosphere of this planet, supplying it with a permanent air, first in-
flammable, then deprived of its inflammability by agitation in water,
and farther purified by vegetation.

Several of the known phenomena of the nitrons acid might have
led me to think that this was more proper for the constitution of the
atmosphere than the marine acid; but my thoughts had got into a differ-
ent train, and nothing but a series of observations, which I shall now
distinctly relate, compelled me to adopt another hypothesis, and brought
me, in a way of which I had then no idea, to the solution of the great
problem, which my reader will perceive I had had in view ever since my
discovery that the atmospherical air is alterable, and, therefore, that it
is not an elementary substance, but a composition, viz., what this compo-
sition is, or what is the thing that tec breathe, and how it is to be made
from its constituent principles.

At the time of my former publication I was not possessed of a
burning lens of any considerable force; and for want of one I could not
possibly make many of the experiments that I had projected, and which,
in theory, appeared very promising. I had, indeed, a mirror of force
sufficient for my purpose. But the nature of this instrument is such
thai it cannot be applied, with effect, except upon substances that are
capable of being suspended or resting on a very slender support. It
cannot be directed at all upon any substance in the form of powder, nor
hardly upon anything that requires to be put into a vessel of quicksilver;
which a ]) pears to me to be the most accurate method of extracting air
from a great variety of substances, as was explained in the introduction

OXYGEN AND THE NATURE OF ACIDS. u;

to this volume. But having afterwards procured a lens of twelve inches
diameter and twenty inches focal distance, I proceeded with great
alacrity to examine, by the help of it, what kind of air a great variety of
substances, natural and factitious, would yield, putting them into the
vessels represented in Fig. a, which T filled with quicksilver, and kept in-
verted in a bason of the same. Mr. Warltire, a good chymist and lec-
turer in natural philosophy, happening to be at that time in Calne, I
explained my views to him. and was furnished by him with many
substances, which I could not otherwise have procured.

With this apparatus, after a variety of other experiments, an account
of which will be found in its proper place, on the 1st of August, 1774,
I endeavored to extract air from mercurius calcinatus per se; and I
presently found that, by means of this lens, air was expelled from it very
readily. Having got about three or four times as much as the bulk of
my materials, I admitted water to it, and found that it was not imbibed
by it. But what surprized me more than I can well express was that a
candle burned in this air with a remarkably vigorous flame, very much
like that enlarged flame with which a candle burns in nitrous air ex-
posed to iron or liver of sulphur; but as I had got nothing like this re-
markable appearance from any kind of air besides this particular modi-
fication of nitrous air, and I knew no nitrous acid was used in the prepa-
ration of mercurius calcinatus, I was utterly at a loss how to account
for it.

In this case, also, though I did not give sufficient attention to the
circumstance at that time, the flame of the candle, besides being larger,
burned with more splendor and heat than in that species of nitrous air;
and a piece of red-hot wood sparkled in it, exactly like paper dipped in a
solution of nitre, and it consumed very fast; an experiment which I had
never thought of trying with nitrous air.

At the same time that I made the above mentioned experiment, I
extracted a quantity of air, with the very same property, from the com-
mon red precipitate, which being produced by a solution of mercury in
spirit of nitre, made me conclude that this peculiar property, being simi-
lar to that of the modification of nitrous air above mentioned, depended
upon something being communicated to it by the nitrous acid; and since
the mercurius calcinatus is produced by exposing mercury to a certain
degree of heat, where common air has access to it, I likewise concluded
that this substance had collected something of nitre in that state of heat
from the atmosphere.

This, however, appearing to me much more extraordinary than it
ought to have done, I entertained some suspicion that the mercurius
calcinatus, on which I had made my experiments, being bought at a
common apothecary's, might, in fact, be nothing more than red pre-
cipitate; though, had I been anything of a practical chymist, I could not

u8 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

have entertained any such suspicion. However, mentioning this sus-
picion to Mr. Warltire, he furnished me with some that he had kept for
a specimen of the preparation, and which, he told me, he could warrant
to be genuine. This being treated in the same manner as the former,
only by a longer continuance of heat, I extracted much more air from
it than from the other.

This experiment might have satisfied any moderate sceptic; but,
however, being at Paris in the October following, and knowing that
there were several very eminent chymists in that place, I did not omit
the opportunity, by means of my friend, Mr. Magellan, to get an ounce
of mercurius calcinatus prepared by Mr. Cadet, of the genuineness of
which there could not possibly be any suspicion; and at the same time,
I frequently mentioned my surprise at the kind of air which I had got
from this preparation to Mr. Lavoisier, Mr. le Eoy and several other
philosophers, who honored me with their notice in that city; and who, I
dare say, cannot fail to recollect the circumstance.

At the same time I had no suspicion that the air which I had got
from the mercurius calcinatus was even wholesome, so far was I from
knowing what it was that I had really found; taking it for granted that
it was nothing more than such kind of air as I had brought nitrous air to
be by the processes above mentioned; and in this air I have observed that
a candle would burn sometimes quite naturally, and sometimes with a
beautiful, enlarged flame, and yet remain perfectly noxious.

At the same time that I had got the air above mentioned from mer-
curius calcinatus and the red precipitate, I had got the same kind from
red lead or minium. In this process that part of the minium on which
the focus of the lens had fallen turned yellow. One third of the air in
this experiment was readily absorbed by water; but, in the remainder, a
candle burned very strongly and with a crackling noise.

That fixed air is contained in red lead I had observed before, for I
had expelled it by the heat of a candle, and had found it to be very
pure. (Vol. I., p. 192.) I imagine it requires more heat than I then
used to expel any of the other kinds of air.

This experiment with red lead confirmed me more in my suspicion
that the mercurius calcinatus must get the property of yielding this
kind of air from the atmosphere, the process by which that preparation
and this of red lead is made being similar. As I never make the least
secret of anything that I observe, I mentioned this experiment also, as
well as those with the mercurius calcinatus and the red precipitate, to all
my philosophical acquaintances at Paris and elsewhere, having no idea
at that time to what these remarkable facts would lead.

Presently, after my return from abroad, I went to work upon the
mercurius calcinatus which I had procured from Mr. Cadet, and, with a
very moderate degree of heat, I got from about one fourth of an ounce

OXYGEN AND THE NATURE OF ACIDS. 119

of it, an ounce-measure of air, which I observed to be not readily
imbibed, either by the substance itself from which it had been expelled
(for I suffered them to continue a long time together before I transferred
the air to any other place) or by water, in which I suffered this air to
stand a considerable time before* I made any experiment upon it.

In this air, as I had expected, a candle burned with a vivid flame;
but what I observed new at this time (Nov. 19), and which surprized
me no less than the fact I had discovered before, was that whereas a
few moments' agitation in water will deprive the modified nitrous air
of its property of admitting a candle to burn in it; yet, after more than
ten times as much agitation as would be sufficient to produce this altera-
tion in the nitrous air, no sensible change was produced in this. A
candle still burned in it with a strong flame, and it did not in the least
diminish common air, which I have observed that nitrous air, in this
state, in some measure does.

But I was much more surprized when, after two days, in which this
air had continued in contact with water (by which it was diminished
about one twentieth of its bulk) I agitated it violently in water about
five minutes and found that a candle still burned in it as well as in
common air. The same degree of agitation would have made phlogisti-
cated nitrous air fit for respiration indeed, but it would certainly have
extinguished a candle.

These facts fully convinced me that there must be a very material
difference between the constitution of the air from mercurius calcinatus
and that of phlogisticated nitrous air, notwithstanding their resem-
blance in some particulars. But though I did not doubt that the air from
mercurius calcinatus was fit for respiration after being agitated in water,
as every kind of air without exception on which I had tried the experi-
ment had been, I still did not suspect that it was respirable in the first
instance; so far was I from having any idea of this air being what it
really was, much superior in this respect to the air of the atmosphere.

In this ignorance of the real nature of this kind of air, I continued
from this time (November) to the 1st of March following; having, in
the meantime, been intent upon my experiments on the vitriolic acid
air, above recited, and the various modifications of air produced by
spirit of nitre, an account of which will follow. But in the course
of this month I not only ascertained the nature of this kind of air,
though very gradually, but was led by it to the complete discovery of
the constitution of the air we breathe.

Till this 1st of March, 1775, I had so little suspicion of , the air
from mercurius calcinatus, etc., being wholesome that I had not even
thought of applying to it the test of nitrous air; but thinking (as my
reader must imagine I frequently must have done) on the candle burn-
ing in it after long agitation in water, it occurred to me at last to make

120 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the experiment; and putting one measure of nitrous air to two measures
of this air, I foimd not only that it was diminished, but that it was
diminished quite as much as common air, and that the redness of the
mixture was likewise equal to that of a similar mixture of nitrous and
common air.

After this I had no doubt but that the air from mercurius calcinatus
was fit for respiration, and that it Lad all the other properties of genuine
common air. But I did not take notice of what I might have observed,
if I had not been so fully possessed by the notion of there being no air
better than common air. that the redness was really deeper, and the
diminution something greater than common air would have admitted.

Moreover, this advance in the way of truth, in reality, threw me back
into error, making me give up the hypothesis I had first formed, viz.,
that the mercurius calcinatus had extracted spirit of nitre from the air;
for I now concluded that all the constituent parts of the air were equally
and in their proper proportion imbibed in the preparation of this sub-
stance, and also in the process of making red lead. For at the same
time that I made the above mentioned experiment on the air from
mercurius calcinatus, 1 likewise observed that the air which I had ex-
tracted from red lead, after the fixed air was washed out of it. was of
the same nature, being diminished by nitrous air like common air: but,
at the same time, I was puzzled to find that air from the red precipitate
was diminished in the same manner, though the process for making this
substance is quite different from that of making the two others. But
to this circumstance 1 happened not to give much attention.

I wish my reader be not quite tired with the frequent repetition of
the word surprize, ami others of similar import; but I must go on in that
6tyle a little longer. For the next day I was more surprized than ever
I had been before with finding that after the above mentioned mixture
of nitrous air and the air from mercurius calcinatus had stood all night
(in which time the whole diminution must have taken place, and, con-
fiequently, had it been common air it must have been made perfectly
noxious and entirely unfit for respiration or inflammation) a candle
burned in it and even better than in common air.

I cannot at this distance of time recollect what it was that I had in
view in making this experiment; but I know I had no expectation of the
real issue of it. Having ;icquired a considerable degree of readiness in
making experiments of this kind, a very slight and evanescent motive
would be sufficient to induce me to do it. If, however, I had not hap-
pened, for some other purpose, to have had a lighted candle before me
I should probably never have made the trial, and the whole train of my
future experiments relating to this kind of air might have been pre-
vented.

Still, however, having no conception of the real cause of this

OXYGEN AND THE NATURE OF ACIDS. 121

phenomenon, I considered it as something very extraordinary; but as a
property that was peculiar to air that was extracted from these sub-
stances and adventitious; and I always spoke of the air to my acquaint-
ance as being substantially the same thing with common air. I par-
ticularly remember my telling Dr. Price that I was myself perfectly
satisfied of its being common air, as it appeared to be so by the test of
nitrous air; though, for the satisfaction of others, I wanted a mouse to
make the proof quite complete.

On the 8th of this month I procured a mouse and put it into a
glass vessel containing two ounce-measures of the air from mereurhts
calcinatus. Had it been common air a full-grown mouse, as this was,
would have lived in it about a quarter of an hour. In this air, however,
my mouse lived a full half hour, and though it was taken out seemingly
dead, it appeared to have been only exceedingly chilled; for, upon
being held to the fire, it presently revived and appeared not to have
received any harm from the experiment.

By this I was confirmed in my conclusion that the air extracted
from mercurius calcinatus, etc., was al least as good as common air;
but I did not certainly conclude that it was any better; because, though
one mouse would live only a quarter of an hour in a given quantity of
air, I knew it was not impossible but that another mouse might have
lived in it half an hour, so little accuracy is there in this method of as-
certaining the goodness of air: and. indeed, I have never had recourse
to it for my own satisfaction since the discovery of that most ready,
accurate and elegant test that nitrous air furnishes. But in this case I
had a view to publishing the most generally-satisfactory account of my
experiments that the nature of the thing would admit of.

This experiment witli the mouse, when I had reflected upon it
some time, gave me so much suspicion that the air into which I had
put it was better than common air, that I was induced, the day after,
to apply the test of nitrous air to a small part of that very quantity of
air which the mouse had breathed so long; so that, had it been common
air, I was satisfied it must have been very nearly, if not altogether, as
noxious as possible, so as not to be affected by nitrous air; when, to my
surprize again, I found that though it had been breathed so long it was
still better than common air. For after mixing it with nitrous air, in
the usual proportion of two to one, it was diminished in the proportion
of 4^ to 3^; that is, the nitrous air had made it two ninths less than
before, and this in a very short space of time: whereas I had never
found that in the longest time any common air was reduced more
than one fifth of its bulk by any proportion of nitrous air, nor more
than one fourth by any phlogistic process whatever. Thinking of
this extraordinary fact upon my pillow, the next morning I put
another measure of nitrous air to the same mixture, and, to my utter

122 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

astonishment, found that it was farther diminished to almost one
half of its original quantity. I then put a third measure to it; hut
this did not diminish it any farther; but, however, left it one measure
less than it was even after the mouse had been taken out of it.

Being now fully satisfied that this air, even after the mouse had
breathed it half an hour, was much better than common air, and having
a quantity of it still left sufficient for the experiment, viz., an ounce
measure and a half, I put the mouse into it; when I observed that it
seemed to feel no shock upon being put into it, evident signs of which
would have been visible if the air had not been very wholesome; but
that it remained perfectly at its ease another full half hour, when I
took it out quite lively and vigorous. Measuring the air the next day I
found it to be reduced from 1^ to 2-3 of an ounce measure. And
after this, if I remember well (for in my register of the day I only
find it noted that it was considerably diminished by nitrous air) it
was nearly as good as common air. It was evident, indeed, from
the mouse having been taken out quite vigorous, that the air could
not have been rendered very noxious.

For my farther satisfaction I procured another mouse, and putting
it into less than two ounce-measures of air extracted from mercurius cal-
cinatus and air from red precipitate (which, having found them to be of
the same quality, I had mixed together) it lived three quarters of an
hour. But not having had the precaution to set the vessel in a warm
place, I suspect that the mouse died of cold. However, as it had lived
three times as long as it could probably have lived in the same quantity
of common air and I did not expect much accuracy from this kind of
test, I did not think it necessary to make any more experiments with
mice.

Being now fully satisfied of the superior goodness of this kind of air,
1 proceeded to measure that degree of purity with as much accuracy as
I could, by the test of nitrous air; and I began with putting one meas-
ure of nitrous air to two measures of this air, as if I had been examining
common air, and now I observed that the diminution was evidently
greater than common air would have suffered by the same treatment.
A second measure of nitrous air reduced it to two thirds of its original
quantity, and a third measure to one half. Suspecting that the dim-
inution could not proceed much farther, I then added only half a
measure of nitrous air, by which it was diminished still more; but not
much, and another half measure made it more than half of its original
quantity; so that, in this case, two measures of this air took more than
two measures of nitrous air and yet remained less than half of what it
was. Five measures brought it pretty exactly to its original dimensions.

At the same time air from the red precipitate was diminished in the
same proportion as that from mercurius catcinatus, five measures of

OXYGEN AND THE NATURE OF ACIDS. 123

nitrous air being received by two measures of this without any increase
of dimensions. Now as common air takes about one half of its bulk
of nitrous air before it begins to receive any addition to its dimensions
from more nitrous air, and this air took more than four half measures
before it ceased to be diminished by more nitrous air, and even five half
measures made no addition to its original dimensions, I conclude that it
was between four and five times as good as common air. It will be seen
that I have since procured air better than this, even between five and six
times as good as the best common air that I have ever met with.

MEMOIR ON THE EXISTENCE OF AIR IN THE ACID OF NITRE
(AND ON THE MEANS OF DECOMPOSING AND RECOM-

POSING THIS ACID).*

By ANTOINE-LAURENT LAVOISIER.

TOOK a small retort with a long narrow neck, which I bent over a
lamp so that the end of the neck could be held under a bell-jar full
of water standing in a vessel of water. Into the retort I put two ounces
of slightly fuming acid of nitre, the weight of which was to that of dis-
tilled water in the proportion of 131,607 to 100,000. I added two ounces
one dram of mercury and heated it slightly to hasten the solution.

As the acid was very strong, the effervescence was lively and the de-
composition very rapid. I received the air which was liberated in differ-
ent bell-jars in order to be able to tell the differences which might be
found between the air at the beginning and at the end of effervescence,
supposing there should be such. When the effervescence had stopped
and all the mercury had dissolved, I continued to heat the material in
the same apparatus. Soon boiling appeared in place of the effervescence,
aud while the boiling went on air was produced in almost as great
abundance as before. I continued this until all the fluid had passed
out, either by distillation or as elastic vapors of air, and nothing was left
in my retort save a white salt of mercury, in a pasty form, dry rather
than wet, which began to grow yellow on its surface. The quantity of
air obtained up to this point was about 190 cubic inches; that is to say,
about four quarts. All this air was of a uniform sort and was nowise
different from what M. Priestley has called nitrous air.

On continuing the experiment, I noticed that from the mercury salt
there arose red fumes like those of the acid of nitre; but this phenom-
enon did not last long and soon the air in the empty part of the retort

* Read before the Paris Academy of Science on April 20, 1776. Translated for The Popular
Science Monthly from the ' Comptes Rendus ' for the meeting.

i24 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

regained its transparence.* Having put to one side the air which had
been given off during the period of the red fumes, I found ten to twelve
inches of air very different from what had been given off up till then,
and apparently differing from ordinary air only in that lights burned
-lightly better in it. At the same time the mercury salt had turned to
a fine red precipitate, and, keeping it at a moderate heat, I obtained
at the end of seven hours 224 cubic inches of air much purer than
ordinary air, in which a light burned with a much brighter, larger and
brilliant or more active flame. This air, from all its characteristics, I
could riot but recognize as the same that I had extracted from calx of
mercury, known as mercury precipitatum per se; the same that M. Priest-
ley extracted from a number of substances by treating them with spirits
of nitre. In proportion as this air had been freed, the mercury had
been reduced, and I found again, within a few grains, the two ounces
one dram of mercury which I had dissolved. The slight loss may have
been due to a little yellow and red sublimate which clung to the upper
part of the retort.

The mercury came out of this experiment as it went in, that is. with-
out change in its quality or to any noticeable extent in its weight. So it
is evident that the 42G cubic inches of air which I had obtained could
have been produced only by the decomposition of the acid of nitre. I
was then right in concluding from these facts that two ounces of acid of
nitre are composed, first, of 190 cubic inches of nitrous air; second, of
12 cubic inches of ordinary air; third, of 224 cubic inches of air better
than ordinary air; fourth, of phlegm; but as it was proved from M.
Priestley's experiments, that the small amount of common air which I
had obtained could be nothing save air better than common air, the
superior quality of which had been altered by mixture with nitrous air
in the transition or passing from one to the other, I can determine the
amount of these two airs before their mixture and suppose that the 12
cubic inches of common air which I got were due to a mixture of 30
•ill lie inches of nitrous air and 11 cubic inches of air better than ordi-
nary air.

After thus determining these quantities, we get as the product of
two ounces of acid of nitre:

Nitrous air 226 cubic inches.

Purest air 238 " "

Total 464

[Lavoisier here uses the estimated weight of the gases found to
decide the composition by weight of nitric acid.]

1 l hese red fumes are due to portions <>f nitrons air and of .air jmrer than ordinary, which
are freed from the mercury salt am] which combine and form the acid of nitre. The force of
this explanation will he fully felt only after the entire memoir has been read.

OXYGEN AND THE NATURE OF Ad I PS. 125

Such then is a way to decompose the acid of nitre and demonstrate
the existence in it of a pure air and (if I may he allowed to use this
expression) more an air than ordinary air. But the complement of the
proof was, after having decomposed the acid, to succeed in re-com-
pounding it out of the same materials, and that is what 1 have done.

[Lavoisier here inserts some preliminary remarks about the nature
of nitrous air, and then describes his experiment as follows:]

I filled with water a tube which was closed at one end and which
was marked off along its length by equal divisions of volume. I in-
serted this tube, thus filled with water, in another vessel, likewise filled
with water; I let into it seven and one-third parts of nitrous air and
mixed with this at the same time four parts of air purer than ordinary
air, which I had measured out in another separate tube.* At the
moment of mixture, the eleven and a third parts of air occupied 12 to
13 measures, but, a moment later, the two airs mingled and combined,
very red vapors of spirits of fuming nitre were formed, which were at
once condensed by the water, and in a few seconds the eleven and a
third parts of air were reduced to about a third of a measure; that is to
say, to about the thirty-fourth part of their original volume.

The water contained in the tube was sensibly acid at the end of this
experiment, or, rather, it was a weak acid of nitre; when I treated it
with alkali I got from it by evaporation real nitre. . . . After having
shown that one can separate and combine again the principles of the
acid of nitre, it remains for me to show that the same can be done
with materials not all taken from the acid of nitre. Instead of the
purest air, or that drawn from the red precipitate of mercury, one may
use the air of the atmosphere; but much more of it will have to be used,
and instead of the four parts of pure air which are sufficient to saturate
seven and one^third parts of nitrous air, one will have to use nearly
sixteen of common air; all the nitrous air is, in this experiment, as in
the preceding one, destroyed or rather condensed; but this is not the
case with common air; not more than a fifth or a fourth of it is absorbed,
and what remains is no longer able to support the flame of a candle or
to support respiration in animals. It seems proved by this that the air
which we breathe contains only a fourth part of real air; that this real
air is in our atmosphere mixed with three or four parts of a harmful air,
a sort of choke-damp, which would cause the death of the majority of
animals if it were present in a little greater quantity. The injurious
effects on the air of vapor of charcoal and of a large number of other
emanations prove how near this fluid is to the point beyond which it
would be fatal to animals. I hope to soon be in a position to discuss
this idea and to place before the Academy the experiments on which
it is based.

*I pass over the tentative efforts by which I came to know the exact proportion.

126 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

It results from the experiments contained in this memoir that when
mercury is dissolved in nitric acid, this metallic substance acquires the
pure air contained in the nitric acid and constituting it an acid. On the
one hand this metal, when combined with the purest air, is reduced to
a calx; on the other the acid deprived of this same air expands and forms
nitrous air, and the proof that such are the facts in this experiment is
that if after having thus separated the two airs which enter into the
composition of the acid of nitre, you combine them anew, you make
pure acid of nitre such as you had before, with the single difference
that it fumes.

The acid of nitre, drawn from saltpetre by clay, is consequently
nothing but nitrous air combined with nearly an equal volume of the
purest part of the air and with a fairly large amount of water; nitrous
air, on the contrary, is the acid of nitre deprived of air and of water.
People will no doubt ask here if the phlogiston of the metal does not
play some part in this process. Without daring to decide a question of
so great importance, I will reply that since the mercury comes out of
this experiment just as it went in, there are no signs that it has lost or
gained any phlogiston, unless we claim that the phlogiston which
brought about the reduction of the metal passed through the vessels.
But that is to admit of a particular sort of phlogiston, different from
that of Stahl and his school; it is to return to the theory of fire as a
principle, to fire as an element of bodies, a theory much older than
Stahl's and very different from it.

I will end this memoir as I began it, by thanking M. Priestley, to
whom the greater part of whatever interest it possesses is due; but the
love of truth and the progress of knowledge, towards which all our
efforts should be directed, oblige me at the same time to correct a
mistake which he has made, which it would be dangerous to leave un-
challenged. This rightly famous physicist, who had discovered that
when he combined the acid of nitre with any earth, he invariably ob-
tained ordinary air or air better than ordinary air, believed that he
could thence draw the conclusion that the air of the atmosphere is a
compound of acid of nitre and of earth. This bold conception is quite
overthrown by the experiments contained in this memoir. It is clear
that it is not air that is composed of acid of nitre, as M. Priestley
claims; but, on the contrary, it is the acid of nitre that is composed of
air; and this single remark gives the key to a large number of experi-
ments contained in Sections III., IV. and V. of M. Priestley's second
volume.

OXYGEN AND THE NATURE OF ACIDS. 127

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE NATURE OF ACIDS *

By ANTOINE-LAURENT LAVOISIER.

WHEN" the chemists of olden times had reduced a body to oil, salt,
earth and water, they believed that they had reached the limits
of chemical analysis, and consequently they gave to salt and to oil the
names of 'principles of bodies.'

In proportion as the art made progress, the chemists who succeeded
them became aware that substances which had been held to be primary
could be decomposed, and they recognized in succession that all the
neutral salts, for instance, were formed by the union of two substances,
an acid of some sort and a salt, earth or metal.

Hence arose the entire theory of neutral salts which has held the at-
tention of chemists for over a century, and which is to-day so near per-
fection that we may regard it as the surest and most complete part of
chemistry.

Chemical science has been handed down to us in this condition, and
it is our business to do with the constituents of the neutral salts what
the chemists who went before us did with the neutral salts themselves,
to attack the acids and bases and to carry chemical analysis along this
line a step beyond its present limits.

I have already imparted to the Academy my first efforts in this field.
I have in earlier memoirs demonstrated to you as far as it is possible
to demonstrate in physics and chemistry that the purest air, that to
which M. Priestley has given the name of 'dephlogisticated air,' enters
as a constituent part into the composition of several acids, notably of
phosphoric, vitriolic and nitric acids.

More numerous experiments put me in a position to-day to draw gen-
eral conclusions from these results and to assert that the purest air, the
air most suitable for respiration, is the principle which causes acidity;
that this principle is common to all acids, and that in addition one or
more other principles enter into the composition of each acid, differenti-
ating it and making it one sort of acid rather than another.

In consequence of these facts, which I already regard as very firmly
established, I shall henceforth call dephlogisticated air or air most suit-
able for respiration, when it is in a state of combination or fixity, by the
name of 'the acidifying principle,' or, if one prefers the same meaning
in a word from the Greek, 'the principle Oxyginej1 This nomenclature
will save periphrases, will make my statements more exact, and will
avoid the ambiguities I would be likely to fall into constantly if I used
the word 'air.'

* Read before the Paris Academy of Sciences on September 5,1777. Translated for The Popu-
lar Science Monthly from the ' Comptes Rendus ' for the meeting.

128 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Without repeating details which I have given elsewhere, I will recall
herein a few words, adopting this new language:

1. That the acidifying principle or oxygen, when combined with
the substance of tire, heat and light, forms the purest air, that which
M, Priestley has called dephlogisticated air; it is true that this first prop-
osition is not strictly proved and perhaps is not susceptible of strict
proof; so 1 have proposed it only as an idea that I regard as very prob-
able, and in that respect it must not be confused with the propositions
which are to follow, which are based on rigorous experiments and proofs;

2. That this same acidifying principle or oxygen, combined with
carbon or substances containing carbon, forms the acid of chalk (car-
bonic acid) or fixed air:

3. That with sulphur it forms vitriolic acid;

4. That with nitrous air it forms nitric acid;

5. That with Kunckel's phosphorus it forms phosphoric acid;

6. That with metallic substances in general it forms metallic
calces, with the exception of the cases of which I shall speak in this or a
following memoir.

Such is very nearly our present general knowledge of the combina-
tions of oxygen with the different substances in nature, and it is not
hard to see that there remains a vast field to explore; that there is a
part of chemistry absolutely new and until now unknown, which will
be completely investigated only when we shall have succeeded in deter-
mining the degree of affinity of this principle with all the substances
with which it can combine, and in discovering the different sorts of com-
pounds which result.

All chemists know that the simpler the substances are with which
you are working, the nearer you come to reducing substances to their
elementary molecules, the more difficult become the means of decompos-
ing and recomposing the substances; we may suppose, therefore, that the
analysis and synthesis of acids must present much greater difficulties
than does the analysis of the neutral salts into the composition of which
they enter. I hope, however, to be able in what follows to show that
there is no acid, unless, perhaps, it be that of sea salt, which wTe cannot
analyze and put together again and from which we cannot at will ab-
stract the acidifying principle.

This kind of work demands a great variety of means, and the pro-
cedures necessary to success in effecting combination vary according to
the different substances with which one is working. In some cases wTe
must have recourse to combustion, either in atmospheric air or pure air.
Such is the case with sulphur, phosphorus and carbon; these substances
during combustion absorb the acidifying principle or oxygen, and by
the addition of this principle become vitriolic, phosphoric and carbonic
acid or fixed air.

OXYGEN AND THE NATURE OF AC ID 8. 129

In the case of other substances mere exposure to the air, aided by a
moderate degree of heat, suffices to bring about the combination, and
this is what happens to all vegetable substances capable of passing on to
acid fermentation. In the greater number of cases one has to resort to
the science of affinities and to employ the acidifying principle already
united in another compound.

The example which I am going to give to-day is of this last sort, and
I shall take it from an experiment, well known for several years, follow-
ing the memoirs of M. Bergman. It is the formation of the acid of
sugar. This acid, in accordance with the experiments which I am going
to recount, seems to me to be nothing else than sugar combined with
the acidifying principle or oxygen, and I propose to show in order in
different memoirs that we can combine this same principle with the
substance composing animals' horns, with silk, with animal lymph, with
wax, with essential oils, with extracted oils, manna, starch, arsenic, iron
and probably with a great many other substances of the three kingdoms.
"We can thus turn all these substances into genuine acids.

Before entering on the material to be presented, I beg the Academy
to recall that the acid of nitre, as shown by the experiments which I
have before described, and which I have repeated in your presence, is
the result of the union of nitrous air with the purest air or acidifying
principle; that the proportion of these two principles varies in the differ-
ent kinds of acid of nitre, the one which gives off fumes, for instance,
containing a superabundance of nitrous air.

vol. Lvni.— 9

130 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

CHAPTERS ON THE STAES.

By Professor SIMON NEWCOMB, U. S. N.

Masses and Densities of the Stars.

THE spectroscope shows that, although the constitution of the stars
offers an infinite variety of detail, we may say, in a general way,
that these bodies are suns. It would perhaps he more correct to say that
the Sun is one of the stars and does not differ essentially from them in
its constitution. The problem of the physical constitution of the Sun
and stars may, therefore, be regarded as the same. Both consist of vast
masses of incandescent matter at so exalted a temperature as to shine
by their own light. All may be regarded as bodies of the same general
nature.

It has long been known that the mean density of the Sun is only
one-fourth that of the earth, and, therefore, less than half as much
again as that of water. In a few cases an approximate estimate of the
density of stars may be made. The method by which this may be done
can be rigorously set forth only by the use of algebraic formulae, but a
general idea of it can be obtained without the use of that mode of
expression.

Let us in advance set forth an extension of Kepler's third law,
which applies to every case of two bodies revolving around each other
by their mutual gravitation. The law in question, as stated by Kepler,
is that the cubes of the mean distances of the planets are proportioned
to the squares of their times of revolution. If we suppose the mean
distances to be expressed in terms of the earth's mean distance from the
Sun as a unit of length, and if we take the year as the unit of time,
then the law may be expressed by saying that the cubes of the mean
distances will be equal to the squares of the periods. For example, the
mean distance of Jupiter is thus expressed as 5.2. If we take the cube
of this, which is about 140, and then extract the square root of it, we
shall have 11.8, which is the period of revolution of Jupiter around the
Sun expressed in the same way. If we cube 9.5, the mean distance of
Saturn, we shall have the square of a little more than 29, which is
Saturn's time of revolution.

We may also express the law by saying that if we divide the cube
of the mean distance of any planet by the square of its periodic time
we shall always get 1 as a quotient.

The theory of gravitation and the elementary principles of force and
motion show that a similar rule is true in the case of any two bodies
revolving around each other in virtue of their mutual gravitation. If

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 131

we divide the cube of their mean distance apart by the square of their
time of revolution, we shall get a quotient which will not indeed be 1,
but which will be a number expressing the combined mass of the two
bodies. If one body is so small that we leave its mass out of considera-
tion, then the quotient will express the mass of the larger body. If
the latter has several minute satellites moving around it, the quotients
will be equal, as in the case of the Sun, and will express the mass of
this central body. If, as in the case we have supposed, we take the year
as a unit of time and the distance of the earth from the Sun as a unit
of length, the quotient will express the mass of the central body in
terms of the mass of the Sun. It is thus that the masses of the planets
are determined from the periodic times and distances of their satellites,

c o

Fig. 1.

and the masses of binary systems from their mean distance apart and
their periods. To express the general law by a formula we put

a, the mean distance apart of the two bodies, or the semi-major axis
of their relative orbit in terms of the earth's mean distance from the
Sun;

P, their periodic time;

M, their combined mass in terms of the Sun's mass as unity.

Then we shall have:

Another conclusion we draw is that if we know the time of revolu-
tion and the radius of the orbit of a binary system, we can determine
what the time of revolution would be if the radius of the orbit had
some standard length, say unity.

We cannot determine the dimensions of a binary system unless we
know its parallax. But there is a remarkable law which, so far as I
know, was first announced by Pickering, by virtue of which we can
determine a certain relation between the surface brilliancy and the
density of a binary system without knowing its parallax.

Let us suppose a number of bodies of the same constitution and
temperature as the Sun — models of the latter we may say — differing
from it only in size. To fix the ideas, we shall suppose two such bodies,
one having twice the diameter of the other. Being of the same bril-
liancy, we suppose them to emit the same amount of light per unit of

132 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

surface. The larger body, having four times the surface of the smaller,
will then emit four times as much light. The volumes being propor-
tional to the cubes of their diameters, it will have eight times its vol-
ume. The densities being supposed equal, it will have eight times the
mass. Suppose that each has a satellite revolving around it, and that
the orbit of the satellite of the larger body is twice the radius of that of
the smaller one.

Calling the radius of the nearer satellite 1, that of the more distant
one will be 2. The cube of this number is 8. It follows from the exten-
sion of Kepler's third law, which we have cited, that the times of revo-
lution of the two satellites will be the same. Thus the two bodies,
A and B, with their satellites, C and C, form two binary systems whose
proportions and whose periods are the same, only the linear dimensions
of B are all double those of A. In other words, we shall have a pair of
binary systems which may look alike in every respect, but of which one
will have double the dimensions and eight times the mass of the other.

Now let us suppose the larger system to be placed at twice the
distance of the smaller. The two will then appear of the same size, and,
if stars, will appear of the same brightness, while the two orbits will
have the same apparent dimensions. In a word, the two systems will
appear alike when examined with the telescope, and the periodic times
will be equal.

Near the end of the second chapter we have given a little table
showing the magnitude that the Sun would appear to us to have were
it placed at different distances among the stars. The parallaxes we
have there given are simply the apparent angle which would have to be
subtended by the radius of the earth's orbit at different distances. It
follows that, were the stars all of similar constitution to the Sun, the
numbers given in the last column of the table referred to would, in all
cases, express the apparent distance from the star of a companion,
having a time of revolution of one year. From this we may easily
show what would be the time of revolution of any binary system of
which the companions were separated by 1", if the stars were of the
same constitution as the Sun.

Periods of binary systems whose components are separated by 1"
and whose constitution is the same as that of the Sun.

Period. Annual

Mag. y. Motion.

1 1.8 200°

2 3.5 102

3 7.0 51

4 14.1 25

5 28.1 13

6 56.0 6

7 112. 3.2

8 223. 1.6

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 133

It will be seen that the periods are very nearly doubled for each
diminution of the brilliancy of the star by one magnitude. Moreover,
the value of the photometric ratio for two consecutive magnitudes is a
little uncertain, so that we may, without adding to the error of our
results, suppose the period to be exactly double for each addition of
unity to the magnitude. A computation of the period for any magnitude
may be made with all necessary precision by the formula:

P = (X88 x 2m ;
or, log. P = 9.994 + 0.3m.

It will now be of interest to compare the results of this theory with
the observed periods of binary systems with a view to comparing their
constitution with that of our Sun. There are, however, two difficulties
in the way of doing this with rigorous precision.

The first difficulty is that there are very few binary systems of
which the apparent dimensions of the orbit and the periods are known
with any approach to exactness. This would not be a serious matter
were it not that the short, and, therefore, known periods belong to a
special class, that having the greatest density. Hence, when we derive
our results from the systems of known periods we shall be making a
biased selection from this particular class of stars.

The next difficulty is that the theory which we have set forth as-
sumes the mass of the satellite either to be very small compared with
that of the star, or the two bodies to be of the same constitution. If we
apply the theory to systems in which this is not the case, the results
which we shall get will be, in a certain way, those corresponding to the
mean of the two components. Were it a question of masses, we should
get with entire precision the sum of the masses of the two bodies. The
best we can do, therefore, is to suppose the two companions fused into
one having the combined brilliancy of the two. Then, if the result is
too small for one, it will be too large for the other.

To show the method of proceeding, I have taken the six systems
of shortest period found in Dr. See's 'Besearches on Stellar Evolution.'
The principal numbers are shown in the table below.

The first column, a", after the name of the star, gives the apparent
semi-major axis of the orbit in seconds of arc. The next column gives
the period in years. Column Mag. gives the apparent magnitude which
the system would have were the two bodies fused into one.

Column P gives the period in years as it would be were the radius
of the orbit equal to one second. It is formed by dividing the actual
period by A. The next column gives the period as it would be were
the stars of similar constitution to the Sun. The last column gives the
square of the ratio of the two bodies, which, if the stars had the same

134

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

surface brilliancy as the Sun, would express the ratio of density of
the stars to that of the Sun. Actually, it gives the product:

Density x (brilliancy). »

Star's
Density.

k Pegasi. . .
8, Equulei. .
£> Sagittarii
F9 Argus. . .
42 Cornae. . .
P Delphirii .

a."

Per.

Mag.

Sun's
Per.

0".42

lly.4

4.2

41.9

16.2

0".45

lly.4

4.6

37.8

21.0

0".69

18y.8

2.9

32.7

6.7

0".65

22y.O

5.5

42.0

39.7

0".64

25y.6

4.4

50.0

18.5

0".C7

27y.7

3.7

50.4

11.4

0.15
0.31
0.04
0.90
0.14
0.51

The numbers in the last column being all less than unity, it fol-
lows that either the stars are much less dense than the Sun or they
are of much less surface brilliancy. Moreover, they belong to a selected
list in which the numbers of the last column are larger than the average.

To form some idea of the result of a selection from the general
average, we may assume that the average of all the measured distances
between the components of a number of binary systems is equal to the
average radius of their orbits, and that the observed annual motion is
equal to the mean motion of the companion in its orbit. Taking a
number of cases of this sort, I find that the number corresponding to
the last number of the preceding table would be little more than one
thousandth.

A very remarkable case is that of £> Orionis. This star, in the belt
of Orion, is of the second magnitude. It has a minute companion at a
distance of 2 ".5. Were it a model of the Sun, a companion at this ap-
parent distance should perform its revolution in fourteen years. But,
as a matter of fact, the motion is so slow that even now, after fifty years
of observation, it cannot be determined with any precision. It is prob-
ably less than 0°.l in a year. The number expressing the comparison of
its density and surface brilliancy with those of the Sun is probably less
than .0001.

The general conclusion to be drawn is obvious. The stars in general
are not models of our Sun, but have a much smaller mass in propor-
tion to the light they give than our Sun has. They must, therefore,
have either a less density or a greater surface brilliancy.

We may now inquire whether such extreme differences of surface
brilliancy or of density are more likely. The brilliancy of a star de-
pends primarily not on its temperature throughout, but on that of some
region near or upon its surface. The temperature of this surface can-
not be kept up except by continual convection currents from the in-
terior to the surface. We are, therefore, to regard the amount of light

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 135

emitted by a star not merely as indicating temperature, but as limited
by the quantity of matter which, impeded by friction, can come up to
the surface, and there cool off and afterward sink down again. This
again depends very largely on internal friction, and is limited by that.
Owing to this limitation, we cannot attribute the difference in question
wholly to surface brilliancy. We must conclude that at least the
brighter stars are, in general, composed of matter much less dense than
that of the Sun. Many of them are probably even less dense than air
and in nearly all cases the density is far less than that of any known
liquid.

An ingenious application of the mechanical principle we have laid
down has been made independently by Mr. Koberts, of South Africa,
and Mr. Norris, of Princeton, in another way. If we only knew the
relation between the diameters of the two companions of a binary sys-
tem and its dimensions, we could decide how much of the difference
in question is due to density and how much to surface brilliancy. Now
this may be approximately done in the case of variable stars of the Algol
and ft Lyrse types. If, as is probably the most common case, the passage
of the stars over each other is nearly central, the ratio of their diameter
to the radius of the orbit may be determined by comparing the duration
of the eclipse with the time of revolution. This was one of the funda-
mental data used by Myers in his work on ft Lyras, of which we have
quoted the results. Without going into reasoning or technical details
at length, we may give the results reached by Eoberts and Norris in
the case of the Algol variables:

For the variable star X Carina?, Eoberts finds, as a superior limit for
the density of the star and its companion, one-fourth that of the Sun.
It may be less than this is, to any extent.

In the case of S Velorum the superior limits of density are:

Bright star 0.61

Companion 0.03

In the case of ES Sagittarii the upper limits of density are 0.16
and 0.21.

It is possible, in the mean of a number of cases like these, to esti-
mate the general average amount by which the densities fall below the
limits here given. Eoberts' final conclusion is that the average density
of the Algol variables and their eclipsing companions is about one
eighth that of the Sun.

The work of Eussell was carried through at the same time as that
of Eoberts, and quite independently of his. It appeared at the same
time.* His formula? and methods were different, though they rested
on similar fundamental principles. Taking the density of the Sun as

* 'Astrophysical Journal,' Vol. X, No. 5.

136

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

unity, he computes the superior limit of density for 12 variables, based
on their periods and the duration of their partial eclipses. The greatest
limit is in the case of Z Herculis and is 0.728. The least is in the
ease of S Caneri and is 0.035. The average is about 0.2. As the actual
density may be less than the limit by an indefinite amount, the general
conclusion from his work may be regarded as the same with that from
the work of Boberts.

The results of the preceding theory are independent of the parallax
of the stars. They, therefore, give us no knowledge as to the mass of a
binary system. To determine this we must know its parallax, from
which we can determine the actual dimensions of the orbit when its
apparent dimensions are known. Then the formula already given will
give the actual mass of the system in terms of the Sun's mass.

There are only six binary systems of which both the orbit and the
parallax are known. These are shown in the table below. Here the
first two columns after the stars named give the semi-major axis of the
orbit and the measured parallax. The quotient of the first number by
the second gives the actual mean radius of the orbits in terms of the
earth's distance from the Sun as unity. This is given in the third
column, after which follow the period and the resulting combined
mass of the system. The last column shows the actual amount of
light emitted by the system, compared with that of the Sim.

rj Cassiopia?

Sirius

Procyon. . . .
a Centauri .
70 Ophiuchi
85 Pegasi . . .

a."

Par.

Period.

Mass.

8.21

0.20

41.0

195^8

1.8

8.03

0.37

21.7

52.2

3.7

3.00

0.30

10.0

40.0

0.6

17.70

0.75

23.6

81.1

2.0

4.55

0.19

24.0

88.4

1.8

0.89

0.05

17.8

24.0

9.0

Light.

1.0
32.0
8.5
1.7
0.7
9 9

Even in these few cases some of the numbers on which the result
depends are extremely uncertain. In the case of Procyon, the radius of
the orbit, can be only a rough estimate. In the case of 85 Pegasi the
parallax is uncertain. In the case of ?/ Cassiopiae the elements are
still doubtful.

So far as we have set forth the principles involved in the question,
we do not get separate results for the mass of each body. The latter
can be determined only by meridian observations, showing the motion
of the brighter star around the common center of gravity of the two.
This result has thus far been worked out with an approximation to
exactness only in the cases of Sirius and Procyon. For these systems
we have the following masses of the companions of these bodies in terms
of the Sun's mass:

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 137

Companion of Sirius 1.2

Companion of Procyon 0.2

It will now be interesting to compare the brightness of these bodies
with that which the Sun would have if seen at their distance. In a
former chapter we showed how this could be done. The results are:

At the distance of Procyon the apparent magnitude of the Sun
would be 2m.8. At the distance of Sirius, it would be 2m.3. Supposing
the Sun to be changed in size, its density remaining unchanged, until
it had the same mass as the respective companions of Procyon and
Sirius, its magnitudes would be:

For companion of Procyon 3.9

For companion of Sirius 2.9

The actual magnitudes of these companions cannot be estimated with
great precision, owing to the effect of the brilliancy of the star. From
the estimate of the companion of Sirius, by Professor Pickering, its
magnitude was about the eighth. It is probable that the magnitude
of the companion of Procyon is not very different. It will be seen
that these magnitudes are very different from those which they would
have were the companions models of the Sun. What is very curious is
that they differ in the opposite direction from the stars in general, and
especially from their primaries. Either they have a far less surface bril-
liancy than the Sun or their density is much greater. There can be no
doubt that the former rather than the latter is the case.

This great mass of the two companions as compared with their bril-
liancy suggests the question whether they may not shine, in part at
least, by the light of their primaries. A very little consideration will
show that this cannot be the case. A simple calculation will show that,
to shine as brightly as they do, the diameter of the companion of Sirius
would have to be enormous, at least 1-30 its distance from Sirius.
Moreover, its apparent brightness would vary so widely in different
parts of its orbit that we should see it almost as well when near Sirius
as when distant from it. The most likely cause of the small bright-
ness is the low temperature of the body.

Gaseous Constitution of the Stars.

The results of the last chapter point to the conclusion that the
stars, or at least the brighter among them, are masses of gas, more or
less compressed in their interior by the action of gravitation upon their
more superficial parts. We have now to show how this result was ar-
rived at, at least in the case of the San, from different considerations,
before the spectroscope had taught us anything of the constitution of
these bodies.

We must accept, as one of the obvious conclusions of modern science,

138 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the fact that the Sun and stars have, for untold millions of years, been
radiating heat into space. If we refrain from considering the basis on
which this conclusion rests, it is not so much because we consider it un-
questionable, as because the discussion would be too long and complex
for the present work.

One of the great problems of modern science has been to account
for the source of this heat. Before the theory of energy was developed
this problem offered no difficulty. In the time of Newton, Kant and
even of La Place and Herschel, no reason was known why the stars
should not shine forever without change. Now we know that when a
body radiates heat, that heat is really an entity termed energy, of which
the supply is necessarily limited. Kelvin compared the case of a star
radiating heat with that of a ship of war belching forth shells from her
batteries. We know that if the firing is kept up, the supply of am-
munition must at some time be exhausted. Have we any means of deter-
mining how long the store of energy in Sun or star will suffice for its
radiation?

We know that the substances which mainly compose the Sun and
stars are similar to those which compose our earth. We know the
capacity for heat of these substances, and we also have determined how
much the Sun radiates annually. From these data, it is found by a sim-
ple calculation that the temperature of the Sun would be lowered annu-
ally by more than two degrees Fahrenheit, if its capacity for heat were
the same as that of water. If this capacity were only that of the sub-
stances which compose the great body of the earth, the lowering of tem-
perature would be from 5° to 10° annually. Evidently, therefore, the
actual heat of the Sun would only suffice for a few thousand years'
radiation, if not in some way replenished.

When the difficulty was first attacked, it was supposed that the sup-
ply might be kept up by meteors falling into the Sun. We know that in
the region round the Sun, and, in fact, in the whole Solar System, are
countless minute meteors some of which may from time to time strike
the Sun. The amount of heat that would be produced by the loss of
energy suffered by a meteor moving many hundred miles a second
would be enormously greater than that which would be produced by
combustion. But critical examination shows that this theory cannot
have any possible basis. Apart from the fact that it could at best be
only a temporary device there seems to be no possibility that meteors
sufficient in mass can move round the Sun or fall into it. Shooting
stars show that our earth encounters millions of little meteors every
day; but the heat produced is absolutely insignificant.

It was then shown by Kelvin and Helmholtz that the Sun might
radiate the present amount of heat for several millions of years, simply
from the fund of energy collected by the contraction of its volume

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 139

through the mutual gravitation of its parts. As the Sun cools it con-
tracts; the fall of its substance toward the center, produced by this
contraction, generates energy, which energy is constantly turned into
heat. The amount of contraction necessary to keep up the present
supply may be roughly computed; it amounts in round numbers to 220
feet a year, or four miles in a century.

Accepting this view, it will almost necessarily follow that the great
body of the Sun must be of gaseous constitution. Were it solid, its sur-
face would rapidly cool off, since the heat radiated would have to be
conducted from the interior. Then, the loss of heat no longer going on
at the same rate, the contraction also would stop and the generation
of heat to supply the radiation would cease. Even were the Sun a
liquid, currents of liquid matter could scarcely convey to the surface a
sufficient amount of heated matter to supply the enormous radiation.
Thus the reason of the case combines with observation of the density
of the Sun to show that its interior must be regarded as gaseous rather
than solid or liquid.

A difficult matter, however, presents itself. The density of the Sun
is greater than we ordinarily see in gases, being, as we have remarked,
even greater than the density of water. The explanation of this diffi-
culty is very simple: the gaseous interior is subject to compression by
its superficial portions. The gravitation on the surface being 27 times
what it is on the earth, the pressure increases 27 times as fast when we
go toward the center as it does on the earth. We should not have to go
very far within its body to find a pressure of millions of tons on the
square inch. Under such pressure and at such an enormous tempera-
ture as must there prevail, the distinction between a gas and a liquid
is lost; the substance retains the mobility of a gas, while assuming the
density of a liquid.

It does not follow, however, that the visible surface of the Sun is a
gas, pure and simple. The sudden cooling which a mass of gaseous
matter undergoes on reaching the surface may liquefy it or even change
it into a solid. But, in either case, the sudden contraction which it thus
undergoes makes it heavier and it sinks down again to be remelted in
the great furnace below. It may well be, therefore, that the description
of the Sun as a vast bubble is nearly true. It may be added that all we
have said about the Sun may very well be presumed to apply to the
stars. We have now to consider the law of change as a sun or star con-
tracts through the loss of heat suffered by its radiation into space.

This subject was very exhaustively developed by Bitter some years
since.* It is not practicable to give even an abstract of Bitter's results
at the present time, especially as every mathematical investigation of
the subject must either rest on hypotheses more or less uncertain, or

* Wiedemann's 'Annalen der Physik u. Chemie,' 1878 to 1883, etc.

140 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

must, for its application, require data impossible to obtain. We shall,
therefore, confine ourselves to a brief outline of the main points of the
subject. A fundamental proposition of the whole theory is Lane's
law of gaseous attraction, which is as follows:

When a spherical mass of incandescent gas contracts through the loss
of its heat by radiation into space, its temperature continually becomes
higher as long as the gaseous condition is retained.

The demonstration of this law is simple enough to be understood by
any one well acquainted with elementary mechanics and physics, and it
will also furnish the basis for our consideration of the subject.

We begin by some considerations on the condition of a mass of gas
held together by the mutual attraction of its parts. This attraction
results in a certain hydrostatic pressure, capable of being expressed as
so many pounds or tons per unit of surface, say a square inch. This
pressure at any point is equal to the weight of a column of the gas,
having a section of one square inch and extending from the point in

Fig. 2.

question to the surface. It is a law of attraction in a sphere of which
the density is the same at equal distances from its center, that if we
suppose an interior sphere concentric with the body, the attraction of
all the matter outside that interior sphere, on any point within it, is
equal in every direction, and, therefore, is completely neutralized. A
point is, therefore, drawn towards the center only by the attraction of
the sphere on the surface of which it lies.

At every point in the interior the hydrostatic pressure must be bal-
anced by the elastic force of the gas. In the case of any one gas this
force is proportional to the product of the density into the absolute
temperature. This condition of equilibrium must be satisfied at every
point throughout the mass.

Let the two circles in the figure represent gaseous globes, of the
kind supposed. The larger one represents the globe in a certain con-
dition of its evolution; the second its condition after its volume has
contracted to one half. The temperature in each case will necessarily

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 141

increase from the surface to the center. The law of this increase is
incapable of accurate expression, but is not necessary for our present
purpose.

Let the inner circle, C D, represent a spherical shell, situated any-
where in the interior of the mass, but concentric with it. Let E P be
the corresponding shell after the contraction has taken place. The case
will then be as follows:

The two shells will by hypothesis have the same quantity of matter,
both in their own substance and throughout their interior.

In case B the central attraction being as the inverse square from
the center, will be four times as great for each unit of matter in the
shell.

This force of attraction, tending to compress the shell, is, in case
B, exerted on a surface one quarter as great, because the surface of a
shell is proportional to the square of its diameter.

Hence the hydrostatic pressure per unit of surface is 16 times
as great in case B as in case A.

The elastic force of a gas, if the two bodies were at the same tem-
perature, would be 8 times as great in case B as in case A, being in-
versely as the volume.

The hydrostatic pressure being 16 times as great, while the elastic
force to counterbalance it is only 8 times as great, no equilibrium would
be possible. To make it possible, the absolute temperature of the gas
must be doubled, in order that the elastic force shall balance the
pressure.

That a mass can become hotter through cooling, may, at first sight,
seem paradoxical. We shall, therefore, cite a result which is strictly
analogous. If the motion of a comet is hindered by a resisting medium,
the comet will continually move faster. The reason of this is that the
first effect of the medium is to diminish the velocity of the object.
Through this diminution of velocity, the comet falls towards the Sun.
The increase of velocity caused by the fall more than counterbalances
the diminution produced by the resistance. The result is that the comet
takes up a more and more rapid motion, as it gradually approaches the
Sun, in consequence of the resistance it suffers. In the same way, when
a gaseous celestial body cools, the fall of its mass towards the center
changes from a potential to an actual form an amount of energy greater
than that radiated away.

The critical reader will see a weak point in this reasoning, which it
is necessary to consider. What we have really shown is that if the mass,
assumed to be in a state of equilibrium when it has the size A, has to
remain in equilibrium when it has the size B, then its temperature
must be doubled. But we have not proved that its temperature actually
will be doubled by the fall. In fact, it cannot be doubled unless the

142 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

energy generated by the fall of the superficial portions towards the
center is sufficient to double the absolute amount of heat. Whether
this will be the case depends on a variety of circumstances; the mass of
the whole body, and the capacity of its substance for heat. If we are to
proceed with mathematical rigor, it is, therefore, necessary to determine
in any given case whether this condition is fulfilled. Let us suppose
that in any particular case the mass is so small or the capacity for heat
so considerable that the temperature is not doubled by the contraction.
Then the contraction will go on further and further, until the mass
becomes a solid. But in this case let us reverse the process. The body
being supposed nearly in a state of equilibrium in position A, let the
elastic force be slightly in excess. Then the gas will expand. In order
that it be reduced to a state of equilibrium by expansion, its tempera-
ture must diminish according to the same law that it would increase if it
contracted. When its diameter doubles, its temperature should be re-
duced to one half or less by the expansion, in order that the equilibrium
shall subsist. But, in the case supposed, the temperature is not reduced
so much as this. Hence, it is too high for equilibrium by a still greater
amount and the expansion must go on indefinitely. Thus, in the case
supposed, the hypothetical equilibrium of the body is unstable. In
other words, no such body is possible.

This conclusion is of fundamental importance. It shows that the
possible mass of a star must have an inferior limit, depending on the
quantity of matter it contains, its elasticity under given circumstances
and its capacity for heat. It is certain that any small mass of gas,
taken into celestial space and left to itself, would not be kept together
by the mutual attraction of its parts, but would merely expand into in-
definite space. Probably this might be true of the earth, if it were
gaseous. The computation would not be a difficult one to make, but
I have not made it.

In what precedes, we have supposed a single mass to contract.
But our study of the relations of temperature and pressure in the two
masses assumes no relationship between them, except that of equality.
Let us now consider any two gaseous bodies, A and B, and suppose that
the body B, instead of having the same mass as that of A, is another
body with a different mass.

Since the mass, B, may be of various sizes, according to the amount
of attraction it has undergone, let us begin by supposing it to have the
same volume as A, but twice the mass of A. We have then to inquire
what must be its temperature in order that it may be in equilibrium.
We have first to inquire into the hydrostatic pressure at any point of
the interior. Referring once more to a figure like either of those in
Fig. 2, a spherical shell like C D will now in the case of the more mass-
ive body have double the mass of the corresponding shell of A. The

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 143

attraction will also be doubled, because the diameter of the spherical
shell is the same, while the amount of matter within it is twice as great.
Hence the hydrostatic pressure per unit of surface will be four times as
great, or will vary as the square of the density. The elasticity at equal
temperatures being proportional to the density, it follows that were the
temperature the same in the two 'masses, the elasticity would be double
in the case of mass B; whereas, to balance the hydrostatic pressure it
should be quadrupled. The temperature of B must, therefore, be twice
as great as that of A. It follows that in the case of stars of equal
volume, but of different masses, the temperature must be proportional
to the mass of density.

But how will it be if we suppose the density to be always the same,
and, therefore, the mass to be proportional to the volume? In this
case the attraction at a given point will be proportional to the diameter
of the body. If, then, we suppose one body to have twice the diameter
of the other, but to be of the same density, it follows that at correspond-
ing points of the interior, the hydrostatic pressure will be twice as
great in the larger body. The density being the same, it follows that the
temperature must be twice as high in order that equilibrium may be
maintained. It follows that the stars of the greatest mass will be at
the highest temperature, unless their volume is so great that their den-
sity is less than that of the smaller stars.

Stellar Evolution.

It follows from the theory set forth in the last chapter that the
stars are not of fixed constitution, but are all going through a progress-
ive change — cooling off and contracting into a smaller volume. If we
accept this result, we find ourselves face to face with an unsolvable
enigma — how did the evolution of the stars begin? To show the prin-
ciple involved in the question, I shall make use of an illustration drawn
from a former work.* An inquiring person wandering around in what
he supposes to be a deserted building, finds a clock running. If he
knows nothing about the construction of the clock, or the force neces-
sary to keep it in motion, he may fancy that it has been running for
an indefinite time just as he sees it, and that it will continue to run
until the material of which it is made shall wear out. But if he is ac-
quainted with the laws of mechanics, he will know that this is im-
possible, because the continued movement of the pendulum involves
a constant expenditure of energy. If he studies the construction of the
clock, he will find the source of this energy in the slow falling of a
weight suspended by a cord which acts upon a train of wheels. Watch-
ing the motions, he will see that the scape wheel acting on the pendulum

* 'Popular Astronomy,' by Simon Newcomb; Harper & Bros., New York.

144 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

moves very perceptibly every second, while he must watch the next
wheel for several seconds to see any motion. If the time at his disposal
is limited, he will not be able to see any motion at all in the weight.
But an examination of the machinery will show him that the weight
must be falling at a certain rate, and he can compute that, at the end
of a certain time, the weight will reach the bottom, and the clock
will stop. He can also see that there must have been a point from
above which the weight could never have fallen. Knowing the rate of
fall, he can compute how long the weight occupied in falling from this
point. His final conclusion will be that the clock must in some way
have been wound up and set in motion a certain number of hours or
days before his inspection.

If the theory that the heat of the stars is kept up by their slow
contraction is accepted, we can, by a similar process to this, compute
that these bodies must have been larger in former times, and that there
must have been some finite and computable period when they were all
nebulas. Not even a nebula can give light without a progressive change
of some sort. Hence, within a certain finite period the nebulae them-
selves must have begun to shine. How did they begin? This is the
unsolvable question.

The process of stellar evolution may be discussed without consider-
ing this question. Accepting as a fact, or at least as a working hypoth-
esis, that the stars are contracting, we find a remarkable consistency
in the results. Year by year laws are established and more definite con-
clusions reached. It is now possible to speak of the respective ages of
stars as they go through their progressive course of changes. This
subject has been so profoundly studied and so fully developed by Sir
William and Lady Huggins that I shall depend largely on their work
in briefly developing the subject.*

At the same time, in an attempt to condense the substance of many
folio pages into so short a space, one can hardly hope to be entirely
successful in giving merely the views of the original author. The fol-
lowing may, therefore, be regarded as the views of Sir William Hug-
gins, condensed and arranged in the order in which they present them-
selves to the writer's mind.

There is an infinite diversity among the spectra of the stars; scarcely
two are exactly alike in all their details. But the larger number of these
spectra, when carefully compared, may be made to fall in line, thus
forming a series in which the passage of one spectrum into the next in
order is so gradual as to indicate that the actual differences represent,
in the main, successive epochs of star life rather than so many funda-
mental differences of chemical constitution. Each star may be con-
sidered to go through a series of changes analogous to those of a human

* Publications of Sir William Huggins's Observatory, Vol. I; Lcnion, 1899.

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 145

"being from birth to old age. In its infancy a star is simply a nebulous
mass; it gradually condenses into a smaller volume, growing hotter, as
set forth in the last chapter, until a stage of maximum temperature is
reached, when it begins to cool off. Of the duration of its life we can-
not form an accurate estimate. We can only say that it is to be reck-
oned by millions, tens of millions or hundreds of millions of years. We
thus view in the heavens stars ranging through the whole series from
the earliest infancy to old age. How shall we distinguish the order of
development? Mainly by their colors and their spectra. In its first
stage the star is of a bluish white. It gradually passes through white
into yellow and red. Sir William gives the following series of stars
as an example of the successive orders of development:

Sirius, a Lyrae.
a Ursse Ma j oris.
a Virginis.
a Aouilae.
BigeL
a Cygni.

Capella — The Sun.

A returns.
Aldebaran.
a Orionis.

The length of the life of a star has no fixed limit; it depends en-
tirely on the mass. The larger the mass, the longer the life; hence a
small star may pass from infancy to old age many times more rapidly
than a large one.

A remarkable confirmation of this order is found in the generally
yellow or red color of the companions of bright stars in binary systems.
The two stars of such a system naturally commenced their life history
at the same epoch, but the smaller one, going through its changes
more rapidly, is now found to be yellower than the other. Additional
confirmation is afforded by the very great mass of the companions of
Sirius and Procyon, notwithstanding the faintness of their light.

At the same time, up to at least the yellow stage, the star continu-
ally grows hotter as it condenses. A difficulty may here suggest itself
in reconciling this order with a well-known physical fact. As a radiat-
ing body increases in temperature, its color changes from red through
yellow to white, and the average wave length of its light continually
diminishes. We see a familiar example of this in the case of iron,
which, when heated, is first red in color and then goes through the
changes we have mentioned. The ordinary incandescent electric light
is yellow; the arc light, the most intense that we can produce by
artificial means, is white. When the spectrum of a body thus increasing
in temperature is watched, the limit is found to pass gradually from the

VOL. LVIII.— 10

146 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

red toward the violet end. It would seem, therefore, that the hotter
stars should be the white ones and the cooler the yellow or red ones.

There are, however, two circumstances to be considered in connec-
tion with the contracting star. In the first place, the light which we
receive from a star does not emanate from its hottest interior, but from
a region either upon or, in most cases, near its surface. It is, there-
fore, the temperature of this region which determines the color of the
light. In the next place, part of the light is absorbed by passing
through the cooler atmosphere surrounding the star. It is only the
light which escapes through this atmosphere that we actually see.

In the case of the Sun all the light which it sends forth comes from
an extreme outer surface, the photosphere. The most careful tele-
scopic examination shows no depth to this surface. It sends light to
us, as if it were an opaque body like a globe of iron. This surface
would rapidly cool off were it not for convection currents bringing up
heated matter from the interior. It might be supposed that such a
current would result in the surface being kept at nearly as high a tem-
perature as the interior; but, as a matter of fact, the opposite is the case.
As the volume of gas rises, it expands from the diminished pressure and
it is thus cooled in the very act of coming to the surface.

In the case of younger stars, there is probably no photosphere
properly so called. The light which they emit comes from a consider-
able distance in the interior. Here the effect of gravity comes into
play. The more the star condenses, the greater is gravity at its sur-
face; hence the more rapidly does the density of the gas increase from
the surface toward the interior. In the case of the Sun, the density of
any gas which may immediately surround the photosphere must be
doubled every mile or two of its depth until we reach the photosphere.
But if the Sun were many times its present diameter, this increase
would be less in a still larger proportion. Hence, when the volume is
very great the increase of density is comparatively slow; there being no
well-defined photosphere, the light reaches us from a much greater
depth from the interior than it does at a later stage.

The gradual passing of a white star into one of the solar type is
marked by alterations in its spectrum. These alterations are especially
seen in the behavior of the lines of hydrogen, calcium, magnesium and
iron. The lines of hydrogen change from broad to thin; those of
calcium constantly become stronger.

Of the greatest interest is the question — at what stage does the
temperature of the star reach its maximum and the body begin to cool?
Has our Sun reached this stage? This is a question to which, owing
to the complexity of the conditions, it is impossible to give a precise
answer. It seems probable, however, that the highest temperature is
reached in about the stage of our Sun.

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 147

The general fact that every star has a life history — that this history
will ultimately come to an end — that it must have had a beginning in
time — is indicated by so great a number of concurring facts that no
one who has most profoundly studied the subject can have serious
doubts upon it. Yet there are some unsolved mysteries connected with
the case, which might justify a waiting for further evidence, coupled
with a certain degree of skepticism. Of the questions connected with
the case the most serious one is: How is the supply of energy radiated
by the Sun and stars kept up? Only one answer is possible in the light
of recent science. It is that already given in the last chapter — the con-
tinual contraction of volume. The radiant energy sent out is balanced
by the continual loss of potential energy due to the contraction.

On this theory the age of the Sun can be at least approximately
estimated. About twenty millions of years is the limit of time during
which it could possibly have radiated anything like its present amount
of energy. But this conclusion is directly at variance with that of
geology. The age of the earth has been approximately estimated from
a great variety of geological phenomena, the concurring result being
that stratification and other geological processes must have been going
on for hundreds — nay, thousands of millions of years. This result is
in direct conflict with the only physical theory which can account for
the solar heat.

The nebulae offer a similar difficulty. Their extreme tenuity and
their seemingly almost unmaterial structure appear inadequate to ac-
count for any such mutual gravitation of their parts as would result in
the generating of the flood of energy which they are constantly radiat-
ing. What we see must, therefore, suggest at least the possibility that
all shining heavenly bodies have connected with them some form of
energy of which science can, as yet, render no account. This suspicion
cannot, however, grow into a certainty until we have either seen the
nebulae contracting in volume or have made such estimates of their
probable masses that we can compute the amount of contraction they
must undergo to maintain the supply of energy.

In the impressive words of Sir William Huggins:

"We conclude filled with a sense of wonder at the greatness of the
human intellect, which from the impact of waves of ether upon one
sense-organ, can learn so much of the Universe outside our earth; but
the wonder passes into awe before the unimaginable magnitude of Time,
of Space and of Matter of this Universe, as if a Voice were heard saying
to man : 'Thou art no Atlas for so great a weight.' "

148 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

MICKOBES IN CHEESE-MAKING.

By Professor H. VV. CONN,

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.

CHEMISTS tell us that cheese is one of the most nutritious and, at
the same time, one of the cheapest of foods. Its nutritive value
is greater than meat, while its cost is much less. But this chem-
ical aspect of the matter does not express the real value of the cheese
as a food. Cheese is eaten, not because of its nutritive value as ex-
pressed by the amount of proteids, fats and carbohydrates that it con-
tains, but always because of its flavor. Now, physiologists do not find
that flavor has any food value. They teach over and over again that
our foodstuffs are proteids, fats and carbohydrates, and that as food
flavor plays absolutely no part. But, at the same time, they tell us that
the body would be unable to live upon these foodstuffs were it not
for the flavors. If one were compelled to eat pure food without flavors,
like the pure white of an egg, it is doubtful whether one could, for
a week at a time, consume a sufficiency of food to supply his bodily
needs. Flavor is as necessary as nutriment. It gives a zest to the
food, and thus enables us to consume it properly, and, secondly, it
stimulates the glands to secrete, so that the foods may be satisfactorily
digested and assimilated. The whole art of cooking, the great develop-
ment of flavoring products, the high prices paid for special foods like
lobsters and oysters — these and numerous other factors connected with
food supply and production are based solely upon this demand for
flavor. Flavor is a necessity, but it is not particularly important what
the flavor may be. This is shown by the fact that different peoples
have such different tastes in this respect. The garlic of the Italian
and the red pepper of the Mexican serve the same purpose as the
vanilla which we put in our ice-cream; and all play the part of giving
a relish to the food and stimulating the digestive organs to proper
activity.

The primary value of cheeses is, then, in the flavors they possess.
One can hardly realize the added pleasure they give to the life of hun-
dreds of thousands of poor people whose food must be of the coarsest
character. A bit of well-flavored cheese adds relish to the humblest
meal and gives the highest delight. We must recognize, then,
that the chief value of the cheese lies exactly in these flavors
which the chemist does not include in his analysis of cheese and which
the physiologist refuses to call food or to regard as having any nutritive

MICROBES IN CHEESE-MAKING. 149

value whatever. Incidentally, it is true that the cheese also furnishes
a considerable amount of food material. Thus it nourishes as well as
stimulates and delights; but, after all, we must recognize that its chief
value is in its flavor rather than in its nutritive quality.

Hence it becomes a very significant question to inquire into the
source of this flavor. We find, first, that the cheese as originally made
possesses no flavor, or, at least, none of that peculiar flavor which we
know as cheesy. Cheese is made from milk by causing the casein in
the milk to be precipitated, i. e., causing the milk to curdle, commonly
by the addition of rennet, or, in so-called Dutch cheeses, by simply
allowing the milk to sour. The precipitated casein is then separated
from the liquids of the milk, and the curd, when subsequently pressed
and molded, becomes the cheese. But the freshly-made cheese possesses
no flavor, nor does the flavor develop to any degree until after it has
passed through a process known as 'ripening.' The ripening of cheese
may take several days or several months, or, in some cases, one or two
years; but the flavor always arises during this process. Moreover, the
various cheeses with their varieties of flavors are mostly made from the
same kind of milk, but are subjected to different modes of ripening, and
the distinctive quality in the endless types of cheeses is due in large
measure to differences in the method of bringing about this ripening.
Clearly enough the flavor is a product of cheese ripening, and if we wish
to find the source of these most valuable flavors we must seek it in the
ripening process.

This cheese ripening proves to be a two-fold process. The first
change in the cheese is a chemical one, which results in altering the
chemical nature of the cheese in such a way as to render it more easy
of digestion. This change appears to be due in part to a certain ferment
which is found in milk. This material belongs to the class of chemical
ferments or enzymes and is a normal constituent of milk, although
its presence was not mistrusted until recently pointed out by two
American investigators. With the chemical changes produced by this
enzyme we are not here particularly concerned. It is certainly not the
cause of all the flavors which develop in the cheeses, and, therefore,
this character of the ripened cheese must be chiefly attributed to another
factor. There is no doubt that this other factor is a living one. The
flavors can generally be traced directly to the growth upon and within
the cheese of a variety of plants; and the ripening is carried on in a
fashion designed, at the same time, to stimulate the growth of some
species of plants and to check the growth of others.

Cheeses are of two kinds, hard and soft. As implied in the name,
there is a difference in the consistency of the cheese. But this is not
all; for on account of the methods of manufacturing, the ripening is
produced by different classes of plants in the two classes of cheeses.

150 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

In the soft cheese, the plants contributing most to the ripening and
to the formation of the flavor are what are commonly called molds, at
least in some cheeses, while in the hard cheeses the molds play probably
no part, and bacteria are the most active agents in producing the flavors
developed during the ripening.

In making the soft cheeses — little known in this country — the
general mode of procedure is as follows: The milk, sometimes whole
milk, sometimes partly skimmed, is caused to curdle by the action of
rennet. The curd is either cut to pieces by knives designed for the
purpose, thus allowing the whey to drain off more readily, or it is
simply ladled out of the vessel in which it curdled and placed at once
into forms. As the whey is drawn off from the forms, through holes
in the sides or through a false straw bottom, the curd soon assumes
the shape of the forms. It is at first very soft, since it is subjected to
no pressure whatever. At short intervals this soft mass is turned,
so as to rest upon a new surface, and this turning is continued for two
or three days. By this time the curd has become dry and consistent
enough to handle, and it is then carried off to the cheese cellar for
ripening. The details of this process differ considerably. In quite a
number of cheeses particular methods are adopted to favor and hasten
the growth of molds. Sometimes it is laid upon special straw mats
or wrapped in straw, which, having been used over and over again
in the dairy, has become thoroughly impregnated with mold spores.
The cheese is then placed in a cool, damp atmosphere, which causes
the spores to germinate and grow upon the cheese, already
slightly acid, and in a condition favorable to the growth of molds.
They grow rapidly over the whole surface of the cheese, and this
step in the process is not ended until a good covering of molds has
developed. Sometimes, indeed, special methods are adopted to insure
their proper development. In making the Eoquefort cheese
specially prepared bread is allowed to mold, and after it becomes
thoroughly impregnated with the mold it is finely grated to a powder
and mixed with the curd as it is placed in the form for shaping.
Fine holes are pierced in the cheese by a special machine to let in the
air which is necessary for the luxuriant growth of the molds. Such
treatment insures, of course, a very rapid growth of these plants, inside
as well as outside. Most commonly, however, the cheese-maker depends
upon his straw mats for the molds, and expects them to grow chiefly on
the surface. The molds which develop in the cheese are not all of the
same species. The common blue mold is most usual, but most cheeses
are not properly ripened until several species of molds grow together
within them.

The development of molds, however, is by no means the end of the
ripening, but rather its beginning. Indeed, in some of the soft cheeses

MICROBES IN CHEESE-MAKING. 151

their growth is entirely prevented by a thorough salting and washing
of the surface. In such cheeses the mold may grow within the
mass, but not on the surface. Whichever method is used, however,
the cheese is presently removed to the so-called 'cheese cellar' for its
proper ripening. These cellars may be cool, damp rooms, or caves, and
the flavor of some kinds of cheeses is largely due to the nature of the
caves in which the subsequent ripening is carried on. In these cellars
there is a constant but not very high temperature, and the atmosphere
is generally damp. Since the temperature and the moisture are kept
as constant as possible during the whole year, the cheese ripening can
continue slowly and indefinitely. To a considerable extent differences
in the ripening of soft cheeses are due to the different temperatures
of the cheese cellars, and this determines the kind of plant life that
shall flourish in this soft, nutritious food.

After the removal to the ripening chambers, a new series of changes
begins in the cheese, due to new kinds of plant life. But as yet neither
the cheese-maker nor the bacteriologist, who has studied the matter
most carefully, can tell us much of the nature of the actual changes
which occur during this ripening. When the cheese is placed in the
ripening chamber it is certain that the growth of the molds is largely
stopped, and it is also certain that here begins a growth of a new class of
plants which we call bacteria. This moldy cheese, rendered alkaline by
the growth of the molds, furnishes a favorable medium for the
growth of different species of bacteria. At high temperatures they
would speedily decompose the mass, even to extreme putrefaction, but
at the low temperatures of the cheese cellars a complete putrefaction
does not occur. Bacteria growth takes place probably in all soft cheeses,
and as a result the nature of the cheese is profoundly modified.
Numerous new chemical products make their appearance, either as by-
products of decomposition or as actual secretions from the growing bac-
teria and molds. These new products have strong tastes and odors which,
as they slowly develop, gradually produce the characteristic flavor of
the ripened cheese. If the ripening continue long enough the decompo-
sition grows too advanced even for the strongest palate. But when the
proper ripening has been acquired and the tastes and flavors are of the
desired character, the cheese is sent to market, highly flavored by the
joint action of the bacteria and molds. It is still soft and moist, and the
ripening process continues, so that the cheese will not keep good for a
very long time. But while it is in the proper condition it furnishes the
educated palate with a flavoring product of great intensity, and most
highly relished by the numerous lovers of soft cheeses.

While such is the general method of manufacture of the soft cheeses,
it must be recognized that the details of the manufacture differ widely.
Differences in the kind of milk used, whether whole milk, skim milk,

152 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

sheep's milk, goat's milk, etc., differences in the handling of the soft
curd, differences in the amount of salting and drying, differences in the
temperature and moisture of the 'cheese cellar/ all result in the growth
of different kinds of molds and bacteria, producing variously flavored
products. It is evident, too, that the character of the product will de-
pend upon the abundance and varieties of the plants which furnish the
flavor. Unless a dairy is supplied with the proper species of molds and
bacteria, it is hopeless to expect the desired results. Here lies the work
which the scientist must perform for the further development of the
cheese industry.

The second type of cheeses, with which we are more familiar in
this country, is the type of hard cheeses. These are not only of denser
consistency, but they have commonly a less pronounced taste and odor
and are not so suggestive of decomposition. They are, also, commonly
made in much larger form, their denser nature making it possible for
them to be made in very large sizes. They keep longer and are, there-
fore, much more generally exported into different countries.

The difference between the hard and soft cheeses, great as it is in the
perfected article, is due to quite slight variations in the method of manu-
facture. The hard cheeses are made from curdled milk, curdled in just
the same way as in the making of soft cheeses. But, after the curdling
and the cutting up the curd to allow the whey to separate, the curd is
broken up into small bits and placed in forms, where it is subjected to
heavy pressure. Sometimes, immediately after the cutting of the curd,
it is subjected to a moderate heat. For example, the Swiss cheeses are
heated to about 110° Fahr. for a short time after cutting up the curd.
This heating changes the nature of the curd somewhat and gives it
a tougher and more elastic texture. In all the hard cheeses the curd is
finally placed in wooden forms and then subjected to pressure, moderate
at first, but soon increased until the pressure is quite high. This pres-
sure converts the curd into a very dense, compact mass, and one in which
microscopic plants cannot so readily grow.

But the hard cheeses require a ripening to develop the flavor as well
as the soft cheeses, and the ripening is a longer and slower process. The
pressed cheese is placed in rooms, or caves, or other locality where the
temperature is not very variable or where it can, perhaps, be artificially
controlled. Here it remains for weeks and frequently for months, dur-
ing which time it slowly changes its chemical nature as a result of the
action of the chemical or organic ferments, and simultaneously acquires
the flavors which characterize the perfected product.

It is generally believed that the flavors here, as well as in the soft
cheeses, are due to the growth of microscopic plants; but the subject
has proved a very difficult one to investigate. Molds play little or no
part in ripening the hard cheeses. Indeed, their growth is prevented by

MICROBES IN CHEESE-MAKING. 153

salting, oiling and rubbing the surface. But bacteria appears to have,
if not the chief share, certainly a large share in the production of the
flavors. Experiment has shown that bacteria grow abundantly in the
cheese during the ripening; that some species of bacteria can produce in
milk flavors similar to those found in the ripened cheese; that treat-
ment which prevents the growth of bacteria prevents also the develop-
ment of the flavors in the cheese. Further, in the manufacture of the
famous Holland cheese (Edam cheese), the cheese-makers have learned
fliat by planting certain species of bacteria in the milk out of which
the cheese is to be made, the ripening may be hastened and made more
uniform. In Holland about one third of the cheese is made by thus
inoculating the milk with 'slimy whey,' which is simply a mass of whey
containing in great numbers certain species of bacteria. These facts
indicate strongly that the bacteria are agents in this flavor production.
But, at the same time, the subject has proved so difficult of investiga-
tion that our bacteriologists are as yet by no means satisfied with the
results. Indeed, they differ very decidedly in their conclusions. Some
believe that the ripening is chiefly due to the same class of bacteria
which produce the souring of milk; others think it due to bacteria which
produce an alkaline rather than acid reaction; some believe it to be a
combination of the two, while others, again, decide that cheese ripen-
ing is a long process, involving the action of many species of bacteria
and perhaps of molds as well. The difficulty lies in the fact that,
since the ripening is a long process, many species of bacteria are
found in the cheese at different times. This makes it almost impos-
sible to determine what is the cause of the ripening and what is only
incidental.

It will be readily understood that the problem of cheese ripening is
one most eagerly studied by bacteriologists. The immense financial in-
terests involved in the discovery of definite methods of handling the
manufacture and the ripening of cheese would insure this, entirely inde-
pendently of any scientific interest. A very large per cent, of cheeses are
ruined by improper ripening, and the discovery of methods for prevent-
ing this loss would mean the saving of millions of dollars annually.
Moreover, many favorite cheeses have hitherto been capable of manu-
facture only in certain localities, probably because these localities are
filled with the peculiar species of micro-organisms needed for their
ripening. If it were possible to cultivate the requisite organisms and
use them for artificial inoculation, it might be possible to manufacture
any type of cheese anywhere. Already it has been found that new
cheese factories may sometimes be stocked with the proper micro-
organisms by rubbing the shelves and vessels with fresh cheeses imported
from localities where the desired variety is nominally made. It is
evident that immense financial interests may be involved in the proper

154 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

scientific solution of the micro-organisms for cheese ripening, and the
practical application of the facts to cheese making.

As the result of these facts, many bacteriologists are engaged in the
study of the problems connected with cheese ripening. Many new dis-
coveries have been made, and various practical suggestions in cheese
making have resulted from these researches. But every bacteriologist
has been studying a different problem. In Holland some valuable studies
of the ripening of Edam cheese have been made, but naturally, the re-
sults differ decidedly from those obtained by Swiss bacteriologists in
their study of the ripening of Swiss cheeses, inasmuch as the Holland
cheese itself is such a different product from that made in Switzerland.
The study of cheese ripening in our own country will probably show
little agreement with the researches in Europe, since our cheeses differ so
much in taste from most of the continental cheeses, although they are
not so very unlike the English cheeses. In short, the problems to be
solved are as numerous as the varieties of cheese, and each problem has
shown itself to be so complex as, thus far, almost to baffle the most
patient investigation. It is true that one or two bacteriologists have
announced that they have discovered the species of bacteria and molds
which produce the ripening of the particular type of cheese that they
have been studying, and in some cases cultures of these bacteria have
been placed on the market for use in cheese making. In one case, a
scientist announces that he has made many thousands of pounds of
cheese by means of his artificial cultures and has met with the highest
success. But, in general, these cultures have been of problematical
value, none of them having, as yet, resulted in the extension of the
manufacture of special types of cheeses in localities where it had been
hitherto impossible.

As stated before, this country is perhaps more interested in the suc-
cessful issue of these investigations than any other. Hitherto, Swiss
cheeses have been made in Switzerland, Holland cheeses in Holland
and all other types of cheeses in their own rather limited localities. This
includes hard cheeses as well as soft. If we desire any of these prod-
ucts we are obliged, in the main, to import them. Certain imitations
have been produced in this country, it is true; but the imitations are
more in shape than in quality. If it were possible, however, for our
dairymen to learn a method of making, not inferior imitations of Euro-
pean cheeses, but products actually their equal in flavor and quality, it
is certain that an immense market would be speedily opened to them.
This condition is probably dependent upon the success of the scientist in
solving the problem of regulating the growth of bacteria and molds in
the ripening cheese. As fast as the bacteriologist succeeds in showing
how the ripening process may be so controlled as to make it possible
for our dairymen to produce cheeses similar in character and equal in

MICROBES IN CHEESE-MAKING. 155

grade to those of the European market, we may look for the expansion of
the industry.

What the future may develop cannot be foretold. The problem is a
large one, but the fruits of successful solution are great. Students of
dairy bacteriology recognize the possibilities and have in recent years
turned their attention quite largely to this subject. From continued
experiments and investigations we may confidently expect some prac-
tical results, and it is not at all improbable that in a few years at all
events, we may see an almost complete revolution in the manufacture of
cheeses, especially in such a large country as this, where the possibilities
for the development of cheese manufacture are almost unlimited, and
where the demand must be as varied as the population.

156 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

SUBMARINE NAVIGATION.

By Professor W. P. BRADLEY,

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.

IN a paper read before the Society of Naval Architects, Nov. 11,
1898, Lieut. Commander W. W. Kimball, who commanded the
torpedo flotilla during the war with Spain, said: "If it be granted
that the surface torpedo boat has a place in naval warfare, and that
her primary duty is the attack by night upon ships attempting blockade
or raiding operations, then most assuredly the submarine torpedo boat
has a most important tactical place, since she, and she alone, is com-
petent to deliver a torpedo attack by day upon ships attempting
blockading, bombarding or raiding operations. She is the only kind
of inexpensive craft that can move up to a battleship in daylight, in
the face of her fire and in spite of her supporting destroyers, and force
that ship to move off or receive a torpedo. That there is no physical
difficulty in the problem, is amply proved by the accurate functioning
of the boat now in this harbor (the 'Holland'), which has shown to
scores of doubters that perfect control in both the vertical and hori-
zontal planes has been accomplished, that the boat can be held at any
depth to within a foot, and be made to take porpoise-like dives, ex-
posing the conning tower for only six or eight seconds, and can be
steered on any desired course."

Rear-Admiral Jouett testified before the Senate Committee on
Naval Affairs: "If I commanded a squadron that was blockading a port,
and the enemy had half a dozen of these Holland submarine boats, I
would be compelled to abandon the blockade and put to sea, to avoid
destruction of my ships from an invisible source from which I could
not defend myself."

Lieut. A. P. Niblack, who commanded the torpedo boat 'Winslow'
during the latter part of the war, wrote in 'Marine Engineering/
December, 1898: "The crowning virtue of a submarine boat is that it
makes blockades almost impossible. Strategically in war, it has a
place all to itself." He is authority also for the statement: "If Spain
had had the 'Holland' at Santiago, the blockade of that port by the
United States would have been impossible, within the radius of action
of the boat."

Admiral Dewey testified before the House Committee on Naval
A Hairs, April 23, 1900: "I saw the operation of the boat ('Holland')
down off Mount Vernon the other day. I said then, and I have said

SUBMARINE NAVIGATION. 157

it since, that if they (the Spanish) had had two of those things in
Manila, I never could have held it with the squadron I had."

Rear-Admiral Philip Hichborn, Chief of the Bureau of Construc-
tion, writes in 'Engineering Magazine' for June, 1900: "Submarines
can secure our coasts more perfectly than they can be secured in any
other way at present practicable."

Mr. W. E. Eckert, consulting engineer of the Union Iron Works,
of San Francisco, which built the 'Oregon' and the 'Olympia,' said,
after the trial of the 'Holland' of September, 1899, in Peconic Bay,
Long Island: "I have been on the trial trips of many of the new
vessels built for the Government, and would say that I would feel safer
in the Holland boat when under water than in the engine or fire rooms
of any of the fast torpedo boats."

Rear-Admiral Endicott says: "The Holland submarine torpedo
boat will revolutionize the world's naval warfare. It will make the
navies of the world playthings in the grasp of the greatest naval engine
in history."

However successful or safe submarine navigation may be to-day,
the story of its development shows sufficiently that the risks to be
taken have been very great, even though the actual loss of life incurred
has been, on the whole, remarkably slight. To the venturesome spirits
who have sought thus to master the ocean depths the risk involved has
only added a new fascination.

The history of man's attempts to penetrate the depths of the ocean
is not brief. The diving-suit, indeed, is modern, but the diving-bell
appears to have been known in the time of Aristotle and diving itself is
as old as man.

But essential mastery of the depths can never be attained by these
means. The expert diver can remain below but two minutes or so,
at the most. The tenant of a diving bell or suit is not, indeed, so
limited in time, but, because absolutely dependent upon the flexible
tube by means of which air is pumped down to him by companions
at the surface, he is limited in space, and, by conditions of weather
and sea, is limited also as to times. In no such sense is he independent
as is the captain of an ocean greyhound or man-of-war, or even as
the lone lobsterman at the helm of an undecked boat. To be master
under water one must navigate under water, and any contrivance
deserving the name of submarine boat must be able not only to sink
beneath the surface, but also by its own power to move about under
water for a reasonable time freely and independently. They who go
down to the sea in suits and bells are not navigators.

The number of recorded attempts truly to navigate under water is
surprisingly large. In a report of the United States Fortifications

158 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Board made in 1885 to the Forty-ninth Congress may be found a
selected list of about fifty submarine boats. This list extends over a pe-
riod of three centuries. It includes no boats which have been projected
or described merely, nor even those which have been patented merely,
but only such as had been actually built and practically tried up to
that date. In the invention of these boats and in experimenting with
them have been engaged the citizens of England, France, Holland,
Spain, the Scandinavian countries, Italy, Eussia and the United States
— nearly all of the civilized countries. England has probably accom-
plished as little in this direction as any nation. France has shown
by far the greatest zeal as a nation, and, on the whole, has been the
most prolific. But the greatest practical success has been attained un-
doubtedly in our own country.

It would be a thankless as well as a wearisome task merely to enu-
merate the vessels of this list, still more so to describe them all, how-
ever briefly. Most of them were of ephemeral interest only. But there
are some which should be mentioned in any account of submarine
navigation, however concise.

Thus, in 1624 a Hollander named Cornelius Van Drebbell con-
structed a boat which was tried with some success in the Thames at
London. James I. is said on one occasion at least to have been a
witness of the experiments. But navigation under water in that day
was an uncanny thing. Drebbell was regarded first as a magician, then
as a madman, and then as an agent of the devil. Meeting no encourage-
ment he died, and his secret died with him. It is curious to notice that
Drebbell claimed to have discovered a certain fluid which possessed the
power of purifying air vitiated by respiration. He called it 'Quint-
essence of Air.' From the standpoint of present knowledge this singu-
lar name and Drebbell's claim for the liquid are very suggestive. Oxy-
gen was not discovered, as we believe, until a century and a half after
Drebbell's time. But oxygen is the life-giving component of air.
Moreover, volumetrically oxygen is the 'quintessence' — the fifth part —
of air. Is it possible that Drebbell had discovered some liquid which
easily disengaged the then unknown oxygen gas and thus was able to
restore to vitiated air that principle of which respiration deprives it?
Undoubtedly not. It is much more likely that he possessed a solution
capable of absorbing the carbonic acid gas which is produced by respi-
ration, and that the name given it was entirely fanciful and without
special significance. But even if Drebbell's claim was a piece of pure
quackery, with no substantial basis at all, it is nevertheless not without
interest, for it shows, as we might have anticipated, that the problem of
ventilation, one of the most important with which the inventors of
submarines have had to deal, was at least appreciated by Drebbell the
pioneer.

SUBMARINE NAVIGATION.

159

In the latter half of the eighteenth century, an engineer named Day
made one successful dive in the harbor of Plymouth, England, in a
boat of his own designing. He went down a second time and did not
return.

It may be said in general that the necessities and opportunities of
war have always been the greatest, indeed, almost the only incentive to
experiments under water. The War of Independence proved remark-
ably stimulating to submarine invention. In 1775 David Bushnell, of
Connecticut, constructed a diving boat for use against English men-of-
war. A minute description of this boat is contained in a letter written
by him to Thomas Jefferson in 1787. It resembled externally two
upper turtle shells joined together by their edges, whence its name
'Tortoise.' It carried a crew of one man, but this man was not David

Fig. 1. The Confederate Submarine Boat which Sank the U. S. Steamship ' Housatonic
in Charleston Harbor During the Civil War.

Bushnell, as it appears! During the harbor trials the boat was con-
nected with the dock by means of a rope so that it might be recovered
in case of accident. David Bushnell manipulated the safer end of
this rope on the dock, while his brother, Ezra, and afterwards Sergeant
Lee, did their best to learn the proper use of the mechanism within.

The following year, the first of the war, Sergeant Lee steered the
'Tortoise' beneath the hull of the British ship 'Eagle,' of 64 guns,
lying off Governor's Island in New York harbor. He attempted to
fix to her bottom a torpedo by means of a wood screw, but being
rather unskillful still in maneuvering the 'Tortoise,' he lost the 'Eagle'
altogether and was finally forced to the surface for air. Daybreak
prevented further operations at that time. Two similar attempts were
afterwards made on the Hudson, but they also failed and the 'Tortoise'
was finally sunk by a shot.

160 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

In 1800 Bobert Fulton, the father of steam navigation, built a
very successful diving boat for Napoleon. It was called the 'Nautilus/
and possibly suggested the theme of that fascinating story, 'Twenty
Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.' By its use, he actually succeeded
in blowing up in the harbor of Brest an old hulk which had been
provided for the purpose. But Napoleon's favor proved fickle, and
Fulton's success led to nothing further at the time.

Early in the Civil War the Federal government entered into negoti-
ations with a certain Frenchman to build and operate a submarine boat
against Confederate vessels. It was desired in particular to blow up
the Confederate 'Merrimac' in Norfolk harbor. Ten thousand dollars
was to be paid for the boat when finished and $5,000 for each success-
ful attack with her. The boat was constructed at the navy yard at
Washington and paid for, whereupon the wily Frenchman decamped
with his money, leaving the government to learn the secret of running
the craft. This they never did. In fact, it seemed the general opinion
that even the Frenchman would have experienced some difficulty in
so doing.

Much more successful were the Confederates. The following ac-
count is condensed from Admiral Porter's 'Naval History of the Civil
War': On the 17th of February, 1864, the fine new Federal vessel 'Hou-
satonic,' 1,261 tons, lay outside the bar in Charleston harbor. At
8:45 p. m. Acting Master Crosby discovered something about 100 yards
away which looked like a plank moving through the water directly
toward his ship. All the officers of the squadron had been officially in-
formed of the fact that the Confederates had constructed a number of
diving boats, called for some reason 'Davids,' and that they were
planning mischief against the Northern navy. Moreover, a bold,
though unsuccessful, attempt of four months before to blow up the
Federal 'Ironsides' was fresh in the minds of all. When, therefore,
the officer of the deck aboard the 'Housatonic' saw this object ap-
proaching, he instantly ordered the anchor chain slipped, the engines
backed and all hands called on deck. It was too late. In less than
two minutes from the time of first discovery the infernal machine was
alongside. A torpedo carried at the end of a pole thrust out from the
bow of the stranger struck the 'Housatonic' just forward of the main-
mast on the starboard side in direct line with the magazine. A terrific
explosion took place, and the 'Housatonic' rose in the water as if lifted
by an earthquake, heeled to port and sank at once, stern foremost.
The crew, who most fortunately had reached the deck, took to the rig-
ging and were soon rescued by boats from the 'Canandaigua,' which
lay not far oil'. The 'David' was afterwards found fast in the hole
made by her own torpedo. She had been sucked in by the rush of
water which filled the sinking wreck. Her crew of nine were all dead

SUBMARINE NAVIGATION.

161

— killed doubtless not by drowning, though they must eventually
have been drowned, nor as it would seem by suffocation, though in the
end that would have followed; but probably by the concussion of their
own torpedo.

The sublime heroism of these men is accentuated by the previous
history of the 'David' to which they entrusted their lives. In her trial
trip this boat sank for some unknown reason and her entire crew was
drowned. Lieutenant Payne, her commander, escaped as by a miracle
and succeeded in making his way to the surface. No sooner was the
boat recovered from the bottom than he offered to try again. A new
crew volunteered, and all went well for a time. But one night off Fort
Sumter the boat capsized and four only escaped. The next essay
was made under the lead of one of the men who had constructed the
boat. This time she sank again and all hands were drowned. It was

Fig. 2. Goubet's Submarine Toepedo Boat.

such a boat, with such a history, in which that gallant crew of the 17th
of February faced death and found it. North and South are united
to-day as never before. We are permitted to treasure the memory of
these brave men. They belonged to the same section as Hobson and
displayed the same sublime heroism at Charleston as did he and his
comrades at Santiago harbor.

The close of the Civil War marks an era in the history of submarine
navigation. Previous to that time nearly all the boats were crudely
designed and crudely built. Moreover, the nature and magnitude of
the problems to be solved had not as yet been adequately understood.
Whatever practical success has been achieved since is due to the fact
that these problems have been thoughtfully and carefully studied, that
those who have studied them have been in general better equipped
therefor by education and training and have laid under requisition
all the wealth of modern mechanical and physical science.

Of the many boats of this period, some of which have been quite

VOL. LVIII 11

1 62 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

successful, one may easily recall the French 'Le Plongeur,' the 'Gustav
Zede/ the 'Morse/ the 'Narval,' the Nordenfeldt boats and those of
Goubet and Baker. Here also belong, of course, the latest and most
successful boats of all, the 'Holland' and Mr. Lake's 'Argonaut,' of
which some account will follow.

Turning now from the history of submarine navigation to a con-
sideration of certain practical problems connected with it, we are
brought at the outset face to face with a fact of fundamental sig-
nificance, namely, that even with the aid of very powerful electric
illumination it is not possible to see clearly through ordinary sea
water for more than a few feet. According to Mr. Lake of the 'Argo-
naut,' about fifteen feet is the limit of visibility in our Northern waters,
and about twice that in Southern. Submarine navigation is like navi-
gation in the densest sort of a fog. High speed under water is just as
possible mechanically as upon the surface. But the fact just stated
is a death blow to high speed. Unless there shall be discovered some
hitherto unsuspected means of perceiving at a distance invisible ob-
jects, high speed will unquestionably be fraught with great peril.

For the same reason it will probably be found impracticable to
attempt very long journeys under water. There will probably never
be trans-sub-atlantic lines, much less submarine greyhounds.

In fact, practical inventors of submarine craft, at least of late years,
have ceased to attempt to provide more than a surface-going boat which
shall be able at any time or place to dive beneath the surface to the
depth desired, to remain under water for considerable periods of time,
either stationary or moving, with both safety and comfort to the crew,
and then, the purpose of the dive having been accomplished, to return
speedily and safely to the surface. Even these requirements constitute
a pretty large contract, but that they have been met satisfactorily ap-
pears sufficiently, so far as the 'Holland' at least is concerned, from the
quotations given at the beginning of the article, and from the further
fact that our government, ultra-conservative in adopting new devices
for use in warfare, has purchased the 'Holland,' which is now at New-
port in charge of Lieutenant Caldwell, Admiral Dewey's aid at Manila,
and that Congress has authorized the building of six more 'Holland'
boats of an improved type. Two of these are now being built at the
Union Iron Works, at San Francisco, the rest at Elizabethport, N. J.

Obviously, a prime essential for any sojourn under water is an ample
supply of pure air. When possible to make use of it there is but one
rational source of pure air, and that is the exhaustless supply at the
surface. Provided she herself secures it, a submarine boat does not
in the least surrender her independence by utilizing this supply. This
the 'Argonaut' does at ordinary depths by means of a pair of vertical
tubes, one for inflow, the other for discharge.

SUBMARINE NAVIGATION.

163

The method answers very well for the peaceful commercial work
of the 'Argonaut.' In war, however, this would usually he impossible.
The 'Holland' in action must he entirely concealed from the enemy
for considerable periods of time. The normal air capacity of her hull
is, therefore, supplemented by compressed air tanks capable of with-
standing pressures upwards of a ton to the inch, and of holding 4,000
feet of free air compressed into the volume of thirty cubic feet. These
tanks are recharged by her own engines when at the surface.

Ever since the days of Drebbell's 'Quintessence of Air' a great deal
of thought has been given to the problem of purifying the air once

Fig 3. The 'Argonaut' in Dry Dock.

vitiated by respiration and thus rendering it tit for use again. While
it would seem to be a very simple task to restore from tanks or by chemi-
cal generation within the boat the oxygen which respiration consumes,
and to absorb the water vapor and carbonic acid gas which respira-
tion produces, those who have built the latest boats seem to have aban-
doned the attempt entirely. It is easy to imagine emergencies where
fresh air could not well be obtained, and where such means of restoring
air once breathed would be of prime value.

Objects under water are subject to pressure, which varies with the
depth of submergence. At a depth of thirty-three feet this water pres-

164

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

sure is about fifteen pounds to the squrre inch, or more than a ton to
the foot. Solid construction is naturally in order for a submarine
boat. But power to resist pressure depends also upon shape. A cir-
cular section, because it involves the principle of the arch, is the strong-
est. With a given thickness of metal, therefore, a spherical boat
could safely dive deeper than one of any other form. But the ex-
terior of such a boat is ill-adapted to propulsion, and the interior for
the arrangement of machinery.

Since the days of Captain Nemo and the fabulous 'Nautilus' the
cigar shape has doubtless been associated with submarine navigation in

&&5E^

Fig 4. The 'Holland' in Dry I j.

the minds of ninety-nine out of every hundred persons who have
thought of the matter at all. And it is equally a matter of sober his-
tory that this form has been almost universally adopted. Some in-
ventors in the earlier days, with the vision of high speed in mind, have
trimmed down the lines to almost needle-like fineness, as in the 'Gustar
Zede.' Now that attempts at high speed have been abandoned, the
elongated spheroidal or egg-shape is the favorite, as illustrated both
by the 'Holland' and the 'Argonaut.'

But what of power for locomotion under water? Obviously steam
power, at least as ordinarily produced elsewhere, will not do. Even
supposing the necessary draft to be secured, how shall the smoke be

><l r I IMA JUNE NAVIGATION.

165

concealed, and how shall the crew endure the excessive temperature
to which coal fires with little ventilation would subject them? For-
tunately, the problem of power for propulsion is much simplified by
the fact already mentioned, that for the most part, even a submarine
boat lives and moves and has its being on the surface. When at the
surface, steam power may be used as on any boat. Many of the earlier
boats were thus equipped with boilers and steam engines. These
served not only for surface propulsion, but were used also to store up

Fig. 0. Sketch of the 'Argonaut' as She Might Appear at the Bottom of the Sea.

energy in the form of electricity or compressed air to be available as
power when diving.

Nowadays gasoline and oil motors have been so perfected and
they allow such economy of fuel space and withal such freedom from
the dust, smoke and heat incident to a steam plant that they are com-
ing into very general use, both afloat and ashore, where moderate
amounts of power are required. Both the 'Holland' and the 'Argo-
naut' are equipped with gasoline engines. As these require for their
operation much larger quantities of air than can be conveniently sup-
plied from compressed air tanks, wherever concealment is necessary

1 66

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

and a supply of air from the surface is out of the question, recourse is
stili had as before to some form of storage power for propulsion. At
present this is always electric.

The problem of diving demands attention next. For surface sailing
a submarine boat, like any other, needs considerable buoyancy, so as
to float with a considerable fraction of its bulk free above water. For
diving, on the other hand, her buoyancy must be very small. These
conditions are met by varying the amount of ballast carried. This is
universally done by admitting water into, or expelling it from, suitable
air-tight tanks distributed through the bottom of the boat. The filling
of these tanks recuircs only the opening of a valve. To empty them

',"*wp*s""»

Fig. 6. Photographs of a Trial of the 'Holland,' showing her in Cruising Trim,
in Diving Trim, Diving, and Rising after the Dive.

requires power. Formerly this was done by means of pumps. But
pumping is slow work. A much more expeditious method of emptying
the water tanks is to blow out the water by admitting compressed air
from the reservoirs. The air so used is finally delivered into the living
rooms for breathing, and the pressure in the reservoirs is restored
again win n at the surface. By thus varying the quantity of ballast a
boat may be caused to sink, or, if already beneath the water, be caused
to rise to the surface either slowly or rapidly as may be desired. It
is easy to imagine circumstances, either accidental or otherwise, where
a very sudden return to the surface might be imperative. To provide
for this in emergencies the most practical boats are furnished with

SUBMARINE NA VIGA TION.

167

a very heavy false keel of iron, which may almost instantly be de-
tached by the throwing of a lever or the turning of a screw within the
boat, The effect is precisely the same as that produced by throwing
out a large quantity of ballast from the car of a balloon.

To sink a boat, take on sufficient ballast; to rise, discharge ballast, as,
in a balloon. But the ballast that will sink a boat beneath the surface aft
all will sink her to the bottom, and on the other hand if ballast be-
discharged until the rise begins, the rise will continue till the boat is,
again at the surface. To regulate the depth of submergence, therefore-,,
something more is needed than mere adjustment of ballast. Practi-
cally there are but two ways of securing this regulation. One, repre-

Fig. 7. Cross Section of the 'Holland' Amidships.

sented in the Nordenfeldt boats and in some others, depends on the
action of propellers arranged to act vertically instead of horizontally
as do the ordinary. Although this method has the advantage of
being applicable whether the boat is progressively in motion or not,
it is now entirely abandoned. No sane person would advocate lateral
propellers for moving a boat to right or left, and the disadvantages of
vertical propellers for vertical motion are of the same order. The
'Holland' dives, rises or runs at a constant depth by the use of a rud-
der at the stern set at right angles to that for steering to right and
left. By means of this rudder in the hands of a skilled steersman the
'Holland' can be held for a mile or over to within less than a foot of
any depth desired. „ _, ^

168 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

As may be inferred from the quotations at the beginning of this
article, the 'Holland' certainly embodies the highest attainments ever
made in a submarine war vessel. In the words of Eear Admiral
Hichborn, "The 'Holland' is an improvement upon anything that has
ever been built in the history of the world." She is fifty-four feet long
and is able with her forty-five H. P. gasoline engines to run consider-
ably more than a thousand miles on the surface without recourse to
any base of supplies, and, with her storage batteries and electric motors,
thirty miles under water. Her offensive equipment is represented by
an expulsion tube and three Whitehead torpedoes.

Her plan of operations when in the presence of a hostile vessel is to
dive beneath the surface and steer by compass straight for the enemy.
At intervals of a mile or so she rises till the top of her conning tower
only protrudes, corrects her course and dives again. An emergence of
eight to ten seconds only is required. Having arrived within a few hun-
dred yards of the enemy the 'Holland' emerges for the last time, fires
her torpedo, dives, turns back on her course and runs home.

During all this time she is perfectly protected by her invisibility.
Even when rising she exposes so small a surface and that so low in the
water that the chances are all against her being detected at all, espe-
cially as no one can tell when or where she will appear. Or if seen by the
enemy there is no time to train guns upon her, and if there were, the
chances are infinitesimal that so small an object could ever be hit. On
the other hand, no defensive armor could save from absolute destruction
a vessel once hit by the 'Holland's' torpedo.

After all is said which may be, of the terribly destructive power of
the 'Holland,' or of any other submarine boat, it seems unquestionable
that the greatest argument in favor of her adoption into a navy is not
based thereupon, but rather upon the moral effect which would follow
the knowledge that a nation possessed such a boat at all. "There is
nothing more terrifying and demoralizing than to be attacked by an
invisible foe; nothing more trying, bewildering and ineffective than
striving to answer such an attack." If a captain of a battleship should
see the turret of a submarine appear at the surface, straighten her
course toward him, and then in ten seconds, before a shot could be
fired, sink out of sight again, what would be his duty as a brave man,
charged with responsibility for millions of property and hundreds of
lives and with the performance of effective service for his country? To
seek means of defense? There is no defense but flight, swift and im-
mediate.

Hostile transports especially would not dare to approach a coast
where the proximity of such a boat was suspected. High authorities
insist that blockading also would be impossible if a harbor contained
half a dozen of these terrible engines, which strike where no armor can

SLILMMUNIJ NAVIGATION.

169

afford protection, which come one knows not whence nor when, and
which are invulnerable because invisible. Any nation suitably equipped
with such means of defense would be impregnable on the side of the sea.

Every submarine boat with a single exception, so far as the writer
knows, has been designed solely or at least chiefly with reference to
use in war. That exception is the 'Argonaut,' designed by Simon Lake
and owned by the Lake Submarine Company.

The 'Argonaut' is intended for peaceful pursuits and is built and
equipped accordingly. Her purpose is to save property, not to destroy
it. Hit work is to be quiet and prosaic, but none the less efficient and
valuable. The success of her inventor and his company depends not
upon the favor of governments and department officials, but upon the
successful performance of forms of work which have a direct com-
mercial value.

Fig. S. Longitudinal Section of the Submarine Boat 'Akgonaut.'

She is built to travel on the bottom and is provided accordingly
with wheels like a tricycle. Except in war, there is scarcely a single
valuable object which can be served by navigation between the surface
and the bottom. The treasures of the deep are on the bottom. On
the bottom are the sponges, the pearls, the corals, the shell fish, the
wrecks of treasure ships and coal ships and the gold-bearing sands.
On the bottom are the foundations of submarine works, explosive
harbor defenses and cables. To the bottom the ■Argonaut* goes, and
on it she does her work.

Propelled at the surface by her gasoline engines, sbe looks much
like any other power boat. The upper part of her hull is that of ordi-
nary surface-going boats. Underneath she has the ovoidal form. Con-
spicuous on her deck are the two vertical pipes by means of which
during submergence fresh air is drawn from the surface and the viti-

170

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ated air within expelled. On the deck are also a derrick and a power-
ful sand pump for use in wrecking or in Submarine construction, while
a powerful electric lamp in her conical under-water how illuminates
the field of her operations. Most interesting is the sea door at the bot-
tom forward, through which divers enter and leave the boat when on
the ocean floor, the inrush of water into the diving compartment being
prevented in the meantime by air pressure within, equal to and balanc-
ing the water pressure without. The 'Argonaut' has already traveled,
it is said, hundreds of miles on the surface and scores on the ocean

Fig. 9 1 ross Section of the 'Argonaut' Amidships.

bottom. She can remain at the bottom as long as her gasoline and
provisions hold out, with no other inconvenience to her crew than is
occasioned by the somewhat restricted room within.

Mastery is the motto of mankind. Instinctively the race is ever
obedient to that ringing commission of the Omnipotent: "Replenish
the earth, and subdue it — and have dominion." Man longs to explore
every unknown realm. He thirsts for knowledge, which is power, and
by it he masters the mighty forces of nature and makes them his ser-
vants. It seems a little thing to have dominion over the habitable por-

SUBMARINE NAVIGATION.

171

tions of the earth — he must search the stretches of the desert, the realms
of frost and eternal snow and the expanse of the sea. It is not enough
to know the length and breadth of the earth — he must scale the
heights of the mountains and penetrate the secrets of the great deep.
Alexander weeping because, as he thought, there were no more worlds
to conquer, is an ancient type of that same masterful spirit of which
Kipling is the mighty modern prophet. But modern Alexanders
find no place for tears.

According to competent judges, the submarine is to-day ready to
serve mankind; the 'Holland' to make war less popular, the 'Argonaut'
to make peace more valuable.

We should take genuine pride, should we not, in the fact that
citizens of our own country are to-day foremost in the construction
and use of these mighty engines?

Fig. 10. The 'Argonaut' Submerged.

172 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

MUNICIPAL WATEK-WOKKS LABORATORIES.

Bv GEORGE C. WHIPPLE,
MT. PROSPECT LABORATORY, BROOKLYX, N. Y.

THE laboratory idea is fast taking hold of our municipalities. It
is the natural result of modern science and American practical-
ity. More and more our civilization is making use of the great forces
of nature, and more and more is it becoming necessary that nature's
laws should be understood: hence the need for the precise data of the
expert and the long-continued observations of the specialist. This is
emphatically true in the domain of sanitary science, where the advances
in chemistry, microscopy and bacteriology have wrought revolutionary
changes. The microscope is no longer a toy, it is a tool; the microscopic
world is no longer a world apart, it is vitally connected with our own.
The acceptance of the germ-theory of disease has placed new responsi-
bilities upon health authorities and has at the same time indicated the
measures necessary to be taken for the protection of the public health.
With the knowledge that certain diseases are caused by living organisms
find that these may be transmitted by drinking-water has come the need
of careful supervision of public water supplies, which has resulted in
the establishment of many laboratories devoted to water analysis.

The pioneer work of the Massachusetts State Board of Health and
the Board of Health of New York City has been followed by the instal-
lation of laboratories in most of our large cities. In many cases these
are operated in connection with departments of health, and the super-
vision exercised over the water supplies is of great benefit to the com-
munities. An instance of this is furnished by the Health Department
of Chicago. The water supply of Chicago is taken from Lake Michigan,
and before the operation of the drainage canal the sewage of the entire
city was discharged into the lake. The location of the water-works
intakes was such that the water pumped to the city was subject to
great changes in quality, varying from day to day according to the
direction of wind and currents. For a long time it has been the practice
of the department to issue daily bulletins as to the sanitary condition
of the water in the city. Samples from the various sources of supply
are received at the laboratory each morning, and upon the results of
certain rapid methods of analysis the chemist bases his judgment as to
the probable character of the water in the city mains during that day.
The report is promptly given to the representatives of the press, and the
consumers are thus warned of approaching danger.

MUNICIPAL WATER-WORKS LABORATORIES.

'/:>

The work of supplying water to a community is, however, an engi-
neering problem, and for some years water-works' officials and engineers
have felt the need of having in their own hands the means of determin-
ing the quality of the water. This has not been because they wished to
assume duties pertaining to the health authorities or because they stood
in fear of criticism, but because the management of the water supplies
demands immediate information of a character not always appreciated
by a physician and not always promptly obtainable from the laboratory
of a health department. Accordingly, there has been developed in this
country during the last decade an interesting group of water-works
laboratories devoted to sanitary supervision and to experiments upon
water purification.

The first of these laboratories was that of the Boston Water Works,
established in 1889 by Mr. Desmond Fitzgerald, C. E., then Superin-
tendent of the Western Division. At that time, and for several years
previous, the water supplied to the city was in ill favor with the con-
sumers because of its brown color and its vegetable taste. The primary
object of the laboratory was the study of these objectionable conditions
and the means for relieving them, but as the work proceeded it de-
veloped along broader lines. The laboratory, situated on the shore of
Chestnut Hill Eeservoir, consisted of a small frame building of two
rooms, one used for general biological work and the other fitted up as a
photographic dark room. The working force consisted of one biolo-
gist and three assistants, besides a number of attendants at the reser-
voirs, who devoted a portion of their time to the collection of samples
and the observation of the temperature of the water. The following
were the general outlines of the work:

The water supply of the city was derived from Lake Cochituate and
from a series of storage reservoirs on the Sudbury River. The waters
from these sources differed from each other and varied at different sea-
sons of the year. Accordingly, a system of inspection and analysis was
arranged in such a way that the superintendent knew at all times the
exact condition of the water throughout the system. Samples of water
were collected regularly from all streams tributary to the supply, from
reservoirs at various places and at different depths, and from the aque-
duct^.and distribution pipes. When these reached the laboratory they
were examined microscopically and bacteriologically, the presence of any
odor-producing organism was carefully noted and an immediate report
was rendered when necessary. Careful observations of color were also
made. When the work in Boston was started the methods of biological
examination of water were in their infancy. The Sedgwick-Rafter
method of ascertaining the number of microscopic organisms in water
had just been devised and the methods of plate culture of bacteria were
just becoming popular. The new methods were adopted in the Chestnut

174

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Hill laboratory and constant use resulted in important improvements.
The old method of obtaining the temperature of water beneath the sur-
face by the use of a weighted thermometer gave way to the electrical
'thermophone/ and new methods for measuring the color of water were
devised. An apparatus for photography was installed, and excellent
photographs were made of all the important microscopic organisms in
the water. A set of these photographs was on exhibition at the World's
Fair in Chicago. In addition to the routine work, many lines of experi-
mental work were undertaken. Studies were made upon the seasonal
distribution of various organisms, the effect of temperature, light and air
upon their growth, and upon the cause and nature of the odor imparted
by organisms to drinking water. The effect of swamp-land upon water

Fig. 1. Mt. Prospect Laboratory, Brooklyn, N. Y.

supplies, the stagnation of deep lakes, the bleaching action of sunlight
upon colored waters were likewise considered, while for several years the
laboratory was operated in connection with an experimental filter plant.
After the Metropolitan Water Board assumed control of the water
supply of Boston and its suburbs the laboratory was moved from Chest-
nut Hill Reservoir into the city, where it now occupies rooms at No. 3
Mt. Vernon street. In 1897 Dr. F. S. Hollis succeeded the writer as
biologist, and he in turn lias been succeeded by Mr. Horatio N. Parker.
During recent years the conditions of the water supply have changed.
New reservoirs of large capacity have been built, and the great Wachu-
sett Reservoir is in process of construction. Swamps have been drained
and fillers have been installed where there was danger of polluted water

MUNICIPAL WATER-WORKS LABORATORIES. 175

entering the supply. Thus new fields of work have been opened to
the laboratory. The center of gravity of the system is now much farther
from the city than formerly, and the logic of the situation points to the
future establishment of a laboratory upon the watershed operated in
connection with a department of sanitary inspection and equipped for
chemical as well as biological work.

In 1893 the Public Water Board of the city of Lynn, Mass.,
fitted out a small room in the basement of the City Hall to serve
as a laboratory for microscopical work. Weekly samples were col-
lected from the supply ponds and examined by one of the lady assist-
ants in the office. The results of the examinations were used by the
superintendent in the operation of the works, and in several instances

Fig. 2. Mt. Prospect Chemical Laboratory.

they proved the direct means of preventing the consumers from receiv-
ing water of an inferior quality. They also resulted in the undertaking
of improvements in one of the reservoirs and tributary swamp areas that
materially reduced the growths of troublesome algse.

Bad tastes and odors in the water supply of Brooklyn, N. Y., led to
the establishment of Mt. Prospect Laboratory by the Department of
Water Supply in 1897. As this laboratory is typical of its class it de-
serves more than a passing notice. Situated upon the shore of Mt.
Prospect Reservoir, near the entrance to Prospect Park, the laboratory
has a fortunate location. In addition to being within convenient dis-
tance of the office of the department, the main distribution reservoirs of
the city and the railway depot at which samples from the watershed are

i/6

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

received, it- isolation and elevation make it comparatively free from
noise and dust, while the building is well lighted by large windows,
heated by hot water and provided with gas, electricity and telephone.
The upper portion of the building contains three rooms, known as the
general laboratory or [(reparation room, the biological laboratory and
the chemical laboratory. In the basement are the physical laboratory,
the furnace room and the general storeroom. The general laboratory is
used for the shipment of samples, the washing of glassware, the sterili-
zation of apparatus, the preparation of culture media and for such chem-
ical processes as might charge the air with ammonia and the fumes of
acids. The biological laboratory is devoted to the bacteriological and

Fig.

Laboratory of the Sewer Department, Worckster, Mass.

microscopical examination of samples of water and to the study of the
various organisms found. It also serves as the office of the director. The
chemical laboratory is the largest of the three rooms. Its atmosphere is
kept free from ammonia and acid fumes in order not to vitiate the
results of the water analyses there carried on. Analyses of coal are also
made in this room. A storage room opens from the chemical laboratory
and there is also a small dark room. All three laboratories have marble
tiled floors, and the tables and shelves are covered with white tiles
throughout. The partitions between the rooms are largely of glass.
The apparatus is of the most complete description, much of it having
been designed for the particular work at hand. The physical laboratory

MUNICIPAL WATERWORKS LABORATORIES. 177

in the basement contains all the necessary apparatus for testing cement,
analyzing sand, etc. The laboratory force consists of one biologist and
director, one chemist, one assistant chemist and three assistants.

The routine work of the laboratory consists of the regular examina-
tion of samples of water from all parts of the watershed and distribution
system, i. e., from the driven wells, streams, ponds, aqueducts, reser-
voirs and service taps. The complicated and varied character of the
water supply requires the examination of an unusually large number of
samples, and it is safe to say that no water supply in this country is
examined more thoroughly and minutely than that of Brooklyn. Dur-
ing the three years that the laboratory has been in operation over eight
thousand samples have been analyzed.

The problems of the Brooklyn supply are very different from those
met with in Boston. The supply is drawn, not from a few storage reser-
voirs of large size, but from a large number of small supply ponds, sup-
plemented by an almost equal amount of water from deep and shallow
driven wells. There are no extensive swamp areas, but the watershed is
sandy and serves as a natural filtering medium. The entire supply,
therefore, partakes largely of the character of ground water. The stor-
age of ground water in an open reservoir has been almost always at-
tended with troubles due to growths of microscopic organisms, and the
Brooklyn supply has proved no exception to the rule. The mingling
of surface water, seeded with plant life, and ground water, laden with
plant food, has resulted in the enormous development of microscopic
organisms in the distribution reservoirs. During the summer and au-
tumn of 1896 the condition of the water in the city caused general com-
plaint because of its bad odor. An examination, made by Dr. Albert R.
Leeds, showed that the diatom asterionella was responsible for the
trouble, and that the fishy odor was caused by an oil-like substance
secreted by this microscopic plant. Since 1896 growths of asterionella
and other odor-producing organisms have recurred regularly in the dis-
tribution reservoirs, but by the use of the new by-pass, through which
water may be pumped around the reservoirs direct from the aqueduct
to the distribution pipes, the water in the city has been kept compara-
tively free from them. The organisms appear and disappear according
to laws that are now beginning to be understood, and while their growth
in the Brooklyn reservoirs cannot be wholly prevented under present
conditions, the laboratory is doing an important service by constantly
noting their condition of growth and by forecasting their effect on the
city supply for the guidance of the engineer in his manipulation of
the reservoirs. The chief service of the laboratory, however, is in con-
nection with the sanitary condition of the watershed, and upon this
most of the bacteriological and chemical work is concentrated. The
laboratory was- installed and equipped under the direction of Mr. I. M.

VOL. LVIII.— 12

178 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

De Varona, Engineer of Water Supply, with the writer in immediate
charge.

The filtration of all surface water used for domestic supply is one
of the probabilities of the future. For years many of the large cities of
Europe have been supplied with filtered water, and in England alone
more than ten million people are using water from which all danger
from disease germs has been removed. In x\merica filtration has gained
ground but slowly, and in some of our cities the condition of the drink-
ing-water is a disgrace to civilization. A German health officer once said
to me: 'You Americans are a queer people; you filter sewage, but you
drink water raw.' One reason for our tardiness in following the practice
of the Old World is the fact that the conditions here are not in all re-
spects the same as in Europe. The old methods of filtration cannot be
successfully applied to many of our American waters, and water-works'
engineers have felt that before expensive works were undertaken the
problems should be carefully studied by direct experiment with respect
to existing conditions. Thus, recent years have witnessed the operation
of experimental filter plants unequalled in magnitude, in the scope of
their work and in the accuracy of their methods of investigation.

The experiment station of the Massachusetts State Board of Health
at Lawrence was started in 1897 and is still in operation. The results
of the investigations of the principles involved in the purification of
water and sewage by sand filtration have become classic in the annals
of sanitary engineering, and the annual reports are still furnishing
results of the highest scientific value. At the present time the work
is in charge of Mr. H. W. Clark, Chemist of the Board. One practical
result of these experiments was the construction of a sand filter of novel
type for the purification of the water supply of the city of Eaw fence,
and the immediate reduction of the typhoid fever rate showed the suc-
cess of the undertaking. The water of the Merrimac River, at Law-
rence, though polluted, is comparatively clear, and it became evident
that methods of filtration that were applicable to water of this character
would not be necessarily successful where the water was highly colored
and turbid. Experiments were, therefore, begun in other cities.

In Boston, where the water was of higher color than at Lawrence,
and where microscopic organisms were sometimes numerous, a filtration
station was in operation from 1892 to 1895. Six sand filters, each with
.in area, of one-thousandth of an acre, and a large number of smaller
filters, were used under varying conditions. The station was in charge
of Mr. Win. E. Foss, under the direction of Mr. Desmond Fitzgerald,
C. E. The analytical work was done partly at the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology and partly at the Biological Laboratory described
above. It is much to be regretted that the results of these experiments
\ere never published.

MUNICIPAL WATER-WORKS LABORATORIES. 179

In 1893 Mr. Edmund B. Weston, C. E., of Providence, R. I., con-
ducted for the water department of that city a series of experiments
upon the purification of the water of the Pawtuxet River by means of
mechanical filters. Though less extensive than the experiments above
mentioned, they are of historic interest as giving the first adequate dem-
onstration of the possibilities of that method of purification.

The system of mechanical filtration, or the 'American System,' as it
is sometimes called, differs from natural sand filtration by the use of
alum or some similar coagulating substance before sedimentation and
filtration, by the higher rate of filtration employed and by the use of
certain mechanical devices for cleaning the sand beds. The application
of this process to the treatment of turbid water was next investigated.
In 1895 the Louisville Water Company undertook a most extensive
series of experiments to determine the relative efficiency of various
types of mechanical filters in the purification of the water of the Ohio
River. The wTork was placed in charge of Mr. Geo. W. Fuller, C. E., who
was assisted by a large corps of trained assistants. For nearly a year
the experiments were earned on without interruption: the filters were
operated by the companies interested in them, and their efficiency was
determined by Mr. Fuller on behalf of the water company, who had at
hand a complete laboratory equipment and who used every means
known to science in the analysis of the water before and after treatment.
The most important result of these experiments was to prove beyond
doubt the applicability of mechanical filtration to the purification of
water rendered turbid by the presence of fine particles of clay.

The experiments in Louisville were followed in 1898-9 by a some-
what similar investigation at Cincinnati, 0., also conducted by Mr.
Puller. As in Louisville, the water supply is taken from the Ohio River,
but the character of the water at this point is not in all respects the
same as that farther down stream. The problem in Cincinnati was to
determine wdiether the English system of sand filtration or the Ameri-
can system, involving the use of a coagulant, was best suited to the puri-
fication of the water, and whether any preliminary treatment of the
water before filtration was advisable. To solve this problem the Board
of Trustees, Commissioners of Water Works, decided to appropriate for
needed experiments a sum equivalent to about one year's interest on the
probable cost of a plant for filtering the supply of the city. The equip-
ment consisted of four steel tanks, each with a capacity of 100,000 gal-
lons, fifteen experimental filters, arranged for operation under different
conditions, and a large laboratory fully equipped for chemical and bac-
teriological work. After a period of continuous operation, covering
about ten months, the evidence showed that either the American system
or the English system operated with preliminary coagulation and sedi-
mentation would satisfactorily purify the water, but that the American

180 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

system could be operated with less difficulty and with somewhat less

expense.

In 1896 the city of Pittsburg, Pa., appointed a commission to con-
sider the character of the water supply and the advisability of its puri-
fication by some means of filtration. The supply is taken from the
Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, streams which are often turbid
and which are subject to contamination by sewage. The conditions were
such that direct experiment was necessary to determine the most suit-
able system of purification. Accordingly, an experimental station was
located on the shore of the Allegheny Kiver and placed in charge of
Mr. Morris Knowles, under the direction of Mr. Allen Hazen, Consult-
ing Engineer. Arrangements were made for the comparative study of
sand filters and mechanical filters, and a laboratory was built and
equipped for making all necessary analyses. The plant was in continu-
ous operation for more than a year, and the results seemed to show that
while satisfactory clarification of the water could be obtained by either
system, the method of sand filtration could be depended upon to remove
more completely the effect of pollution.

The report of a similar series of experiments made to determine the
feasibility of purifying the water of the Potomac River at Washington,
D. C, has been issued by the War Department. The work was carried on
in a manner similar to that at Cincinnati and Pittsburg, the object of
the studies being to find the best method adapted to the local conditions.
Col. A. M. Miller, XJ. S. A., had charge of the investigations, and Mr.
Robert Spurr Weston conducted the analytical work. Recently the
Department of Public Works, of Philadelphia, Pa., has established
a testing station near the Spring Garden Pumping Station for
the purpose of studying the problems of filtration incident to the con-
struction of filter beds for the water supply of the entire city, for which
the sum of ten million dollars has been already appropriated. The work
is in charge of Mr. Morris Knowles. Still more recently a testing station
has been established by the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans,
with Mr. Robert Spurr Weston as Resident Expert.

In July,1899,the newly-constructed water filtration plant at Albany,
N. Y., was put in operation, Mr. Allen Hazen having been Chief En-
gineer of construction and Mr. Geo. I. Bailey Superintendent of Water
Works. In connection with this plant is a small laboratory in which are
made daily bacteriological examinations of the water before and after fil-
tration. Physical, chemical and microscopical examinations are also
made at frequent intervals. The results obtained indicate the amount
of purification that is taking place, and they already have shown that
the filter is rendering efficient service in protecting the community from
water-borne diseases.

The combined work of these various laboratories of supervision and

MUNICIPAL WATER-WORKS LABORATORIES. 181

experiment lias been of incalculable benefit to sanitary science, and the
results have been not only of local and immediate value, but they have
acquired a world-wide reputation and form a permanent contribution to
scientific literature. If one doubts the practical worth of a laboratory in
the management of a water-works system, no more convincing argu-
ment could be presented than the fact that a private water company in
Wilkesbarre, Pa., has recently gone to the expense of establishing a
laboratory for chemical, microscopical and bacteriological analyses of
the Water sold to the community, and this in spite of the fact that the
water supply is taken from a watershed not seriously open to the danger
of contamination. The work is in charge of Prof. Wm. H. Dean.

It is an interesting fact that in many instances the laboratories have
been found to have a wider field of usefulness than that for which they
were originally intended. For example, the laboratory in Cincinnati
did not cease its existence when the filtration experiments were com-
pleted; it was continued as a laboratory for testing the materials of
engineering construction. It is now in charge of Mr. J. W. Ellms,
Chemist, under the direction of Mr. Gustav Bouscaren, Chief Engineer.
The building has seven rooms and contains not only the apparatus
necessary for water analysis and general chemical work, but a complete
outfit for testing cement. The work now includes the chemical analysis
of paints and oils, asphalts, rock, sand and cement, physical tests of
cement, besides experimental investigations of the properties of cement
mortars and asphalts.

At Pittsburg, also, the laboratory has been made permanent. The
Department of Public Works has erected a two-story brick building,
known as the Herron Hill Laboratory. The first floor and basement
are used by the Bureau of Water Supply for water analysis, tests of
supplies purchased and experimental work upon the filtration of water;
the second floor is used by the Bureau of Engineering as a cement
laboratory. In the water laboratory the floor and operating-shelves
are covered with white tiles and the walls are painted with white
enamel, so that the room may be washed from ceiling to floor. Steam
from a neighboring boiler house is used for heating the water-baths and
for distilling water. The incubators used for bacteriological work are
placed in the basement, where the temperature can be kept more con-
stant than on the floors above. The ammonia stills, sterilizers, autoclav
and other apparatus are of the most modern type. A safe in the base-
ment serves to protect the records in case of fire. One biologist, one
chemist and one attendant are employed in the water laboratory, and
a chemist is employed in the department of cement testing. Mr. Wm.
R. Copeland is the biologist in charge.

In the Mt. Prospect Laboratory, of Brooklyn, the miscellaneous work
is constantly increasing. The coal used at the various pumping stations

[82 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

is purchased under specifications that require the analysis of a sample
that must accompany every bid, and the determination of the heating
power of a sample from every consignment. Lubricating oils, boiler com-
pounds, samples of steel and other materials are analyzed and the
laboratory is also equipped for the chemical and physical testing of
cements.

Other departments of municipal work are taking up the laboratory
idea. The Sewer Department of Worcester, Mass., has two laboratories.
One is located at the disposal works and is devoted wholly to the super-
vision of the process of treatment of the sewage. The other occupies
attractive rooms in the City Hall. Here a great variety of work is under-
taken. During the year 1899 more than a hundred carloads of cement
were used by the department, and over eight thousand samples were
tested for tensile strength; many chemical analyses were also made.
Bricks were frequently tested for absorption, and several samples of steel
used in the construction of shovels and offered to the department by dif-
ferent dealers were analyzed. Coal, oil, lime and many other materials
purchased by the department were analyzed. In addition to this, over
seventy-five samples of butter and oleomargarine were examined for the
Department of Milk and Butter Inspection, and a number of water
analyses were made for the water department. A large amount of
experimental work was carried on in connection with the problem of
sewage disposal. Both laboratories are under the general direction of
Mr. Harrison P. Eddy, Superintendent of Sewers.

It seems apparent, therefore, that the laboratory is destined to be
an important factor in municipal engineering as well as in municipal
sanitation, and it is not difficult to foresee a time when every city of
importance will be provided with a laboratory equipped in accordance
with its needs. In large cities, work of this kind is preferably spe-
cialized and distributed through different departments, in order that it
may be under the control of those directly interested in the results,
but in small cities, all the analytical work can be more economically
accomplished in a single laboratory. In such a laboratory the work
would cover a very broad field. Coal, cement, oil, brick, asphalt and
various structural materials would be tested before purchase and during
delivery; illuminating gas regularly examined; water, milk and various
food products analyzed to determine their purity and healthfulness; bac-
teriological cultures made for diagnosis of diphtheria, typhoid fever,
tuberculosis and kindred diseases; disinfection of buildings supervised,
etc. All this would require the services of an engineer, a chemist and
a bacteriologist, or of these three combined in one person. The expense
of such an institution would be small in comparison with the saving that
would result to the citizens in the purchase of supplies and in the
protection of the public health.

FREEDOM AND 'FREE AY ILL: 183

FREEDOM AND TREE-WILL.' i

By Professor GEORGE STUART FULLERTON,

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LET us suppose two men before a jury on the accusation of
homicide. Each admits that he has occasioned the death of a
man, but each has his own account of how the thing came about. In
the first instance, the accused was holding the gun that sped the fatal
bullet; his finger was on the trigger and pressed it; the discharge fol-
lowed; the victim fell. But it seems that the gun had been forced into
his unwilling hands by one stronger than he; an iron finger lay above
his own, and it was under its pressure that his finger became the proxi-
mate cause of a series of events which he cannot even now contemplate
without horror. He was the unwilling instrument of a bloody deed, and
does not account himself the responsible cause; he slew because he
'couldn't help it.'

The second man lays before his jurors a story in many respects dif-
ferent, but ending with the same words. He was alone when the shoot-
ing occurred. He was under no compulsion at the hands of another,
but was shooting at a mark, and taking delight in dotting the target
near the bull's-eye, when lo! across the field, above the hedge that
bounds the horizon on that side, appears a tempting mark, the rubicund
face of a rustic whose open mouth strikes his joyous mood at just that
instant as an irresistible target, and one altogether too delightful to be
passed by. "I had not the faintest intention, a moment before, of shoot-
ing any man," he explains; "but, really, it was too good a shot to miss,
and I simply couldn't help it."

Let us suppose it possible for the same jury to hear these two ex-
planations, one after the other. The action of a petit jury is said to be
most uncertain, but there can be little doubt that even a jury would
detect an important distinction between these two "couldn't help's.'
The world seems to be full of 'couldn't help's' of the two sorts; the man
who stumbled on the stairs couldn't help rolling to the bottom; the
man who was thrown from a window couldn't help descending to the
street; the man who was seized by the police couldn't help failing to
meet his engagement; the greedy boy couldn't help taking the larger
muffin; the devoted mother couldn't help spoiling her only child; the
emotional philanthropist couldn't help feeling in his pocket on hearing
the plausible tale of the wily tramp.

Probably most jurymen would refuse to recognize "couldn't help's'

1 84 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of the second class as worthy of the name at all. Certainly, as jurymen,
they have little concern with them. It is only with those of the first
class that the law has to do, except in cases in which the sanity of the
accused is in question. But suppose one of the jurymen happens to be
a philosopher, and is accustomed to reflect upon matters which most
men are in the habit of passing by without much thought. He may
say to himself: "As a juryman I cannot think of listening to the absurd
excuse for homicide offered by this second fellow. If I did I should
have to admit that no man is a moral agent and that no crime should
be punished. The smuggler, the burglar, the murderer, may be as-
sumed to be influenced by motives of some sort. There is no case in
which something may not be pointed to as that which occasioned the
deed. Human life must be protected; society must be preserved; evil-
doers must be punished. If some men find the attractions of crime
irresistible, so much the worse for them. And yet, as a philosopher, I
find that I must accept the fact that, in a certain sense of the words,
the guilty man couldn't help doing what he did. He was what he was;
the target was attractive; the result followed. He was free from ex-
ternal compulsion, but he was not and could not be free from himself
and his own impulses."

The man who reasons thus is called a determinist. Whether our
determinist is wise to express things exactly as he does will appear in
what follows. But the thought which he is at least trying to express
is sufficiently clear. A determinist is a man who accepts in its widest
sense the assumption of science that all the phenomena of nature are
subject to law, and that nothing can happen without some adequate
cause why it should happen thus and not otherwise. The fall of a rain-
drop, the unfolding of a flower, the twitching of an eyelid, the penning
of a sentence — all these, he maintains, have their adequate causes,
though the causes of such occurrences lie, in great part, beyond the line
which divides our knowledge from our ignorance. Determinism is, of
course, a faith; for it is as yet wholly impossible for science to demon-
strate even that the fluttering of an aspen leaf in the summer breeze
is wholly subject to law; and that every turn or twist upon its stem
must be just what it is, and nothing else, in view of the whole system
of forces in play at the moment. Much less is it possible to prove in
detail that that complicated creature called a man draws out his chair,
sits down to dinner, gives his neighbor the best cut of the beef, dis-
cusses the political situation, and resists the attractions of the decanter
before him, strictly in accordance with law — that every motion of every
muscle is the effect of antecedent causes which are incalculable only be-
cause of the limitations of our intelligence and our ignorance of existing
facts. And yet the faith of science seems to those trained in the
sciences a reasonable thing, for, as is pointed out, it is progressively jus-

FREEDOM AND 'FREE-WILL.3 185

tified by the gradual advance of human knowledge, and even in fields in
which anything like exact knowledge is at present unattainable the little
we do know hints unmistakably at the reign of law. There are few in-
telligent men who would care to maintain that the fall of a rain-drop or
the flutter of an aspen leaf could not be completely accounted for by
the enumeration of antecedent causes, were our knowledge sufficiently
increased; but there are a considerable number who take issue with the
determinist in his view of the subjection to law of all human actions.
They maintain that there is a necessarily incalculable element present
in such cases, and that all the antecedents taken together can only in
part account for the result. As opposed to determinism they hold to
the doctrine of indeterminism, or, as it has too often unhappily been
called, the doctrine of 'free-will.'

I say as it has unhappily been called, because it is a thousand pities
that an interesting scientific question, and a most difficult one, should
be taken out of the clear atmosphere of passionless intellectual investi-
gation, and, through a mere confusion, brought down among the fogs of
popular passion and partisan strife. We have all heard much about
fate and free-will, and no man with the spirit of a man in him thinks,
without inward revolt, of the possibility that his destiny is shaped for
him by some irresistible external power in the face of which he is impo-
tent. No normal man welcomes the thought that he is not free, and
the denial of free-will can scarcely fail to meet with his reprobation.
We recognize freedom as the dearest of our possessions, the guarantee,
indeed, of all our possessions. The denial of freedom we associate with
wrong and oppression, the scourge and the dungeon, the tyranny of
brute force, the despair of the captive, the sodden degradation of the
slave. The very word freedom is enough to set us quivering with emo-
tion; it is the open door to the thousand-fold activities which well up
within us, and to which we give expression with joy.

But it must not be forgotten that the antithesis of freedom is com-
pulsion, that hateful thing that does violence to our nature and crushes
with iron hand these same activities. The freedom which poets have
sung, and for which men have died, has no more to do with indeter-
minism than has the Dog, a celestial constellation, with the terrestrial
animal that barks. St. Thomas and Spinoza, who differ in many things,
have both pointed out that one must distinguish between the two
latter, and the distinction is not broader than that which exists between
the former. Determinism is not fatalism, and indeterminism is not the
affirmation of freedom in any proper sense of that word, the sense in
which men take it when it sets their pulses bounding and fills their
breasts with high resolve. We have seen that even a determinist can
distinguish between the two 'couldn't helps,' and recognize that they
must be differently treated. We may now go so far as to insist that,

1 86 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

since they do differ so widely, they should be given different names,
and we may call upon the determinist to avoid altogether, as other
men do, the use of the term 'couldn't help' in the second sense. He
may then say, without serious danger of being misunderstood, that the
first prisoner at the bar couldn't help doing what he did, but that the
second could have helped doing it if he had so elected. Without doing
violence to the common use of speech, nay, strictly in accordance with
common usage, he may declare that the one man was not free, but was
under compulsion, while, on the other hand, the second man was free.
He may very well do this without ceasing to be an out-and-out deter-
minist.

Before going on with the topic which is the main interest of this
paper, it is right that I should say just a word as to what determinism
does not imply, it does not imply that all the causes which may be
assumed to be the antecedents of human actions are material causes. A
determinist may be a materialist, or he may be an idealist, or he may
be a composite creature. As a matter of fact, there have been deter-
minists of many different kinds, for the dispute touching the human
will is thousands of years old; and the fact that the doctrine happens
at the present time to be more closely associated in our minds with one
of the 'isms' ] have mentioned than with another, says little as to
their natural relationship. Nor need the determinist necessarily be
either an atheist, a theist, or an agnostic. He may, of course, be any one
of these; but if he is, it will not be because of his determinism. As a
determinist he affirms only the universal applicability of the principle
of sufficient reason — the doctrine that for every occurrence, of what-
ever sort, there must be a cause or causes which can furnish an adequate
explanation of the occurrence. I say so much to clear the ground. It
is well to remember that materialists have been determinists, idealists
have been determinists, atheists have been determinists, theologians
have been determinists. The doctrine is not bound up with any of the
differences that divide these, and it should not be prejudged from a
mistaken notion that it necessarily favors the position taken by one of
these classes rather than that taken by another. We may approach it
with an open mind, and make an effort to judge it strictly on its own
merits.

But to judge it on its own merits, the very first requisite is to purge
the mind completely of the misconception that the 'freedom' of
the will, or indeterminism, has anything whatever to do with freedom
in the ordinary sense of the word — freedom from external compulsion.
Here I sit at my desk; my hand lies on the paper before me; can I raise
it from the paper or not, just as T please? To such a question, both
determinist and indeterminist must give the same answer. Of course
I can raise it or not, as I please. Both must admit that I am free in

FREEDOM AND 'FREE-WILL: 187

this sense. The question that divides them lies a little farther back; the
determinist must hold that, if I please to raise my hand, there is some
cause within me, or in my environment, or both, that brings about the
result; and if I please not to raise it, he must believe that there ia
some cause or complex of causes that produces just that result. He does
not deny that I can do as I please. He merely maintains that my
'pleasing' is never uncaused. On the other hand, the advocate of the
'liberty of indifference' maintains that under precisely the same cir-
cumstances, internal and external, I may raise my hand or keep it at
rest. He holds, in other words, that, if I move, that action is not
to be wholly accounted for by anything whatever that has preceded,
for under precisely the same circumstances it might not have occurred.
It is, hence, causeless.

Now it would be a horrid thing to feel that one were not free to
move or not to move. Freedom is a pearl of great price. But there is
nothing especially attractive in the thought of causeless actions, in
themselves considered. They strike one, at first glance, as at least some-
thing of an anomaly. It seems reasonable to suspect that the great
attraction which the doctrine of indeterminism exercises upon many
minds must be due to a confusion between it and something else. That
this is indeed the case I can best illustrate by citing a passage from
Professor James' delightful 'Talks to Teachers.'* It reads as follows:

"It is plain that such a question can be decided only by general an-
alogies, and not by accurate observations. The free-willist believes the
appearance to be a reality; the determinist believes that it is an illusion.
I myself hold with the free-willists — not because I cannot conceive
the fatalist theory clearly, or because I fail to understand its plausibility,
but simply because, if free-will were true, it would be absurd to have
the belief in it fatally forced on our acceptance. Considering the inner
fitness of things, one would rather think that the very first act of a
will endowed with freedom should be to sustain the belief in the free-
dom itself. I accordingly believe freely in my freedom; I do so with the
best of scientific consciences, knowing that the predetermination of the
amount of my effort of attention can never receive objective proof, and
hoping that, whether you follow my example in this respect or not, it
will at least make you see that such psychological and pyschophysical
theories as I hold do not necessarily force a man to become a fatalist or
a materialist."

I have taken this extract because it may stand as the very type of a
'free-will' argument, and as an ideal illustration of the persuasive in-
fluence of the ways of expressing things natural to a gifted writer. The
school-teacher who has no prejudice against fatalism and materialism,
to whom the idea of being endowed with freedom is not attractive, who

* Chapter XV., pp. 191-192.

1 88 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

is willing to have even good things fatally forced upon his acceptance,
and who is not inspired by the thought of believing freely in his
freedom, must be a poor creature indeed. But suppose Professor James
had expressed his thought baldly; suppose he had said: "I myself hold
to indeterminism, not because I fail to see the plausibility of the oppo-
site doctrine, but because, if human actions were causeless, what more
natural than that man should causelessly believe in their causeless
origination? Accordingly, I causelessly believe in the causelessness of
my actions, confident that no one knows enough about the matter to
prove me in the wrong." Would the doctrine thus stated — and this
only means the doctrine stripped of misleading associations — have
proved particularly attractive?

It is not attractive even when superficially considered; it only seems
arbitrary and unreasonable; a something to be taken rather as a play
of fancy than as a serious argument. But looked into more narrowly, the
doctrine is seen in its implications to be something very serious and
terrible. So little has been said upon this topic in the vast literature
of the dispute regarding the will, that I make no excuse for discussing
it at some length. The issue has too often been clouded by the associa-
tions which hover about the words 'liberty,' 'freedom' and 'free-
will,' and the true significance of indeterminism has not been clearly
seen. I have said above that it is a pity to stir the emotions when one is
trying to settle a question of fact; but as very much has been said upon
the topic of the terrors of determinism that it is allowable, as an anti-
dote to this poison, to point out the much more real terrors of 'free-will.'

Let us suppose that the 'libertarian' or 'free-willist' — the indeter-
minist — is right, and that human actions may be causeless. I am,
then, endowed with 'freedom.' This is not freedom in the usual sense
of the word, remember; and I have put it into quotation marks to indi-
cate that fact. It means only that my actions cannot wholly be ac-
counted for by anything that has preceded them, even by my own
character and impulses, inherent or acquired. But, I ask myself, if I
am endowed with 'freedom,' in what sense may this 'freedom' be
called mine. Suppose that I have given a dollar to a blind beggar. Can
I, if it is really an act of 'free-will,' be properly said to have given the
money? Was it given because / was a man of tender heart, one prone
to benevolent impulses, and naturally incited by the sight of suffering
to make an effort to relieve it? Not at all; in just so far as the gift
was the result of 'free-will,' these things could have had nothing to
do with the matter. Another man, the veriest miser and skinflint, the
most unfeeling brute upon the streets, might equally well have been
the instrument of the benevolent deed. His impulses might all be selfish,
and his past life a consistent history of sordid greed; I am a lover
of my kind; but what has all this to do with acts of 'free-will'? If

FREEDOM AND 'FREE AY ILL: 189

they are 'free/ they must not be conditioned by antecedent circum-
stances of any sort, by the misery of the beggar, by the pity in the heart
of the passer-by. They must be causeless, not determined. They must
drop from a clear sky out of the void, for just in so far as they can be
accounted for they are not 'free.'

Is it then I that am 'free'? Am I the cause of the good or evil deeds
which — shall I say? — result from my 'freedom'? I do not cause them,
for they are uncaused. And, since they are uncaused, and have no
necessary congruity with my character or impulses, what guarantee have
I that the course of my life will not exhibit the melancholy spectacle
of the reign of mere caprice? For forty years I have lived quietly and
in obedience to law. I am regarded as a decent citizen, and one who
can be counted upon not to rob his neighbor, or wave the red flag of the
anarchist. I have grown gradually to be a character of such and such
a kind; I am fairly familiar with my impulses and aspirations; I hope
to carry out plans extending over a good many years in the future.
Is it this / with whom I have lived in the past, and whom I think I
know, that will elect for me whether I shall carry out plans or break
them, be consistent or inconsistent, love or hate, be virtuous or betake
myself to crime? Alas! I am 'free,' and this / with whom I am familiar
cannot condition the future. But I will make the most serious of re-
solves, bind myself with the holiest of promises! To what end? How
can any resolve be a cause of causeless actions, or any promise clip the
erratic wing of 'free-will'? In so far as I am 'free' the future is a wall
of darkness. One cannot even say with the Moslem: 'What shall be,
will be;' for there is no shall about it. It is wholly impossible for me
to guess what I will 'freely' do, and it is impossible for me to make any
provision against the consequences of 'free' acts of the most deplorable
sort. A knowledge of my own character in the past brings with it
neither hope nor consolation. My 'freedom' is just as 'free' as that of
the man who was hanged last week. It is not conditioned by my
character. If he could 'freely' commit murder, so can I. But I never
dreamt of killing a man, and would not do it for the world! No; that is
true; the I that I know rebels against the thought. Yet to admit that
this I can prevent it is to become a determinist. If I am 'free' I cannot
seek this city of refuge. Is 'freedom' a thing that can be inherited as a
bodily or mental constitution? Can it be repressed by a course of educa-
tion, or laid in chains by life-long habit? In so far as any action is
'free,' what I have been, what I am, what I have always done or striven
to do, what I most earnestly wish or resolve to do at the present mo-
ment— these things can have no more to do with its future realization
than if they had no existence. If, then, I really am 'free,' I must face
the possibility that I may at any moment do anything that any man can
'freely' do. The possibility is a hideous one; and surely even the most

190 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ardent 'free-willist' will, when he contemplates it frankly, excuse me
for hoping that, if I am 'free/ I am at least not very 'free,' and that I
may reasonably expect to find some degree of consistency in my life and
actions. An excess of such 'freedom' is indistinguishable from the most
abject slavery to lawless caprice.

And when I consider my relations to my fellow-men the outlook is
no better. It is often said that the determinist may grant rewards or
inflict punishments as a means of attaining certain desired ends, but
that for him there can in all this be no question of justice or injustice.
One man is by nature prone to evil as the sparks fly upward; another
is born an embryo saint. One is ushered into this world, if not 'trailing
clouds of glory,' yet with such clouds, in the shape of civilizing in-
fluences, hovering about the very cradle in which he is to lie; another
opens his eyes upon a light which breaks feebly through the foul and
darkened window-pane, and which is lurid with the reflections of
degradation and vice. One becomes the favorite of fortune, and the
other the unhappy subject of painful correction. Unless there be
'free-will,' where can we find even the shadow of justice in our treat-
ment of these? We have all heard the argument at length, and I shall
not enter into it further; nor shall I delay over the question of the true
meaning of the terms justice and injustice, though this meaning is often
taken for granted in a very heedless way. I shall merely inquire
whether the assumption of 'freedom' contributes anything toward the
solution of the problem of punishment.

Let us suppose that Tommy's mother is applying a slipper to some
portion of his frame for having 'freely* raided the pantry. Does she
punish him for having done the deed, or does she punish him to prevent
its recurrence? In either case, she seems, if the deed was a 'free' one,
to be acting in a wholly unreasonable way. Was the deed really done by
Tommy — i. e., was it the natural result of his knowledge of the con-
tents of the pantry, his appetite for jam, and the presence of the key in
the door? Not at all. The act was a 'freeT one, and not conditioned
by either Tommj-'s character or his environment. The child's grand-
father might have 'freely' stolen jam under just the same circum-
stances. Thus, in a true sense of the words, the child did not do it.
Who can cause what is causeless? Moreover, by no possibility could
he have prevented it. Who can guard against the spontaneity of 'free-
dom'? No resolve, as we have seen, can condition the unconditioned.
Then why beat the poor child for what he did not do and what he could
not possibly have prevented? Surely this is wanton cruelty, and worthy
of all reprobation!

Is the punishment intended to prevent a recurrence of the deed?
How futile a measure! Does the silly woman actually believe that she
(•an with a slipper make such changes in Tommy's mind or body as to

FREEDOM AND 'FREE-WILL.' 191

determine the occurrence or non-occurrence of acts which are, by
hypothesis, independent of what is contained in Tommy and his en-
vironment? Does she forget that she is raining her blows upon a 'free'
agent? As well beat the lad to prevent the lightning from striking the
steeple in the next block.

The utter absurdity of punishing a 'free' agent, in so far as he is
a 'free' agent, must be apparent to every unprejudiced mind. It is
unjust and it is useless. And it seems clear that it is equally useless
to make an effort to persuade him. To what end shall I marshal all
sorts of good reasons for not doing this or that reprehensible action?
To what end shall I pour forth my torrent of eloquence, painting in
vivid colors the joys of virtue and the varied miseries which lurk upon
the path of the evil-doer? Are my words supposed to have effect, or are
they not? If not, it is not worth while to utter them. Evidently they
cannot have effect in determining 'free' actions, for such actions cannot
be effects of anything. It seems, then, that Tommy's mother and his
aunts and all his spiritual pastors and masters have for years approached
Tommy upon a strictly deterministic basis. They have thought it worth
while to talk, and to talk a great deal. They have done what all peda-
gogues do — they have adjusted means to ends, and have looked for
results, taking no account of 'freedom' at all. Of course, in so far as
Tommy upon a strictly deterministic basis. They have thought it worth
of the melancholy situation of the man who finds himself the father of
half a dozen little 'free-will' monsters who cannot possibly be reached
either by moral suasion or by the rod!

It is a melancholy world, this world of 'freedom.' In it no man can
count upon himself and no man can persuade his neighbor. We are, it
is true, powerless to lead one another into evil; but we are also powerless
to influence one another for good. It is a lonely world, in which each
man is cut off from the great whole and given a lawless little world all
to himself. And it is an uncertain world, a world in which a knowledge
of the past casts no ray into the darkness of the future. To-morrow I
am to face nearly a hundred students in logic. It is a new class, and I
know little about its members save that they are students. I have
assumed that they will act as students usually act, and that I shall
escape with my life. But if they are endowred with 'free-will,' what may
I not expect? What does 'free-will' care for the terrors of the Dean's
office, the long green table, and the Committee of Discipline? Is it
interested in Logic? Or does it have a personal respect for me? The
picture is a harrowing one, and I drop the curtain upon it.

Fortunately for us all, 'freedom' is the concern of the philosophers;
freedom is what we have to do with in real life. The judge, the philan-
thropist, the moralist, the pedagogue, all assume that man may be a
free agent without on that account being forced beyond the pale into

192 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the outer darkness of utter irrationality. Men generally regard a man
as free when he is in a position to be irfluenced by those considerations
by which they think the normal man not under compulsion naturally is
influenced. They do not think that he is robbed of his freedom in so
far as he weighs motives, seeks information, is influenced by persuasion.
What would become of our social system if men were not affected by
influences of this sort? It would be the annihilation of all the forces
which we have put in motion, and upon which we depend, for the
amelioration of mankind.

There is scarce any tyranny so great as the tyranny of words. It
is as reasonable to believe that strong drink will make a man strong,
as that 'freedom' will make a man free, and yet how many believe it!
So difficult is it to escape the snares of verbal confusion that I cannot
be confident that some of my readers will not suppose that I have been
arguing against human freedom. The forms of expression which have
been chosen by some determinists are in part responsible for their error.
The 'free-willists' are not wholly to blame. I feel, then, that I ought
to close this brief paper with an unequivocal and concise statement of
my position. It is this:

I believe most heartily in freedom. I am neither fatalist nor
materialist. I hold man to be a free agent, and believe that there is
such a thing as justice in man's treatment of man. I refuse to regard
punishment as the infliction of pain upon one who did not do the thing
for which he is punished, could not have prevented it, and cannot possi-
bly be benefited by the punishment he receives. I view with horror the
doctrine that the teacher's desk and the pulpit, the force of public
opinion and the sanction of law, are of no avail. I am unwilling to as-
sume without evidence that each man's breast is the seat of uncaused
and inexplicable explosions, which no man can predict, against the con-
sequences of which no man can make provision and which set at defi-
ance all the forces which make for civilization.

CHINESE COMMERCE. 193

CHINESE COMMERCE.*

By WILLIAM BARCLAY PARSONS.

THE foreign commerce of China is carried on through and at
twenty-nine Treaty Ports. Previous to 1840 trade with foreign-
ers was much hampered owing to its being subject to local regulations,
all of which were annoying, many of them ridiculous, and some actu-
ally jeopardizing to both life and property. In 1842 Great Britain,
availing herself of the successful outcome of what is known as the
Opium War, stipulated that as one of the indemnities, China should
declare the ports of Canton, Amoy, Fu-chow, Ning-po and Shanghai to
be thrown entirely open to British trade and residence, and that com-
merce with British subjects should be conducted at these ports under
a properly regulated tariff and free from special Chinese restrictions.
Although Great Britain nominally secured for herself special considera-
tions, she intended and actually accomplished the establishing of com-
merce between China and all other nations on a sound and liberal basis.
The treaty of Nan-king was immediately followed by similar treaties
with other powers, that with the United States being executed in 1844.
Additional ports, decreed by treaties or other arrangements by the
Chinese Government, have been added from year to year. At the end
of the year 1899 the Maritime Customs reported twenty-nine of these
ports, with several branch or sub-ports in addition. At nearly all of
them there is a special reservation, called the foreign concession, where
foreigners are allowed to reside and regulate their method of living in
their own way. Although foreigners are permitted to dwell in the
Chinese quarter if they so desire, the right to hold property in the con-
cessions is usually denied to Chinese, and they are discriminated against
in other ways.

Previous to 1860 the management of foreign commerce had been
in the hands of Chinese officials, with the usually unsatisfactory result
attending any official department handled by native overseers. In that
year the business of the port of Shanghai was placed temporarily in
the hands of English, American and French Commissioners, who were
able to so improve the receipts by efficient and honest management that
the Chinese Government, recognizing the desirability of continuing for-
eign supervision, organized the Imperial Maritime Customs and placed

* This article will form part of a book entitled ' An American Engineer in China ' to be! pub-
lished shortly by Messrs. McClure, Phillips & Co.

vol. lviii.— 13

194 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the management of the whole foreign trade in the hands of a single
Commissioner, called an Inspector-General, and appointed to this posi-
tion Mr. Lay, succeeded in 1863 by Mr., afterward Sir, Robert Hart,
who has continued in the control since then, and to whom is due the
present very satisfactory condition of the management of this Bureau,
to which has since been attached, in order to secure efficiency, a Marine
Department, covering lighthouses and harbor regulations and the
Chinese Imperial Post-office.

The ports open in 1899 were: Niu-chwang, Tien-tsin, Che-foo,
Chung-king, I-chang, Sha-si, Yo-chow, Hankow, Kiu-kiang, Wu-hu,
Nan-king, Chin-kiang, Shanghai, Soo-chow, Ning-po, Hang-chow, Wen-
chow, San-tuao, Poo-chow, Amoy, Swa-tow, Wu-chow, Sam-shui, Can-
ton, Kiung-chow, Pak-hoi, Lung-chow, Meng-tsz and Szmao. Of these
Niu-chwang is located in the north, at the terminus of the Chinese
Imperial Railway, and is the gateway through which the trade passes
from China to Russian Manchuria. Two ports, Tien-tsin and Che-foo,
are situated on the Gulf of Pe-chi-li, while the next eleven on the list,
Chung-king to Soo-chow, are on the Yang-tze Kiang or its tributaries.
Seven ports, Ning-po to Swa-tow, are on the East Coast. Wu-chow and
Sam-Shui are on the West River. Canton is the great port of Southern
China and the oldest seat of foreign trade in the country. Kiung-chow
is on the Island of Hainan, and Pak-hoi, Lung-chow, Meng-tsz and
Sz-mao are on the Franco-China frontier of Tong-king. The last three
and Niu-chwang are the only places not situated on important water-
ways. Of the total foreign trade about three-quarters is transacted
through Canton, Shanghai, Tien-tsin and Hankow, which are the great
distributing points for the south, middle coast, north and interior.

The importance of Canton, Shanghai, Tien-tsin and Hankow is fixed
by geographical conditions. Canton is at the head of the Canton River,
which is really the estuary for the combined flow of the West, the North
and the East Rivers, the three principal streams and consequent trade
routes of Southern China. With its fine harbor and juxtaposition to
Hongkong, it is of necessity, and must always continue to be, the gate-
Avay to the southern part of the Empire. In like manner, Shanghai, at
the mouth of the Yang-tze, is the controlling point for the whole of
the central zone; while Tien-tsin, the port of Peking, is the entrance to
the north, the northwest and Mongolia. Hankow is at the head of
steamsli ip navigation on the Yang-tze, and at the junction of that
stream and its principal tributary, the Han, and if the extreme western
part of the country be omitted, which part is mountainous and very
thinly populated, Hankow is approximately the geographical center of
the Empire.

Native vessels trading between native ports report at custom-houses
administered by native officials, where the records are hopelessly con-

CHINESE COMMERCE. 195

fused, and which, as a source of income to the Chinese Government,
need not be considered in this place.

The foreign commerce of China, both import and export, is growing
steadily, having doubled since 1891, the figures for 1899 showing that
foreign goods to the value of 264,748,456 Haikwan taels ($185,324,000)
were imported, and native goods to the value of 195,784,332 Haikwan
taels ($137,049,000) were exported, or a total commerce of 460,533,288
Haikwan taels.

Owing to the lack of internal communication, the distribution of
Chinese commerce is singularly restricted. Of the imports more than
one-half is confined to two classes of articles alone; thus cotton and
cotton goods in 1899 accounted for 40.2 per cent., and opium, unfor-
tunately, for 13|- per cent. In like manner the exports, silk and tea,
stand out almost without competition with other articles; these two
together also aggregating more than 50 per cent, of the total. Silk
provided no less than 41.8 per cent, and tea 16.3 per cent. Kerosene oil,
metals, rice, sugar and coal are other articles largely imported, and
beans, hides and furs, mats and matting, and wool other exports.

Although the extent of the traffic entered at native custom-houses,
or, at least, not passing through the Maritime Customs, cannot be ascer-
tained, that it is considerable is well understood, as can be showm by the
single item of the export of rice. The exportation of this article was in
1898 prohibited in order to prevent a possible shortage at home. The
Maritime Customs, therefore, report no rice as having been shipped out-
ward during that year. The Japanese Customs, however, report having
received rice from China to the value of $2,000,000 United States gold.
It had been smuggled out in native vessels through the native customs
and the Government deprived of revenue. An amusing explanation of
this is given, which so thoroughly illustrates Chinese methods as to
be wTorth repeating. As rice forms the greatest single item in Chinese
food, any falling off in supply threatens a famine, the one thing the
Government most dreads. Such being the case in 1898, stringent orders
were sent to the Customs Tao-tai in Shanghai to prohibit any export of
the grain, the greatest source of supply for which being the Yang-tze
Valley, Shanghai is the natural point of shipment. On account of
the power attached to it, and the opportunities offered, the position
of Shanghai Tao-tai is one specially sought after, and it is generally
believed that the price paid for a three-year appointment, in the way
of 'presents' to the Palace officials, is about 200,000 taels. Since the
authorized emoluments are about 20,000 taels per annum, out of which
expenses exceeding that amount must be paid, it is evident that great
financial skill must be displayed by the official in order to make both
ends meet. On receipt of the restraining order the Tao-tai, under
the advice of the syndicate who were 'financ-in"-' him, held the order for

ig6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

some days, during which time the energetic syndicate members bought
all the rice in sight, put it in vessels and rushed it abroad to Japan,
a country which buys the inferior grade of Chinese rice for home con-
sumption and ships abroad its own superior article. As soon as the
embargo was published, the value of rice afloat at once rose and the
Tao-tai syndicate cleared a handsome profit. This illustrates Chinese
fiscal methods, and warrants the statement that the actual foreign com-
merce of the country is greater than the figures indicate.

China levies on its foreign commerce a tariff for revenue only. The
rate charged on nearly all articles is five per cent, on imports and ex-
ports alike, although there are some special rates and a number of
articles on the free list. The actual average rate on imports and exports
runs from three to four per cent. It is the general opinion of merchants
in China that, should it become necessary to add to the Government's
income, this rate could be increased without any serious detriment to
foreign commerce. In Japan the Government has found it necessary,
in order to derive more revenue, to seriously increase its customs tariff,
so that the present charges range from thirty to fifty per cent, ad
valorem.

Foreign articles destined for consumption at the treaty ports or
places of importation pay no further taxes. When, however, they are
sent into the interior they are obliged to pay internal transportation
taxes, called 'Likin,' collected at various stations along the trade routes.
These likin charges, although they form a perfectly legitimate method
of taxation, are objected to by the Chinese quite as much as by foreign
traders, on account of their uncertain amount, which, according to
Chinese custom, is left largely to the official in charge, who collects as
much as he can. The foreign nations, in order to obviate these difficul-
ties, have arranged with the Chinese Government to permit foreign
articles destined for the interior to pay a single tax of two and a half
per cent, to the Imperial Maritime Customs and then to receive what is
called a 'transit pass' entitling the goods to pass the interior likin sta-
tions without further charge. Unfortunately, these transit passes are
not always respected by officials in the interior, unless they think that
the shipper will appeal to a foreign government, and, therefore, the
officials are apt to levy likin in accordance with their own needs, and
of the total collected but a small part finds its way into the public
treasury.

The native merchant has no such advantage as the foreigner in
securing immunity from likin extortion, and has to resort to all sorts
of subterfuges to escape the impositions of his own countrymen, one
of the most frequent of such resorts being to keep his goods under the
name of a foreign merchant if possible. Another device was told to
me by a customs official on the West River, where the local farmers

CHINESE COMMERCE. 197

raise tobacco which is consumed mostly in Northern Kwang-tung. If
it were shipped direct it would be charged en route a large and uncer-
tain likin tax, the uncertainty of the amount being the worst feature,
as it may easily convert an apparently profitable transaction into a
serious loss. To avoid this the tobacco is loaded on a sea-going junk and
shipped to Hongkong. From there the junk brings it back and enters
it at the point of original shipment as a foreign importation. For this
the merchant secures a transit pass under which he ships it to its
destination. He has paid the freight and import taxes of five per cent,
each; the transit pass fee of two and a half per cent., and the
shipping charges both ways to Hongkong, and the expense of
rehandling. These items he can ascertain accurately beforehand, and,
therefore, prefers paying them rather than run the likin gauntlet, which
may be from ten per cent, to fifty per cent, or more.

The Chinaman is by very instinct a trader, is quick to see and seize
an opportunity to turn a profit, and has, what few other Eastern
Asiatics have, a high sense of commercial honor. Although the great
mass of them is poor, yet there is a wealthy class, and there exists, even
in the interior, a demand for much more than the mere necessaries of
life.

Now, what have the United States done in the past in this great
country, how do they stand there to-day, what can they do and what
should they do in the future? These are the considerations that most
concern us.

To answer the first two of these questions there are two sources of
statistics which we can examine — the returns of the United States, and
of the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs. Unfortunately, both of
these sources are rendered valueless for exact deductions because of
Hongkong. This, as is well known, is a British colony, and one of the
few places on the globe where actual free trade exists. Being a British
colony, enjoying free trade and possessing a magnificent harbor, it has
become a great depot, or warehouse, where goods, whose ultimate des-
tination, either in China or anywhere else in the Far East, is not defi-
nitely fixed, are shipped in the first instance, and thence rebilled to the
point of consumption.

In this act their nationality is lost, for the returns of the shipping
nation classes them as exports to Hongkong, while China, of course,
treats them as imports from that place. The import returns of the
Imperial Maritime Customs show that nearly one-half of the foreign
commerce entering China comes from Hongkong. Thence many writ-
ers fall into errors, either by taking the direct trade between China and
any other country as limited to the reported figures, or by classing
Hongkong under the head of Great Britain and Colonies. The con-
clusions reached in these ways are grievously wrong. Although foreign

198 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

goods are transshipped from Hongkong to Japan, the Philippine
Islands, Siam and other parts of the Orient, yet at least three-quarters
of all goods (of American probably a higher proportion) received there
find their final market in China; so to determine approximately the ex-
ports from the United States, or from any other country to China, the
only way is to add to the direct exports three-quarters of the shipments
to Hongkong. And to determine the relative standing of the trade of
several nations, we should deduct the Hongkong trade from China's
total as shown by the returns of the Imperial Maritime Customs, and
then compare the reported direct imports or exports. This last calcu-
lation will not yield the actual amount of trade by about one-half, but
it will show with fair closeness the percentage of trade secured and the
rate of increase. I have in this manner obtained the figures for the
year 1893, the period just previous to the Japanese War; those of 1883
and 1873, respectively the tenth and the twentieth year preceding 1893;
and those for 1898, the fifth year following, and also for 1899, the Last
complete year of normal trade conditions existing before the Boxer
revolution. This table shows the import trade of China exclusive of
Hongkong and the relative standing of the leading commercial powers,
the actual trade of which is not as stated, for the table does not include
shipments through Hongkong.

DIRECT EXPORTS TO CHINA.

1875. 1883. 1893. 189S. 1899.

Total, except Hong- Hk. Tis. Hk. Tls. Hk. Tls. Hk. Tls. Hk. Tls.

kong 44,202,000 45.863,000 72,435,922 116,737,079 146,652,248

Great Britain 20,991,000 16,930,000 28,156,077 34,962,474 40,161,115

India 16,709,000 17,154,000 16,739,588 19,135,546 31,911,214

Japan 3,207,000 3,738,000 7,852,068 22,581,812 31,414,362

Continent of Europe.. 662,000 2,385,000 5,920,363 10,852,073 13,405,637

United States 244,000 2,708,000 5,443,569 17,161,312 22,2h8,745

In the above table all the Continental powers of Europe are grouped
as one. From this it will be seen that the export trade of the United
States, an insignificant amount in 1873, has now outstripped the com-
bined exports from the whole Continent of Europe, and will be soon
contesting for second place with India and Japan. Had it not been for
sudden increased shipments in 1899 of certain special articles like coal
on the part of these countries, which articles China can and -should
produce, the United States would have passed the Indian trade and be
close on to that of Japan. In point of exports from China the United
States trade in 1899 had reached a point surpassing that of any other
country except Great Britain.

But along what lines have these increases been made? Do they rep-
resent only a greater outturning of raw material — the direct products
of the soil — or of manufactured articles, carrying with them the results
of American ingenuity and American labor, a form of export trade
always the most desirable?

CHINESE COMMERCE. 199

Taking the full list, there were, according to the United States
Government classification, exports in 1893 under fifty-seven heads, but
in 1898, according to the same classification, exports under seventy-six
heads. The greater part of the increase in the five years (amounting to
a total of $6,091,613) was due to manufactures of cotton, which in-
creased $3,558,791; to raw cotton, which increased from nothing to
$370,670; to manufactures of iron and steel, including machinery,
$116,018; and to oils, chiefly kerosene, $1,055,797. The manufactures
of cotton, which in 1898 amounted to $5,193,127, reached, during the
next United States fiscal year (1899), $9,811,565. That is to say, the
value of cotton cloths alone was, in the year 1899, almost as large as the
value of the total American imports into China during the preceding
year of all articles of whatsoever nature. This class of goods, the prod-
ucts of our New England and Southern mills, is the greatest single item
of American commerce, and has already reached a point where, in cer-
tain grades, it dominates absolutely the Chinese market.

Taking drills, jeans and sheetings, the three great items of cotton
goods consumed by the Chinese, and examining the trade of the three
northern ports of Niu-chwang, Tien-tsin and Chefoo, American goods
comprise of total receipts at the first: ninety-eight per cent., and at the
second and third ninety-five per cent., the small remaining balance be-
ing divided between the English, Indian, Dutch, Japanese and other
manufacturing nations. But quite as extraordinary as this there must
be kept in mind the fact that of the total exports to all countries of
American manufactures in cotton cloths, the Chinese market consumes
just one-half.

Another article of American commerce that figured very small in the
early returns, but now shows a great and increasing importance, is flour.
It is shipped almost wholly to Hongkong, and thence forwarded to
Canton, Amoy or other southern Chinese ports. In the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1898, no less than $3,835,727 worth was exported from
here, and during the corresponding period of 1900, a value of $1,502,-
081. Wheat is not grown in southern China, and American flour has
captured the demand, just as American cottons have done in the north.
Next to Great Britain and Germany our best customer for American
flour is China.

Such is the state of our Chinese trade to-day, and no one can find
fault with its present condition and its recent development. But what
of the future ?

The success of the American commercial invasion depends abso-
lutely on the maintenance of the existing status. China, in the liber-
ality of the regulations affecting foreign commerce, is second to no
other nation. In levying a tax, amounting to less than four per cent.,
she gives preferential duties to none, special privileges only as com-

200 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

pelled by the stress of force in Manchuria and Shan-tung, and extends
a freedom of welcome to all. It is true that nations occupying Chinese
territory make so far no invidious distinction between their own and
other people; but it must be remembered that their tenure is only
nominal, and while the title to these lands remains vested in China,
it would be difficult, in the face of existing treaties, to impose discrim-
inating rules. Let Eussia, however, become legally, as she is virtually,
possessed of Manchuria; let her Trans-Siberian railway be completed,
and let her claim openly as her own, not only Manchuria, but also the
metropolitan province of Chi-li, is it to be supposed for one moment
that the present freedom and equality of trade that China offers will
be maintained? If anyone believes this let him talk with those in
China who direct the course of Muscovite affairs. These officials, when
in a confidential mood, will explain that the Trans-Siberian railway
is a Government enterprise, and that it is much more important for
Russia to give low and special rates to Russian cotton and other manu-
factures which the Government is fostering at home than to look for
a direct profit from the operation of the railway. And yet Manchuria
and the northeastern part of China are to-day the best market for
American goods. During the year 1899 no less than $6,297,300 worth
of our cottons alone entered the port of Tien-tsin, and $4,216,700
worth entered the port of Mu-chwang in addition. The latter amount
was for consumption in Manchuria, Chinese and Russian. It is inter-
esting to note that the whole import trade (including exports through
Hongkong) from Russia, Siberia and Russian Manchuria to the whole
of the Chinese Empire amounted to less than the imports of two grades
of American cotton goods at ISTiu-chwang alone. When, therefore,
Russia seized Lower Manchuria, the country most interested next to'
China, whose territory was being despoiled, was not Japan, who was
being robbed of her fruits of victory; was not Russia, who was adding
another kingdom to her empire; was not Great Britain, the world's
great trader, but it was, little as it was appreciated, the United States.
The American interests in seeing commercial equality maintained, far
and away transcend those of any other nation.

Foreign trade in China to-day is confined exclusively to the treaty
ports located along the coast and up the Yang-tze River. "When goods
are shipped to China, they are resold by the foreign houses resident in
these treaty ports to Chinese merchants, and by them in turn are re-
tailed in the interior. So far, therefore, as the foreigner directly is
concerned, his trade is confined simply to the outer edge of the country;
to him the interior is a terra incognita. The success of a commercial
invasion depends, not on these treaty ports, not on the purchase of
goods along the outer edge of the country, but on the possibility of
reaching directly that great mass of population which lies far away

CHINESE COMMERCE. 201

from the sea, out of reach of existing means of transportation, and
practically buried in the interior. If they cannot be got at, or if, when
reached, they cannot and will not trade, then it is not worth while to
consider any general forward movement.

In the course of my journey in the interior of China, I went through
the province of Hu-peh, which the Yang-tze Kiang traverses; the
province of Kwang-tung, lying along the China Sea, and, between
these two, the province of Hu-nan, which practically had not been tra-
versed before by white men. Here evidently was virgin soil, and its
condition can, therefore, be taken as a criterion of what the Chinaman
is when unaffected by foreign influences. Even here I found that,
although the foreigner's foot might never before have trodden the
streets of the cities, his goods were already exposed for sale in the shop-
windows.

In thinking of the Chinese, especially those in the interior, we are
wont to consider them as uncivilized; and so they are, if measured
scrupulously by our peculiar standards. But, on the other hand, they
might say with some justice that we are not civilized according to the
standards that they have set for themselves, founded on an experience
of four thousand years. "With all its differences from ourselves, a nation
that has had an organization for five thousand years; that has used
printing for over eight centuries; that has produced the works of art
that China has produced; that possesses a literature antedating that of
Eome or Athens; whose people maintain shrines along the highways
in which, following the precepts of the classics to respect the written
page, they are wont to pick up and burn printed papers rather than
have them trampled under foot; and which, to indicate a modern in-
stance, was able to furnish me with a native letter of credit on local
banks in unexplored Hu-nan, can hardly be denied the right to call
itself civilized. In the interior — in those parts where no outside in-
fluence has ever reached — we found cities whose walls, by their size,
their crenelated parapets, and their keeps and watch-towers, suggested
mediaeval Germany rather than Cathay. Many of the houses are of
masonry, with decorated tile roofs, and elaborately carved details. The
streets are paved with stone. The shops display in their windows arti-
cles of every form, of every make. The streams are crossed by arched
bridges unsurpassed in their graceful outline and good proportions.
The farmer lives in a group of farm buildings enclosed by a compound
wall — the whole exceeding in picturesqueness any bit in Normandy or
Derbyshire. The rich mandarin dresses himself in summer in brocaded
silk, and in winter in sable furs. He is waited on by a retinue of well-
trained servants, and will invite the stranger to a dinner at night com-
posed of ten or fifteen courses, entertaining him with a courtesy and
intricacy of etiquette that Mayfair itself cannot excel. Such are actual

202 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

conditions in parts of China uninfluenced by foreign presence, and so
far the civilization of the interior is a real thing. That the Chinaman
allows his handsome buildings to fall into disrepair; that his narrow
city streets reek with foul odors; that the pig has equal rights with
the owner of the pretty farm-house; and that the epicure takes delight
at his dinner in sharks' fins instead of terrapin — these are merely differ-
ences in details; and if they are faults, as we consider them to be, they
will naturally be corrected as soon as the Chinaman, with his quick wit,
perceives his errors, when the opportunity to study Occidental standards
comes to him.

Chang-sha, the capital of Hu-nan, is one of the most interesting
cities in the whole Empire, as marking the very highest development of
Chinese exclusiveness and dividing with Lhassa in Tibet the boast of
shutting its gates tightly in the face of foreign contamination. In a
previous chapter an account was given of how the present conservative
governor had closed the schools organized by his more liberal prede-
cessor, and had tried to root up the budding movement toward reform
and progress. But he made one interesting and highly suggestive omis-
sion in allowing the electric-light plant to continue. When, at the end
of our first day at Chang-sha, as I stood on my boat watching the city
wall, the picturesque roofs, the junks on the shore and the surging
crowd slowly lose their distinctness in the twilight, and then saw them
suddenly brought into view again by the glare of the bright electric arcs
as the current was turned on to light the narrow streets, I smiled as I
realized the utter impossibility of stopping the onward march of nine-
teenth century progress, and that the Chinese themselves, even at the
very heart-center of anti-foreignism, are ready to turn from the old to
the new.

In the shop-windows at Chang-sha there are displayed for sale arti-
cles with American, English, French, German, Japanese and other
brands. One shop, I noticed, displayed a good assortment of American
canned fruits and vegetables. This is the condition of affairs, not in
Shanghai or Amoy, open ports, but in the most exclusively Chinese
section in the whole Empire. That the Chinaman will buy, that he
will adopt foreign ways, there is no question; and he is just as ready to
make the greater changes in his life that must result from the intro-
duction of railways as to buy a few more pieces of cotton or a few more
tons of steel.

But in order to buy more the Chinaman must be able to sell more;
for no matter what his inclination may be, unless he has something to
give in return, he cannot trade. The exports from China have been
expanding gradually, and in step with the imports. In 1888 they were
92,401,06? tails: had increased to 116,632,311 taels in 1893, and had
further advanced to 195,784,332 taels in 1899. The two great items

CHINESE COMMERCE. 203

of Chinese export, as was shown above, are silk and tea. The output
of silk is increasing steadily, especially in the manufactured form. The
amount of tea exported, however, is not on the increase, being about
the same that it was ten years ago, the tea trade having been adversely
affected by the competition of Japan, Ceylon and India, where more
favorable transportation facilities have given advantages. Both tea and
silk, however, are staple articles, with no chance of substitutes being
found, and the world's demand for both is steadily increasing. The
possibility of enlarging the output of silk is great, for there are in
Northern Kwang-tung alone large areas of land capable of producing
mulberry, that are lying idle at present because there are no transporta-
tion facilities.

The idea we have of the interior of China as overpeopled, and with
every square foot of land under cultivation, is entirely without founda-
tion, except possibly in certain portions of the great loess plain in the
north. There is a great amount of land, capable of producing crops of
various kinds and of supporting a population, that to-day lies fallow and
unfilled. Given the means of sending their produce to the sea and so
to the foreigner, the people of the interior will see to it that the produce
is ready.

Then there are vast mineral resources that are practically un-
touched. China, with coal-fields exceeding in quantity those of Europe,
imported last year no less than 859,370 tons of coal, valued at $4,477,-
670 gold, nearly the whole of which came from Japan. With railways
to bring the output of the mines to market, there will not only be no
importing, thus permitting at least that amount to be expended for
other foreign goods, but there should be a large export of coal to
Hongkong for foreign shipping, and to other Eastern countries for local
consumption. In addition to the coal, there are beds of copper, iron,
lead and silver that, to-day untouched, are only awaiting the screech of
the locomotive whistle.

In short, the resources, both agricultural and mineral, are at hand
to permit a foreign commerce to be carried on — to pay the cost of build-
ing of railways and to provide sustenance for a commercial invasion.

But as yet China has made no effort to develop her latent powers.
As was shown, the bulk of her exports are confined to two articles, due
to her people not utilizing their natural advantages in diversity of soil
and climate. Each locality produces that single article which gives the
best local result, without considering broad market conditions. Thus
in the south it is mostly silk and rice; in the central zone, rice and tea,
and in the north, millet and wheat. Every bit of valley land is culti-
vated, but the hills are let go waste. There are great areas of grazing
land where some day the Chinese will let herds roam, producing beef
and hides, which they will turn to commercial profit; while on other

204 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

hillsides, as I saw being done in places, they will set out forests, and
arbor culture will be well suited to their patient ways. As yet they
have worked their lands only with a view to home consumption; there
are many ways in which they can devote them and their energies to
furnish export articles for the imports they will buy.

The position of the United States in China is peculiarly advanta-
geous, because, in the first place, China regards our country as friendly
in the desire to protect rather than despoil her territory, and because,
in the second place, other nations have been willing to see ours come
forward when they would have objected most strenuously to the same
advancement on the part of one of their own number. The men who
guide our national affairs and foreign commerce should always see to it
that China's confidence is not abused. But as for the friendliness of
other nations toward us in relation to China, so soon as the pressure
of American trade begins to be felt by them, efforts will be made to
thwart it if possible; and it must be remembered that to-day all the
machinery of commerce, in the way of banks, transportation com-
panies, cable lines, and other forms, is in their hands. When the meet-
ing of the American and European invasions takes place, unless we
have an organization, a base and rallying point, a tangible something
besides mere labels on boxes or bales as representing American force,
the struggle will be a hard one, for the native is apt to judge his asso-
ciates by the outward visible signs, and with a natural tendency to
deal with the strongest. In this respect commerce in the Far East
stands, and will stand for a long time, on a different footing from that
of commerce in Europe.

In order to be thoroughly successful, to expand our trade far beyond
its present boundaries, we should make a careful and intelligent study
of the Chinaman in his tastes and habits. If we wish to sell him goods,
we must make them of a form and kind that will please him and not
necessarily ourselves. This is a fact too frequently overlooked by both
the English and ourselves, but one of which the Germans, who may be
our real competitors in the end, take advantage. For example, at the
present moment, if a careful study were made of Chinese designs, the
market for American printed goods could be largely broadened. It
is not for our people to say that our designs are prettier; the Chinaman
prefers his own, and he will not buy any other. The United States
Minister to China, talking upon this subject, gave me a striking in-
stance of foolish American obstinacy. The representative of a large
concern manufacturing a staple article in hardware, let us say screws,
had been working hard to secure an order for his screws, which he
knew were better than the German article then supplying the demand.
At last he obtained a trial order, amounting to $5,000, which he cabled
out; but it was given on the condition that the screws be wrapped in

CHINESE COMMERCE. 205

a peculiar manner, say in bine paper, according to the form in which
the native merchant had been accustomed to buy them. Was the
order filled? Not at all. The company cabled back that their goods
were always wrapped in brown paper and that no change could be made.
The order then went to Germany. To the American concern an order
for $5,000 was of small moment, perhaps; but they overlooked entirely
the fact that this was the thin edge of the wedge, opening a trade that
could be developed into tremendous proportions. This instance is not
isolated, for, unfortunately, the reports of all our consuls are filled with
parallel ones.

A study must also be made of the grade and quality of the article
shipped. It is no use to send to China, to be sold in the interior, tools,
for instance, of the same high finish and quality that our mechanics
exact in their own. A Chinaman's tools are hand-made, of rough
finish and low cost. In the interior cities one sees a tool-maker take a
piece of steel, draw all the temper, hammer it approximately to the
shape of the knife or axe, chisel or razor, or whatever other article he
may be about to make; then, with a sort of drawing-knife pare it down
to the exact shape required, retemper it, grind it to an edge and fix
it in a rough wooden handle. This work is done by a man at a wage
of about ten cents a day, and this is the competition that our manu-
facturer must meet. In spite of the difference in cost of labor he can
do so, because his tools are machine-made and are better; but he must
waste no money on unnecessary finish.

As an example, the case of lamps is directly to the point. The
Chinaman fairly revels in illumination; he hates the dark, and every-
where, even in the smallest country towns wholly removed from foreign
influence, it is possible to buy Standard oil or its competitors in the
Chinese market, the Russian and Sumatra brands. The importation of
illuminating oils is increasing tremendously. In 1892 it was 17,370,600
gallons, and in 1898 it was 44,324,344 gallons. But what of the lamps
in which this oil is burned? In 1892 the United States sent to China
lamps to the value of $10,813, and in 1898 to the value of $4,690. That
is to say, lamps are one of the few articles which show a decrease.
While the consumption of oil had increased more than two and one-half
times, the importation of American lamps had decreased in almost
the same ratio. This was not due to the manufacture of lamps in
China, but to the German and Japanese manufacturers making a study
of the trade and turning out a special article. These lamps — and I
saw them for sale everywhere, even in unexplored Hu-nan — have a
metal stand, generally of brass, stamped out from thin sheets, with
Chinese characters and decorations; and were it not for a small imprint
of the manufacturer's name on the base, they would be considered of
Chinese make. They are inexpensive, of the kind desired by the China-

206 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

man, although perhaps not for sale in Hamburg or Berlin. On the
other hand, the American article, much more handsome, from our point
of view, but also more expensive, is of the same style as is sold on Broad-
way, in Xew York.

There is no need to multiply examples. There awaits the American
manufacturer an outlet, especially for tools, machinery and other arti-
cles in iron and steel. He will find a demand for the smaller and lighter
machines, rather than for the larger ones. That is to say, he must
appeal first to the individual worker who exists now, rather than aim
at the needs of a conglomeration in a factory, which will come about
in the future. The tools should be simple in character, easily worked
and kept in order, and without the application of quick-return and
other mechanical devices so necessary for labor-saving with us. Light
wood-working machinery can be made to supplant the present manual-
labor methods; and a large field is open for all kinds of pumps, wind-
mills, piping and other articles of hydraulic machinery.

Cotton goods of the finer grades, as well as the coarser which are
supplied, household articles of all kinds, glassware, window-glass, wall-
paper, and plumbing fixtures will find a ready market, as will also farm
equipments, such as light-wheeled vehicles and small agricultural imple-
ments of all kinds. In these, as in many manufactured articles, Ameri-
can trade has as yet made little or no impression ; and yet the American
article has an acknowledged superiority over any other foreign make.

It is necessary for us also to study the Chinaman himself. The
English and American traders make but little attempt to learn the
language, and, therefore, frequently fail to come into personal contact
with the native merchant. They are inclined to leave such negotiations
to be conducted through a compradore, a native in the employ of the
firm, who makes all the contracts, and who guarantees to his firm all
native accounts, receiving a commission for his services. The German,
and especially the Japanese, merchants, on the other hand, make a great
effort to come into direct relations with those with whom they trade.
They are still making use of the compradore system, but within reason-
able limits. As to which course is preferable in the long run there
ran be no question. Our houses should adopt the suggestion made in
the report of the Blackburn (England) Chamber of Commerce, "to
train in the Chinese spoken language and mercantile customs youths
selected . . . for their business capacity. Such a system," the
report adds, "would give us a hold over foreign trade in China that
present methods can never do."

Finally to be considered, there is the official representative of the
United States, the consul. It is bad enough, as our practice is, to send
consuls to France, or Germany, or Italy, who are unacquainted with the
language of the country. But how much worse to send as our Govern-

CHINESE COMMERCE. 207

ment agents to China, the nation most difficult of all to come into rela-
tions with, men without any idea, not only of the language, but of the
customs and the idiosyncrasies of the people.

This is not a reflection upon our present staff, many of whom are
excellent and worthy men and who are now acquainted with the char-
acteristics of those to whom they are accredited. But under our system,
by the time a man understands his duties, he is removed. Nowhere else
in the world is there so great a need for a permanent consular service as
in China.

The British Government long ago established a separate consular
service for the East, entirely distinct from that elsewhere, so that a man
once in the Chinese service stays there, and is not likely to be trans-
ferred to a European or American post. Secretary Hay has lately made
a beginning toward this end by proposing to establish a school at
Peking. If the idea is not carried out now, circumstances will compel
its adoption later. We should awake to the realization of our oppor-
tunities, and unite for the invasion, not only of China, but of other Ori-
ental lands as well.

208

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

ENERGY AND WORK OF THE
HUMAN BODY.
In discussing 'The Human Body as
an Engine,'* I referred to some experi-
ments made at Middletown with the
Atwater-Rosa Respiration Calorimeter,
in which a man lived several days in
each of the experiments in a sealed
chamber of about 180 cubic feet capa-
city, eating, sleeping and working,
while under minute observation. The
potential energy supplied to the sub-
ject of the experiment through the food
which he ate was determined by serving
him with accurately weighed portions
of the various articles of the prescribed
diet, and analyzing and burning in a
small calorimeter carefully selected sam-
ples of the same. The energy yielded
by the subject consisted of three por-
tions, all of which were carefully deter-
mined. These were: (1) the heat of
radiation and respiration which was
measured by the calorimeter, (2) me-
chanical work done within the calori-
meter and (3) potential energy carried
off in the refuse products of the body.
The immediate purpose of the work was
to verify experimentally the law of the
conservation of energy for the living
body; to show that the total energy
taken into the body is equal to the sum
of all the energy given out by the body
during the same period (provided there
is no net gain or loss of energy by the
body) ; to show, indeed, that the funda-
mental law of physics applies to the
animal body, as it does to an engine or
a dynamo or any other machine or me-
chanical system. The law has been
amply verified for inanimate systems;
it seemed desirable to test it for an
organic system. The statement was

* Popular Science Monthly for September,

1900.

made in the article referred to that "In
some cases the man under investigation
worked regularly eight hours a day,
the work done being measured by ap-
paratus designed for the purpose." Some
inquiry having been made as to how
this work was measured, and whether
it is possible, after all, to do this, the
editor has asked me to answer the in-
quiry through the columns of the
Monthly.

Confusion often arises in considering
questions like the present one through
inexact ideas concerning force and work.
When force is exerted through a finite
distance, work is done and energy is
transferred from one body to another;
and the work done is equal to the en-
ergy so transferred. It is also equal to
the force exerted in the direction of the
motion multiplied by the distance
through which the force acts. For ex-
ample, when a man lifts a stone he ex-
erts a force equal to that of gravity
upon the stone through a certain verti-
cal distance; and the work done is
equal to the force exerted (that is, to
the weight of the stone) multiplied by
the height it is lifted. The energy ex-
pended by the body is here transferred
to the stone in its elevated position.
This energy stored up in the stone is
called potential energy, and it remains
constant in amount so long as the stone
remains at the same level. If the stone
falls to a lower level its potential energy
is reduced, but kinetic energy equal to
the decrease of potential energy appears
as heat.

If the man lifts the stone one inch
the work is only one thirty-sixth part
as much as if he lifts it three feet. If
he pull on the stone but does not move
it, no work is done, in the mechanical
sense. Muscle has contracted and work
is doubtless done within the body, but

DISCUSSION AND COBBESBONDENCE.

209

so far as the stone is concerned no work
is done. So a man may hold a heavy
weight in his hand or on his shoulder,
sustaining it with considerable effort
against the force of gravity, and yet no
work is done on the stone so long as it
is not raised to a higher level. If the
stone is carried in a horizontal plane,
no work is done on the stone; while if
it is carried down hill or lowered verti-
cally, negative work is done on the
stone. That is, since the stone possesses
less potential energy at the foot of the
hill than at the top (the difference being
equal to the weight of the stone multi-
plied by the difference of altitude), the
stone has lost energy, and this energy
lost by the stone has been communi-
cated to the man, who has had work
done upon him by the stone, albeit he
may have lugged it down the hill or
lowered it from an elevated position
with considerable effort.

When a car is propelled by an elec-
tric motor deriving its current from a
storage battery carried on board the car,
the energy of the car consists of three
parts: (A) Mechanical potential energy
due to the mass of the car being at
some elevation above the surface of the
earth. (B) Kinetic energy, due to the
motion of the car as a whole and of its
parts with respect to one another and
the heat of the car. (C) Chemical po-
tential energy stored up in the battery.
When the car is running up grade, en-
ergy is being expended not only in over-
coming friction, but also in lifting the
car against the force of gravity. In
doing this, energy is transferred from C
to A. When the car descends again to
its former level the energy stored up in
A is given up, less energy is therefore
required from the battery to propel the
car, and the battery is accordingly in
so much spared. If the grade be steep,
the motor may actually be driven as a
dynamo, and the current which is there-
by generated may be stored up in the
battery. In this case energy is trans-
ferred from A to C, and at the bottom
of the hill the energy C may be greater
than that at the top. The battery has

VOL. LVIII.— 14

done negative work on the car coming
down the hill: that is, the car has done
work on the battery and stored up en-
ergy.

The same considerations apply to the
animal body. If a man carries himself
up a hill, he is doing work upon his
body in so elevating it against the force
of gravity, and if he weighs 150 pounds
and ascends an altitude of 10,000 feet,
he has done 1,500,000 foot-pounds of
work upon his body. This represents
the quantity of energy which has been
transferred from his tissues to his body
as a mass; from chemical potential en-
ergy to mechanical potential energy.
The tissues correspond to the storage
battery, the muscles to the motor and
the man's weight to that of the car. So
when the man walks down the moun-
tain again he does negative work, low-
ering his body (like lowering the car),
involving the transfer of potential en-
ergy from his body as a mass to his
tissues. Just what form the energy
takes as it is so transferred is not alto-
gether clear, but the distinction between
the potential energy of the body as a
mass, due to its elevation above the sur-
face of the earth, and the potential and
kinetic energy resident in the tissues of
the body, is one of fundamental impor-
tance and should be kept clearly in view.

We may consider the man to be a
complex machine, weighing, say, 150
pounds and having a quantity of poten-
tial and kinetic energy stored up within
his body, which store of energy is
drawn upon whenever external work is
to be done, and which, besides, is being
constantly expended in keeping the body
warm and performing the internal work
of the body. The energy of the body,
like that of the electric car, then, con-
sists of three portions, viz.: (A) Me-
chanical potential energy of the body
as a whole, due to its position with re-
spect to the earth. This is zero when it
is at the earth's surface, or say the sea
level, and increases as it rises above the
sea level. (B) Kinetic energy, due to
the heat of the body and to the motion
of the body as a whole and of its several

210

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

parts with respect to each other. (C) A
store of chemical potential energy in
its tissues and in food undergoing as-
similation. Now when a man walks up
hill, A increases, B remains nearly con-
stant (increasing slightly), while O de-
creases rapidly, due partly to the in-
crease of A and partly to the loss of heat
by radiation and respiration. When
he walks down hill, A is transferred to
C or B, or both, and because of this ac-
quisition C decreases more slowly than
it would do if it received nothing from
A, while yet giving off energy at the
same rate. The man does positive work
upon his body when he lifts it against
the force of gravity, storing up poten-
tial energy A; he does negative work
when he goes down hill, and the energy
A passes to the interior of the body.

Suppose a laborer lifts 20,000 pounds
of brick 5 feet; he does 100,000 foot-
pounds of work, this energy being trans-
ferred from A to the bricks, and it will
remain in the bricks as long as they re-
main at their elevated position. Next,
suppose he lowers the same bricks to
their former position. This 100,000 foot-
pounds of energy is now transferred
back from the bricks to the laborer's
body. Because he is expending energy
all the time he will possess less energy
at the end of the task than at the be-
ginning. Nevertheless, he does not lose
as much as though he had not received
the 100,000 foot-pounds of energy from
the bricks, and had given off the same
amount of energy in other ways.

We do not understand the process
whereby the body converts chemical po-
tential energy of tissue into mechanical
energy; that is, we do not understand
how the body does work. Still less do
we understand how negative work is
done; that is, how the body receives
energy from without when it lowers a
weight or walks down hill. That it
does so acquire energy we cannot doubt.
But whether it appears at once as heat,
or as some other form of energy, and
where the energy so received first ap-
pears, has not been proved. Neither
have experiments been carried out to

determine the relation between (1) the
quantity of negative work done in a
given period, (2) the total heat radiated
from the body in the same period, (3)
the amounts of oxygen absorbed and
carbon dioxid respired, and (4) the ex-
cess of energy expended over that ex-
pended in the same length of time dur-
ing rest. Indeed, to repeat the experi-
ments already done with the respiration
calorimeter balancing the total income
and outgo of energy for a given period,
with this important difference, that the
subject of the experiment was doing
negative work (that is, having work
done on him by an external agent)
would be an extremely interesting and
valuable piece of work.

Consider now what occurs in walking
on a level. The foot and leg are lifted,
work is done in lifting them, and energy
is stored up in them; they are advanced
and lowered to the ground, and this
stored up mechanical potential energy
is then recovered by the system. The
center of gravity of the body as a whole
is also raised slightly at each step, but
the work done in raising it is only
equal to the energy yielded by the body
when it descends again to the former
level. Assuming an absence of friction
against the ground and the atmosphere,
the total external work done in walking
on a level is zero. Force is exerted in
holding the body erect or in holding the
arm in an extended position. But no
work is done in either case, for the force
is not exerted through any distance.
So also force is exerted by the huge
cables which sustain the Brooklyn
Bridge against gravity, but no work is
done by these cables so long as the
bridge is not lifted. Force is exerted by
the foundations of a building in resist-
ing the attraction of gravitation upon
the mass of the superstructure, but no
work is done by the foundation in so
sustaining the weight. What the inter-
nal work of the body may be when
muscle is contracted and force exerted
without doing external work is another
matter. That question is deserving of
careful study, and the respiration calori-

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

211

meter might perhaps lend itself to such
an inquiry.

In the experiments referred to, the
man under investigation received daily
a known quantity of potential energy
in the form of food. Part of this was
converted into external mechanical en-
ergy and was measured; of the remain-
der, part appeared as heat and part was
carried away in the refuse products of
the body. The internal work of the
body is ultimately converted into heat,
and appears in the total heat of radia-
tion and respiration. Thus energy is
expended in causing the heart to beat
and the blood to circulate and the lungs
to expand. This internal work is not
stored up, but is transformed into heat
and radiated away with that which re-
sults directly from combustion. But
external work done, like turning a
grindstone or sawing wood, is not repre-
sented in the heat radiations of the
body.

In order to do the desired amount of
work within the calorimeter, the man
operated a stationary bicycle, which was
geared to a small dynamo. The front
wheel of the bicycle was removed, and
the rear wheel served as a driving pul-
ley for the dynamo. The latter gener-
ated a current, the energy of which was
measured by an ammeter and a volt-
meter. When this current passed out
of the calorimeter, its energy was not
included in the heat measured by the
calorimeter. But in some cases the cur-
rent flowed through an incandescent
lamp inside the calorimeter. Then the
mechanical energy done by the man
was all turned to heat within the calori-
meter; part of it through friction in
the bicycle and dynamo, part through
the electric current which flowed
through the lamp. The former was
measured as accurately as possible by
seeing how much energy was required
to drive the bicycle when using the
dynamo as a motor, supplying current
to the latter from a battery and meas-
uring the energy so supplied by an
ammeter and volt-meter. The quantity
of heat resulting from this friction must

be subtracted from the total heat meas-
ured, in order to ascertain the quantity
which was given off from the man's
body directly as heat. And in those
cases where the electric lamp was inside
the chamber (and hence the work done
by the subject was converted into heat
within the chamber) this total amount
must be subtracted from the heat meas-
ured to give the amount of heat given
off as such by the subject of the experi-
ment.

Thus we measure the quantity of ex-
ternal work done; but nothing is here
learned about the internal work. The
latter is converted into heat within the
body and, when radiated away, is meas-
ured with the rest by the calorimeter.
The amount of external work done in
driving this bicycle-dynamo combina-
tion in one of the experiments (which
continued for 96 hours) was equivalent
to 256 large calories per day. This was
about 40 watts for eight hours, or
788,000 foot-pounds, or 394 foot-tons.
The total quantity of energy yielded
was 3,726 large calories on the average
for each of the four days. Since 256 is
about 7 per cent, of 3,726, we see that
the man converted 7 per cent, of the
energy contained in his food into me-
chanical energy, 93 per cent, appearing
in the heat of radiation and respiration.
This gives the man, regarded as a ma-
chine for doing mechanical work, a 24-
hour efficiency of 7 per cent. During the
eight hours in which work was done
the total consumption of energy was
about 1,850 calories. Dividing the work
done by this figure, we have for the me-
chanical efficiency during working time,
14 per cent. But there is still another
way of reckoning this efficiency. Inas-
much as a large part of the energy sup-
plied to the body would have been re-
quired to do internal work and keep the
body warm, if no work had been done,
we can fairly charge against the work
done only the excess of energy supplied
during the days when work was done
over that required by the same man
when no appreciable external work was
done. The average quantity of energy

212

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

supplied in several experiments in which
the man did no considerable external
work was 2,500 large calories. The ex-
cess in the work experiment was there-
fore 1,226 calories. Dividing the work
done, 25G calories, by the excess of en-
ergy absorbed, 1,226, and the quotient
is .21. Thus 21 per cent, of this excess
of energy absorbed was converted into
work, or the efficiency of the man as a
machine for doing work is 21 per cent.
This is far greater than the efficiency of
small portable steam engines, such as
could be compared with respect to size
or power with a human machine, and
equals or surpasses that of the largest

It may be of interest to show how a
man's weight varies during twenty-four
hours. The accompanying diagrams*
give the variation in the weight of the
man under investigation in one of the
rest experiments; that is, in a four-days'
experiment, where no mechanical work
was done, except that involved in eating,
dressing and making some records and
observations within the calorimeter.
The routine followed each day was near-
ly but not exactly the same, and the
fluctuations of weight are accordingly
similar but not identical each day.

Increase of weight is due to food and
drink taken into the body and oxygen

compound condensing engines taken in
connection with the most perfect water-
tube boilers.

The bicycle-dynamo combination is
not the most effective device upon which
to develop mechanical power; and in
the experiments quoted no attempt was
made to secure the maximum efficiency
of conversion of the potential energy of
foodstuffs into mechanical energy. Al-
though many experiments have already
been carried out, further experiments
are needed to show more fully what the
human machine is capable of doing, and
what circumstances are favorable to a
high efficiency of conversion.

respired from the atmosphere. Decrease
of weight is due to feces and urine leav-
ing the body, and carbon dioxid and
water vapor carried away from the lungs
and skin. Part of these changes in
weight occur more or less suddenly,
while the change due to respiration, in
which oxygen is absorbed and carbon
dioxid and water vapor are evolved, is
gradual. In the diagrams the sudden
changes are indicated by vertical lines,
the numbers indicating the quantity of
the change in grams. The gradual

♦Copied from an article by the writer in the
'Physical Review' for March, 1900, 'On the
Metabolism of Matter in the Living Body.'

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

213

changes due to respirations are indi-
cated by sloping lines, the number in
each case indicating the net loss in
grams; that is, the difference between
the quantity of carbon dioxid and water
vapor exhaled and the oxygen absorbed.
All the vertical lines indicating sudden
decrease in weight are due to urine ex-
cept the two (on the second and fourth
days) which are marked 'feces.'

Starting at 7 o'clock on the morning
of the first day with a weight of 68,420
grams, the subject loses 45 grams in one
hour by respiration. This loss by respi-
ration was determined to be 270 grams
in six hours, and in making up this dia-

weight drops during the afternoon and
then supper brings it up to the maxi-
mum of the day. During the night the
weight falls again, so that at 7 o'clock
on the second morning it is almost ex-
actly the same as at the start. It is
noteworthy that the loss by respiration
is nearly as great during sleep as during
the morning and afternoon hours, there
being a loss of 254 grams in six hours
during sleep as compared with 270 in
six hours during the day.

The variations in weight in the three
succeeding days can be followed from
the diagram. These diagrams were made
from the records of the experiment, and

A.M.

gram it was assumed to be uniform dur-
ing the six hours. The loss by carbon
dioxid is almost exactly 25 per cent,
greater than the gain by oxygen ab-
sorbed. Sitting on a good balance, one
can literally see one's self grow lighter
as one quietly breathes one's self away.
Breakfast adds 675 grams, respiration
reduces his weight by 110 grams up to
10.30, when a drink of water adds 200
grams; a further loss of 110.3 grams by
respiration is followed by a loss of 341
grams of urine, then 28 by respiration,
and at 1.30 dinner adds 804 grams. The

the computed weights agreed quite well
with actual weighings made at several
different times during the experiment.

Such diagrams have not as yet been
prepared for work experiments, but they
could not fail to be of great interest in
the cases we have been considering;
namely, where the subject of the ex-
periment does first positive work, then
negative work, and, finally, positive and
negative work together.

Edward B. Rosa.
Wesley an University.

214

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

SCIENTIFIC LITEKATUKE.

PHOTOGRAPHY OF SOLAR

ECLIPSES.
It is often supposed by readers of
popular articles on astronomical pho-
tography that the introduction of the
methods of 'the new astronomy' has
done away, once for all, with the diffi-
culties of the old. The photographic
plate has taken the place of the observ-
er's eye and the personal equation is
supposed to have been abolished. Those
who work in astronomical photography
are the first to extol the merits of the
new methods. But they are fully aware
of difficulties peculiar to them which
must be treated very much as if they
were errors peculiar to an observer. The
plate has its own personal equation. It
is impossible to overestimate the bene-
fit to eclipse observations, for example,
that has resulted from the introduction
of photography as a means of register-
ing the forms and details of the solar
corona. Yet the photographic plate has
serious failings of its own. Some of them
have lately been done away with by a
device invented by Mr. Charles Burck-
halter, Director of the Chabot Observa-
tory, in Oakland, California; and it is
the purpose of this paragraph to exhibit
the advance made by Mr. Burckhalter's
methods.

The solar corona is very bright near
the edge of the sun's disc and fades
away gradually till at a distance of
some 80 to 100 minutes its brilliancy
is about the same as that of the sky-
background. If a photograph is taken
with a very short exposure, only the
brighter parts of the corona are regis-
tered on the plate. The fainter por-
tions do not appear at all. If a pho-
tograph is taken with an exposure suffi-
ciently long to record the fainter por-
tions, all the inner regions of the co-
rona are much overexposed, and all de-
tail is lost near the sun*s edge. By the

ordinary methods, then, the corona, as
a whole, cannot be exhibited on any
single plate. Each exposure is suitable
for registering one region, and only one.
The corona must be studied on a series
of negatives of varying exposures.

Mr. Burckhalter has devised and tried
at two eclipses (the India eclipse of 1898
and the Georgia eclipse of 1900) a simple
plan which has worked very well. He
uses an ordinary photographic telescope
and plate, but in front of the plate he
places a rapidly revolving shield or dia-
phragm, cut to such a shape that dif-
ferent portions of the corona have dif-
ferent exposures. At the Georgia
eclipse, for example, one of his negatives
was exposed for eight seconds, but it
was, at the same time, screened from the
light so that the equivalent exposure
at the sun's edge was only 4-100 of a
second; at 4' from the sun's edge, Os.32;
at 8', 0s.80; at 12', ls.38; at 16', ls.76;
at 24', 2s.40; at 34', 3s.20; at 44', 4s.00;
at 64',5s.60; at 94' and at all greater dis-
tances, 8s.00. The resulting negative is ex-
tremely fine, and it exhibits the corona
as it has never before been seen on a
single plate. The bright inner corona
and prominences are shown in their true
form and brilliancy alongside of the faint
polar rays and the delicate masses of
the outer coronal extensions. Those
who are especially interested should
consult Mr. Burckhalter's report (illus-
trated) in the Publications of. the As-
tronomical Society of the Pacific, No.
75, for October, 1900. The advance
over previous work of the same kind
is so marked that it is to be hoped that
this method will be adopted at the
Sumatra eclipse of May, 1901.

PSYCHOLOGY AS LITERATURE
AND FICTION.

Messrs. Harper & Bros, are re-
sponsible for the publication of 'Hyp-

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

215

notism in Mental and Moral Culture,'
by John Duncan Quackenbos, an un-
fortunate volume which may be per-
mitted to speak for and condemn itself.
To begin with, the work was written
'in premeditated ignorance of recent
works on hypnotism.' Hypnotism is
presented as a miraculous panacea. "A
recent experiment of the writer's estab-
lishes the fact that disequilibration may
be adjusted; a congenital cerebral defi-
ciency overcome; a personality crippled
by thought inhibition, mental apathy
and defective attention transformed
into a personality without a blot upon
the brain, and so impending insanity
shunted — by the use of hypnotic sug-
gestion as an educational agency." "Dif-
ferences induced by objective education
are obliterated; and the fundamental
endowments of that finer spiritual organ
in which under God we have our highest
being — endowments conferred by Deity
on all human souls without favor and
without stint— dominate the intellec-
tual life. The divine image is supreme
in the man, and creative communication
on the broadest lines and on the most
exalted planes becomes possible. Hyp-
notic suggestion is but inspiration. Not
only does the subject share the latent
knowledge, but he borrows as well the
mental tone of the operator. His mem-
ory becomes preternaturally impressi-
ble. The principles of science, of lan-
guage, of music, of art, are quickly ap-
propriated and permanently retained
for post-hypnotic expression through ap-
propriate channels. Confidence in talent
is acquired; and embarrassment, confu-
sion, all admission of inferiority, are
banished from the objective life — by
placing the superior self in control."
Among the patients are "several ladies
who are making a profession of fiction
writing. To these latter were imparted
in hypnosis, first, a knowledge of the
canons of narration, viz., the law of
selection, which limits the story-teller
to appropriate characteristic or indi-
vidual circumstances; the law of succes-
sion," and other laws of like flavor.
The result: "In the light of instantane-

ous apprehension, barrenness gives place
to richness of association, the earnest
thought and honest toil of the old
method to a surprising facility, disin-
clination to select details to zest in ap-
propriating whatever is available. Op-
portunity and mood are thus made to
coincide, and the subject spontaneously
conforms to the eternal principles of
style. Under the influence of such in-
spiration, rapid progress has been made
in the chosen field of authorship." The
art of acting is equally easily accom-
plished. "The response of the woman's
soul to such suggestions with post-
hypnotic import is followed by her
speedy ascent to the heights of his-
trionic art, and by subsequent triumphs
on the stage through an apprehension
of her own deathless power as revealed
by the creative communication of her
hypnotist. An actress once so inspired
is inspired forever." For music the same
formula holds. "The automatic mind is
gently wooed to the summits of soul life,
where it becomes susceptible to inspira-
tion and burns to launch itself, through
music as a medium of artistic expres-
sion, into the objective world." Moral
perfection is likewise achieved. Here
is a typical case before treatment:
"Philetas M., aged twenty-one, an adept
in all kinds of deviltry; a cigarette
fiend; an incorrigible liar, unblushingly
denying scarce-cold crimes with the
proofs of their commission in our very
hands, and constantly deceiving his
parents with rotten-hearted promises; a
borrower of money under false pre-
tences, and an out-and-out thief for
whom jail had no terrors; a gambler: a
profligate ready to pawn the clothes on
his back at the bidding of town-dow-
dies: a trencher-knight of the subloins
of the Tenderloin," etc.; and this is the
appearance after taking: "The weak-
nesses of the past are forgotten, vice
loses its attractions, and the inspired
soul seeks to make reparation for its
shortcomings by an exaggerated loy-
alty to the spirit of the moral law.
The young man who has regarded
with contempt a father's advice and a

2l6

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

mother's love becomes, after treatment,
the incarnation of filial reverence and
affection. The liar looks his interlocu-
tor in the face and speaks the truth
without regard to consequences. The
thief parts with all inclination to appro-
priate what is not his. The libertine ac-
cepts the white life. Human sapro-
phytes that thrive on social rottenness
are not wholly destitute of moral chloro-
phyl." Nor is this all. By the same
means, "Habits of thought concentra-
tion may be made to take the place of
habits of rambling, ability to use gram-
matical English for uncertainty in syn-
tax, a taste that approves elegance for
an inclination to slang." Though potent
for good, this panacea refuses to work
ill. "Fortunately for the protection of
society, the power of suggestion to de-
prave is providentially limited, while its
influence for good is without horizon. A
mesmerizee quickly discovers the hypo-
crite in a suggestionist, and a pure soul
will always revolt at the intrusion of a
sordid or sensual self and spontaneously
repel its advances." That the sugges-
tionist must have unusual gifts to ac-
complish such vast results seems natural
enough. "A practitioner of hypnotism
should be a proficient in the physical
sciences, in literature, language, belles-
lettres, art, sociology and theology."
"Ignorance in an operator is a disquali-
fying defect; soul-exalting suggestions
are full of atmosphere." Nor is it sur-
prising to learn that the mesmerizee evi-
dences "supranormal perceptive powers,
possessed by subliminal selfs, acting at
a distance from their physical bodies (a
rational explanation of clairvoyance
and clairaudience), or of automatic com-
munications between the subliminal
selfs of such unconscious mediums and
outside personalities not human, who
are cognizant of the events described,
and are independent of time and space
limitations;" and that "human beings
are hypnotizable by other human be-
ings, between whom and themselves ex-
ists a peculiar sympathy or harmonious
relationship known as rapport."

There is no need to continue. If the

above citations prevent the spread of
false notions regarding the contents and
character of the work they will in part
have fulfilled their purpose. That the
volume contains interesting, possibly
valuable observations, may be true; but
the general distrust of any results so
sensationally presented will deservedly
prevent recognition of any sound con-
tribution of fact that may happen to
be buried beneath this tinsel and paste.
Were it not for the 'premeditated ig-
norance,' the author might have known
of similar observations more soberly
presented by other writers; and he
might have been induced by a knowl-
edge of the present status of hypnotism
to present his own results with more re-
serve, proportion and scientific accepta-
bility. It is difficult to say whether the
author offends most deeply our scientific
sensibilities by his extravagant, false
and misleading representations, or our
aesthetic sense by his grotesque and
tactless manner of presentation, or our
moral judgment by his disregard of ob-
vious relations and his irrelevant and
officious appeal to religious beliefs. On
account of its popular tone, such a vol-
ume has great power for evil, and the
condemnation of author and publisher for
such abuse of a popular interest should
be expressed in no uncertain terms.

'Medicine and the Mind,' trans-
lated from the French of Dr. Mau-
rice de Fleury by Stacy B. Collins,
M. D., and published by Downey & Co.,
is the type of work which the scien-
tifically-minded are likely to dismiss as
too 'literary,' and the litterateur to dis-
regard as too scientific. Neither dis-
paragement is quite warranted, how-
ever natural. If one assumes a proper
attitude towards the volume — or per-
haps one should say, finds himself in a
sympathetic mood for this kind of read-
ing— he may find attraction, suggestive-
ness and profit in its perusal. But it is
distinctly a kind of writing to which the
Anglo-Saxon mind is unresponsive; our
standards of popular science are totally
different in ideal and execution from

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

217

those of our Gaelic colleagues; and, ac-
cordingly, when a book such as Dr.
Fleury's leaves its native soil, it comes in
contact with forms of critical judgment
which it cannot successfully meet. As
the author himself almost naively notes,
in contrasting French works with those
of an English writer, Sir John Lubbock,
"With us a philosopher writes books for
his own renown. Sir John Lubbock
thinks of himself not at all." Dr. Fleury
follows the French ideal and produces
a chatty volume thoroughly infused
with his personal opinions and interests,
kaleidoscopic in scope, rather aimless in
design, literary in form, and, judged by
our own ideals, a very bad exemplar for
popular science.

The general point of view is that of a
physician who wishes to record for the
benefit of other types of professional
men, the medical aspect of the large
and ever-present problems of civiliza-
tion. From responsibility in cases of
crime, and the methods in use at the
Salpetriere, to an essay on the bad ef-
fects of tobacco, and the proper regimen
for literary men (illustrated by copious
testimonials from men of literary note) ;
and again from disquisitions on the ef-
fects of serum and other liquids hypo-
dermically applied and an account of
the nervous system, through discussions
of mental and physical fatigue and the
treatment of indolence and melancholy,
to the psychology of love and anger as
morbid passions, and the 'physiological
analysis of flirtation,' — the volume pro-
ceeds at times interestingly, often
touching upon new and significant ob-
servation, but always aimlessly, self-
consciously and with a strained attempt
to introduce novelty and paradox. When
the author remarks "who knows but
the twentieth century may rewrite
Werther in its own way, with figures
in the text, as a medical publication,"
he suggests only a moderate exaggera-
tion of some of his own pages. The
scientific point of view and useful scien-
tific writing are not dependent upon
diagrams and phrases, but on the natu-
ral outcome of fullness of learning, of a

fundamental training and a combination
of enthusiasm and skill. Dr. Fleury's
book affords glimpses of an attractive
personality endowed with some of these
requisites; but his volume can have lit-
tle influence upon the English reading
public.

Of translations, as of the dead, it is
generally best to say nihil nisi bonum.
But the imperfections of the present
task are all of that totally unnecessary
type which makes them particularly ag-
gravating. The foreignness of the pres-
entation is left unmitigated by skillful
phrasing; the existence of appropriate
technical terms in English is ignored,
and minor errors (such as the wrong re-
translation of an English work cited by
the French author) are numerous.

Prof. Flotjrnoy's skillful descrip-
tion of a remarkable case of sub-con-
scious automatism was noticed in a re-
cent issue of this Monthly. It is in
every way worthy of presentation to
English readers; and such readers are
under obligations to Messrs. Harper &
Bros, and the translator for the credit-
able appearance of the English volume.
The translation is fluent and ac-
ceptable, and the composition of the
book eminently satisfactory. Apart
from the general query as to the de-
sirability of placing a volume of this
type before the public at large in a
form intended to suggest its popular
assimilability, the temper of the trans-
lator's preface demands a word of com-
ment and of protest. To present this
volume as a contribution to the mysti-
cal aspect of that composite activity,
the results of which are denominated
'Psychical Research,' is a wrong to the
author's purposes and (with few excep-
tions) is antagonistic to his own point
of view. To put forward the volume as
a contribution to a line of investigation
that shall scientifically prove to be 'the
preamble of all religions,' that shall
demonstrate unsuspected and anoma-
lous mental powers, and all but demon-
strate immortality, to claim that for
any one skeptically inclined and out

218

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of harmony with this point of view 'the
book will have no interest' — all this
serves to place the entire volume in so
misleading and unfortunate a position
that it would have been far better,
rather than have it thus introduced, to
have left the work untranslated. Under
its present auspices it will prove to be
a useful convenience to many, but a
source of misconception and a stumbling-
block to many more.

EDUCATION.

Dtjbtng the later part of the eight-
eenth century the conception of educa-
tion as one phase of the development of
the individual was established. There
followed attention to the methodologic-
al aspect of the subject which resulted
in the basing of the method of educa-
tion upon psychology, instead of upon
more or less fantastic analogies with na-
ture. During the latter half of the pres-
ent century has been established the
conception of education as a social proc-
ess, as one phase of human develop-
ment. As a result, the historical and
social aspects of education are becoming
more scientific. There has been no his-
tory or historical sketch of education
for the English reading public that pos-
sessed historic and scientific value until
the recent appearance of Prof. Thomas
Davidson's 'History of Education.' The
author defines education as conscious
human evolution and attempts to
sketch the history of education in terms
of dominant evolutionary thought. Fre-
quently the author is guilty of that
generality that has brought much of
sociological thought into disrepute. His
definition of education is so broad that
it would include political and other
phases of evolution that are conscious
processes so far as the race is con-
cerned. However, the revision of old
ideas or the formulation of new ones
is certain to provoke disagreement con-
cerning essentials or details. It is the
attempt that is significant in this case.
It is but an earnest of the future. There
is further evidence to this more scientific

conception of the history of education.
Hitherto the historical aspect of educa-
tion has not passed beyond the bio-
graphical stage. But educational biog-
raphy is now being written from this
broader point of view. The interest is
less in the individual and more in
his relation to social practices and de-
veloping ideas. This attitude is best il-
lustrated in the issues of the 'Great
Educator Series,' edited by Prof. Nicho-
las Murray Butler. The latest issue,
'Comenius and the Beginnings of Edu-
cational Reform,' by Will S. Monroe, is
well up to the higher standard set by
previous issues. Comenius was to edu-
cation what his contemporaries, Bacon
and Descartes, were to science and phi-
losophy. A biographical sketch of Co-
menius from this point of view, such as
Mr. Monroe gives, is a valuable contri-
bution to the literature of the new as-
pect of education.

Dk. L. Viereck publishes in the Ed-
ucational Review an article narrating
how even in the German gymnasium
Latin is losing its traditional position.
A movement is gaining ground looking
toward beginning the study of Latin
not in the lowest class of the gymna-
sium, but only after three years, thus
leaving six years for the language. In
this case Greek is begun two years later
and is confined to the last four years of
the course. This plan has the obvious
advantage of not requiring boys to de-
cide on their career in life at the age of
ten years, but permits students of the
'real' gymnasium and of the traditional
gymnasium to carry on the same studies
for the first three years. The system,
which was first tried in Frankfort in
1892, had a year ago been adopted in
twenty-one schools and appears to be
favored by the Prussian Government.
Other straws showing how the current
is setting in Germany are the estab-
lishment within a year of a doctorate
in applied science and the decision that
hereafter the doctor's diploma shall be
written in German instead of Latin.

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

219

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

The statue of Lavoisier, shown in
the frontispiece of this number, was
unveiled at Paris on the 27th of July.
It stands facing the Rue Tronchet, near
the house in which Lavoisier dwelt. The
figure, of bronze, stands upon a granite
pedestal, ornamented by bas-reliefs rep-
resenting Lavoisier before his colleagues
at the Academy, and at work in his
laboratory. M. Leygues presided at the
ceremony, at which the members of the
international congress of chemistry were
present. In the course of the address
written for the occasion M. Berthelot
characterized Lavoisier's work as fol-
lows: "The labors of Lavoisier are re-
lated to a fundamental discovery from
which they all spring, namely, the dis-
covery of the chemical constitution of
matter and of the difference between
bodies possessing weight and imponder-
able forces — heat, light, electricity — the
influence of which extends over these
bodies. The discovery of this difference
overturned the old ideas handed down
from antiquity and held till the end of
the last century." Lavoisier was a no-
table example of the excellence of scien-
tific men in other than scientific fields
of activity. He wrote a good book on
education, was an efficient officer in a
number of public undertakings, and was
for some years 'fermier general.' His
scientific work is summed up by the in-
scription on the pedestal of the monu-
ment: 'Fondateur de la chimie mod-
erne.'

There is now evidence that yellow
fever, as well as malaria, is caused by
inoculation by mosquitoes which serve
as the intermediate hosts of the para-
sites. Drs. Reed, Carroll, Agramonte
and Lazear, who were appointed last
summer by the Surgeon-General to in-
vestigate infectious diseases in Cuba,

have in a preliminary report of their
work denied that the bacillus icteroides
of Sanarelli is the cause of yellow fever.
In general they have not found it pres-
ent in the blood of yellow fever patients
or in the organs of those who have died
of the disease, and consider that when
present it is a secondary invader. After
these results had been reached they test-
ed the hypothesis advanced by Dr. Car-
los J. Finlay of Havana in 1881 that
yellow fever is transmitted from person
to person by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes
which had bitten fever patients were al-
lowed to bite eleven persons. In nine
cases no evil results followed, but in two
cases, Dr. Carroll himself being one, reg-
ular attacks of yellow fever followed.
It is true that in these cases there was
a possibility of infection from other
sources, but since out of 1,400 non-im-
mune Americans at the Columbia Bar-
racks there were in two months only
three cases and since of the three two
had been bitten within five days of the
commencement of their attacks by con-
taminated mosquitoes, the board seems
justified in assigning the role of effi-
cient cause to the mosquitoes. The pos-
itive evidence is increased by the sad his-
tory of Dr. Lazear, one of the investi-
gating board. Dr. Lazear was one of
the nine who had not suffered in the
inoculation experiment just described.
While working with yellow fever pa-
tients he was bitten by a mosquito,
which because of the previous experi-
ment he did not even attempt to avoid.
He was bitten on September 13, and be-
came ill on September 17 with the fe-
ver, which thereafter ran its course,
ending in death. It was not demon-
strated that this particular mosquito
had previously bitten any yellow fever
patient, but of course there was every
opportunity for it to do so. Dr. Reed

220

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

and his associates feel justified in the
following conclusion: "The mosquito
serves as the intermediate host for the
parasite of yellow fever, and it is highly
probable that the disease is only prop-
agated through the bite of this insect."

One of the most obscure points in
chemistry is the action of ferments.
These have been grouped in two classes :
Organized ferments like the yeast plant,
or the mycoderma aceti, which oxidize
alcohol to acetic acid; and the unorgan-
ized ferments, like diastase, which con-
vert starch into sugar. In both cases
a very small quantity of the ferment is
capable of converting an indefinitely
large amount of the fermenting sub-
stance into the fermented product, al-
though the ferment itself does not enter
as such into the reaction. Further, the
action of ferments can be inhibited by
heat and by the action of certain sub-
stances which act as poisons. Recent
investigations seem to show that the or-
ganized ferments may owe their action
to unorganized ferments which they se-
crete. More recently attention has been
called by Bredig and von Berneck to
the similarity between the action of fer-
ments, and what has been called con-
tact action of metals. For example, fine-
ly divided platinum can oxidize alcohol
to acetic acid, and can invert cane sugar.
Much more marked is the action of a
solution of colloidal platinum, obtained
by passing a strong current of electric-
ity between platinum poles under water.
The action of the platinum in this con-
dition is remarkably like that of a fer-
ment. When its effect upon hydrogen
peroxide was studied it was found that
one part in about 350,000,000 parts of
water was sufficient to decompose hydro-
gen peroxide appreciably. Minute traces
of certain poisons affect the reaction
strongly; especially is this true of prus-
sic acid, hydrogen sulfid and corrosive
sublimate. Like many ferments the plat-
inum solution gradually recovers from
the poisonous effects of traces of potas-
sium cyanid. It also appears that the
platinum plays no chemical part in the

reaction, and thus it is apparently a true
ferment. It seems probable that the
study of these inorganic ferments may
throw much light upon the action of
the very complicated organic ferments.

When the discovery was made some
ten years ago that leguminous plants
are able to assimilate the free nitrogen
of the atmosphere, and thus to supply
themselves with one of the necessary
elements of plant food, its importance to
agriculture as an economical means of
maintaining soil fertility was recognized
almost immediately. In working out
the practical application of the discov-
ery it was found that the micro-organ-
isms which effect this nitrogen assimi-
lation are not the same for all kinds of
legumes, but that different kinds have
their specific organisms, and further-
more that these micro-organisms are
not universally disseminated through
the soil. This led to inoculation of the
soil, either with pure cultures of the
specific bacteria or with soil from a
field known to contain them in abun-
dance. What seemed so simple theoret-
ically has been found in practice to be
only partially successful, so that the
progress in its application has been
somewhat delayed. A very interesting
account of experiments in inoculating
soils for the growth of the soy bean
has recently been published by the Kan-
sas Experiment Station as Bulletin No.
96. It is one of the most successful at-
tempts at soil inoculation on a large
scale that has been reported in this
country or in Europe, where this
method for promoting nitrogen assimi-
lation was first suggested. It- was
found that the Kansas soil contained
none of the organisms necessary for the
soy bean, and that in such soil the roots
produced none of the tubercles which
are intimately associated with nitrogen
assimilation. A quantity of soil was
obtained from the Massachusetts Ex-
periment Station, where the soy bean
had been grown for several years, and
mixed in very small proportion with
the Kansas soil, with the result that

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

221

the soy bean plants produced root
tubercles abundantly, indicating that
they were drawing their nitrogen from
the air. Local soil which had once been
inoculated and produced a crop of soy
beans was found to be suitable mate-
rial for inoculating other soils; and a
practical method for treating large
fields has been worked out and tested
through several seasons. The result is
especially important as the soy bean is
well suited to a wide range of country,
and aside from being a valuable forage
crop its growth materially enriches the
soil.

The recent announcements of the
census bureau, which have been widely
circulated in the daily press, throw light
on a sociological question often dis-
cussed. It has been said that the
course of population is toward the great
cities, that the metropolis is swallowing
up the county centers and small cities.
A recent prophet of the future made the
England of his fiction a single great city
with the rest of the country as its farm
and garden. Some alarm has been
caused lest this supposed tendency to
centralization of population prove disas-
trous to nervous health and moral wel-
fare. It now appears that such a ten-
dency does not exist. For the eighty-
one small cities, those of from 25,000 to
50,000, have increased during the last
decade practically as fast as the nineteen
great cities of over 200,000, namely,
about 32 per cent. New York, it is true,
has increased 37.8 per cent. The rate
of increase of the cities above 25,000 is
about 11 per cent, higher than that of
the country at large, but there is no
cause for sociologists to lament this dif-
ference. The inhabitants of the hundred
and twenty cities under 100,000 have in
many ways a superior intellectual and
moral environment. They are freed
from the petty annoyances of rural life,
its isolation from broadening institu-
tions and its emptiness of appeal to am-
bition, without losing outdoor freedom
or the chance of participation in com-
munity life. They enjoy the good

schools, libraries, entertainments, the
municipal improvements, the services of
superior professional men, etc., of great
cities, without suffering from metropol-
itan restrictions, abuses and vices. The
small city is in a measure the golden
mean among dwelling-places. It would
be interesting to observe on a large
scale the magnitude of another great
movement in population, that connect-
ed with the growth of suburbs. The
natural supposition is that the rate of
increase of the suburbs has been very
much above the average even of the
cities. In so far as the nature of our
surroundings determines our make-up,
such new conditions as we have in sub-
urban life are of vital interest to the
student of human nature.

The growth of interest in forestry,
one of the youngest of the applied sci-
ences, is attested by the establishment
this year of the Yale Forest School,
which confers the degree of Master of
Forestry on graduates who have obtained
the bachelor's degree elsewhere. At the
opening of the school there were regis-
tered seven regular students, besides
seventeen from other departments of
the University. The residence of the
late Professor O. C. Marsh is used
as a school building. Lecture-
rooms, a library, a laboratory and an
herbarium room have been furnished
with such equipment as has been
found necessary for the present re-
quirements of the school. A considera-
ble amount of museum material has al-
ready been acquired and is being class-
ified and arranged as rapidly as possible.
The grounds about the building, ten
acres in extent, are already covered with
a great variety of trees and shrubs, both
native and foreign, and it is the inten-
tion to plant a considerable number of
varieties which are not represented. A
forest nursery will be established on the
grounds, but the regular forest plant-
ing will be done on waste land on the
outskirts of New Haven. The New Ha-
ven Water Company has offered to the
school the use of several hundred acres

222

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of woodland for the practical field work
of the students, and several other own-
ers have expressed their desire to devote
their wood-lots to this purpose.

Such schools as the Yale Forest
School and the thoroughly equipped
school at Cornell under Professor Fer-
now's direction meet a definite, practi-
cal need, for it is an undeniable fact
that the supply of lumber is being di-
minished beyond safety. Twenty million
dollars' worth of native lumber is used
annually in the manufacture of wood-
pulp alone. Nearly half of the original
resources of Washington Territory, the
home of supposedly inexhaustible for-
ests, have been used. Indiana once pos-
sessed 28,000 square miles covered with
valuable timber. It sent timber to the
East in large quantities, but now must
import 82 per cent, of the lumber it uses.
Lumbermen from the Lake States are
now taking up timber land on the Pa-
cific coast. Experts agree that if things
had been left to take their natural
course, a timber famine would have been
the probable fate of the next generation
or two. The Government with its for-
est preserves and the awakened land-
owner with economical methods of tim-
ber-cutting will delay and probably
avert such a catastrophe, but a future
scarcity in lumber is by no means the
only bad result of a laissez faire policy
regarding forests. The forests are the
guardians of the water supply; useful
water power, regular irrigation and the
absence of dangerous freshets are all de-
pendent on the proper condition of the
vegetation of watersheds. It is supposed
that the freshet which caused the Johns-
town flood of May, 1889, was due in part
to the denudation of the Mill Creek wa-
tershed, and at the request of the Johns-
town Water Company this region has
been examined by experts from the Di-
vision of Forestry of the United States
Department of Agriculture, who have
recommended that where the land has
not been covered by a second growth, it
be planted and that careful protection
against fire be given to the whole dis-

trict. When one considers that similar
measures, if taken a generation ago,
might have prevented the loss of $10,-
000,000 worth of property, to say noth-
ing of the tremendous loss of life at the
Johnstown disaster, one realizes the im-
portance of forest preservation as a
prophylactic against floods. We should
teach even the children in the schools
Humboldt's warning, "In felling trees
growing on the sides and summits of
mountains, men under all climates pre-
pare for subsequent generations two ca-
lamities at once — a lack of firewood and
a lack of water."

These national forest reservations
are located in the western third of the
country, and agitation is now in prog-
ress for similar reservations in Minne-
sota at the head-waters of the Mis-
sissippi and in the Southern Appala-
chians in the western part of North
Carolina. The proposed Minnesota
Park would include over 200,000
acres of water surface and over
600,000 acres of land. It would serve
as a game preserve, as well as a
profitable forest and an assurance to an
important water supply. The only ob-
jection seems to be on the ground of the
expense of purchase of Indian rights,
which General Andrews, Chief Forest
Warden of the State, estimates as not
over $75,000 per year. $2,250,000 has
this year been devoted for deepening
and improving the Mississippi River.
Yet this is dependent on the proper
treatment of the very region in question.
The passage of the bill was apparently
favored by all those competent to judge
of the case. It was postponed and will
probably be again considered in Decem-
ber. Concerning the proposed Southern
Appalachian reservation Prof. J. A.
Holmes said at the New York meeting
of the American Forestry Association:
"Such a reserve, if judiciously managed,
will pay a good interest on the invest-
ment, besides proving of inestimable
value to the people of this country as a
public resort for health and pleasure,
as a lesson in practical forestry, and as

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

223

a means of preserving the head-waters
of important rivers."

Two lines of work by the Federal
Government along the line of forest
preservation are especially worth com-
ment. One is the attempt to get an ex-
act estimate of just what forests the
country possesses and just what condi-
tions they are in. This knowledge is
required as a basis for all theoretical de-
ductions, and as a starting point for
all practical measures. This work is
now being extensively carried out by
the United States Geological Survey.
The other is the attempt definitely to
assist land-owners to develop wisely
their forest lands and thus to spread
over the country practical acquaintance
with the principles of forest manage-
ment. This work is in the hands of the
Division of Forestry of the Department
of Agriculture. In the nineteenth and
twentieth reports of the Geological Sur-
vey, Mr. Gannett gives the following
statistics concerning the area of wood-
land in the United States. Of the whole
country 37 per cent, is wooded; along
the Atlantic border the percentage va-
ries from 40 to 80 per cent.; in Ohio, it
is 23 per cent.; in Illinois, 18 per cent.;
in Kansas, 7 per cent. ; in North Dakota,
1 per cent.; in California, 22 per cent.,
and in Washington, 71 per cent. The
areas reserved and their percentage of
the total area of the State and of the
wooded area of the State are as follows :

Area in Per Cent.

Beserva- Per Cent. of

tion. of Total Wooded
State. Sq. Miles. Area. Area.

Arizona 6,285 6 27

California . . . 13,509 9 30

Colorado 4,848 5 15

Idaho 6,264 7 18

Montana 7,885 5 19

New Mexico. 4,273 3 18

Oregon 7,271 8 13

South Dakota 1,893 2 76

Utah 1,474 2 15

Washington .12,672 19 27

Wyoming . . . 4,994 5 40

One of the most interesting questions
concerning human nature is the degree
to which special aptitudes may appear

as the result of innate organic condi-
tions quite apart from experience. It is
well enough known that general men-
tal ability is born in us if we have it
at all, but we do not know so well how
far any special ability, for instance in
mathematics, music or sculpture, is due
to inborn structural or functional pecul-
iarities. The 'prodigies' in special fields
may be instanced as evidence that such
highly specialized gifts are inborn, but
in some cases interest in the facts con-
cerned and the habit of thinking about
them seem to be sufficient to account
for the prodigy's success. The latest
mathematical prodigy, a boy who
has been carefully studied by Professor
Bryan and Dr. Lindley of Indiana Uni-
versity, seemed to owe his success to
the habit of constantly thinking about
numbers. Any intelligent person who
would be as much engaged in the pur-
suit might do as well. It is hard, how-
ever, to explain in this way the cass
of the musical prodigy exhibited before
the International Congress of Psycholo-
gists by M. Charles Jtichet. The boy,
then three years, seven months and
seven days old, played the piano with
at times remarkable skill in both tech-
nique and expression, but especially in
the latter. He knows a score of pieces
by heart, all of which he has learned
by ear. If twenty or thirty measures
are played before him he can then play
them. He also, though with more dif-
ficulty, plays on the piano tunes he has
heard sung. Of his inventiveness Pro-
fessor Richet said: "It is certain that
when Pepito starts to improvise, he is al-
most never at a loss, and he often finds
extremely interesting melodies which
appear more or less new to all those
present. There is a variety and rich-
ness of tone which would perhaps be as-
tonishing if he were a professional mu-
sician, but which in a child three years
and a half old are absolutely overwhelm-
ing." In all else than music he seems
to be an ordinary child. Pepito, accord-
ing to his mother's narrative, was a
good player from the start. His first
performance was to play throughout a

224

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

piece which she had played a number of
times. This he did absolutely independ-
ently of any teaching whatever. Only a
special anatomical basis for musical
ability seems competent to explain a
case like this.

Among recent events of scientific in-
terest, we note the following: Dr. Henry
S. Pritchett, superintendent of the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, was in-
augurated as president of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology on Oc-
tober 24. — Sir Michael Foster has been
reelected a member of the British Par-
liament, representing the University
of London. — Cambridge University has
conferred the degree of Doctor of
Science on Professor S. P. Langley, di-
rector of the Smithsonian Institution.
— Professor George F. Barker, for twen-
ty-eight years professor of physics in
the University of Pennsylvania, and
Professor F. H. Bonney, for thirty-three
years professor of geology in University
College, London, have retired. — A com-
mittee has been appointed to erect a
memorial to the late Spencer F. Baird
at Wood's Holl. Subscriptions may be
sent to the Hon. E. G. Blackford, Ful-
ton Market, New York City.— The
Rumford Committee of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences has
voted a grant of $200 to Mr. C. E. Men-
denhall of Williams College for the fur-
therance of his investigations on a hol-
low bolometer, and a grant of $500 to
Professor George E. Hale of the
Yerkes Observatory in furtherance of
his researches in connection with the
application of the radiometer and a
study of the infra-red spectrum of
the chromosphere. — Professor Ernst
Haeckel is at present in Java, seeking
for further remains of Pithecanthropus
erecUts. — Dr. Eobert Koch has re-

turned to Berlin after fifteen months
spent in the study of malaria, chiefly
in the German colonies. — Harvard Ob-
servatory has sent an expedition to
Kingston, Jamaica, to observe the
planet Eros in its approaching opposi-
tion.— Mr. E. P. Baldwin is planning
an expedition to the North Polar re-
gions, the expenses of which will be de-
frayed by Mr. Ziegler, of New York
City.— The New York Board of Health is
building, at a cost of $20,000, a labora-
tory to be wholly devoted to the study
of the bubonic plague. — The great Ser-
pent Mound of Ohio, which has long
been a subject of study and research for
American archeologists, has been given
by the Harvard Corporation to the
Ohio State Archeological and Histori-
cal Society. — The fine new lecture hall
of the American Museum of Natural
History was opened with appropriate
exercises on Tuesday, October 30. At
the same time the new anthropological
collections were exhibited. — The new
National Museum at Munich, contain-
ing the collection of Bavarian antiqui-
ties, has been opened, and the valuable
collections can be viewed to much bet-
ter advantage than hitherto. The build-
ing contains more than a hundred
rooms and has been erected at a cost
of about $1,000,000.— The Authors' Cat-
alogue of the British Museum, contain-
ing four hundered large volumes and
numerous supplements, has now been
completed. The compilation of the cata-
logue has occupied twenty years and
cost $200,000. A subject-catalogue is

now in course of preparation The

Russian Government has decided to
adopt the metric system of weights and
measures, and the ministry of finance
is now engaged in considering the time
and manner of introducing this re-
form.

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE

MONTHLY.

JANUAKY, 1901.

ASPHALTUM FOE A MODEBN" STREET.

By S. F. PECKHAM.

ASPHALTUM is the solid form of bitumen, as it occurs in nature.
It has been known to man from prehistoric times. The word
is said to be derived from oc privative, and a^cxXXo 'I cause to slip.'
It, therefore, signifies a substance that prevents one from slipping,
and was applied to the solid forms of bitumen that soften in the
sun. This substance was not rare in so-called Bible lands, embracing
the Valley of the Euphrates, the table lands of Mesopotamia and
the Valley of the Jordan. It was of frequent occurrence along the
shores of the Dead Sea, and was gathered and sold in the caravan trade
that passed through the land of Moab and Petrea into Egypt, where
it was used in the preparation of mummies.

During the Middle Ages, asphaltum appears to have found but few
uses, and is seldom mentioned. The words asphaltum, petroleum and
naphtha appear to have been used with different meanings, and also in-
terchangeably or synonymously; yet the words were generally used to
signify a thing that was located and defined by further description, so
that the bitumen of the Dead Sea was recognized as asphaltum or solid
bitumen.

Within the present century, however, both words and definitions
have been more exact. As other and slightly differing material was
obtained that in some respects resembled coal, it was claimed that some
of the deposits of bitumen were beds of coal, and this claim led, about
1850, to important litigation, in which, as experts, scientific men gave
very conflicting testimony, one party claiming that the material of
certain deposits was asphaltum, and the other that it was coal. It was
finally decided that the material — the albertite of New Brunswick — was
not coal, and, therefore, did not belong to the Crown. At about this
time a deposit occurring in West Virginia, since known as Graham-
ite, which, in appearance, is much more like splint coal than albertite,

VOL. LVIII.— 15

226 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

attracted attention. There were veins of material in Cuba that were
also included in the argument, Coal vs. Asphalt.

The late Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, as long ago as 1863, separated asphal-
tuni from pyrobituminous minerals, or minerals that on being heated
to destructive distillation yield products that resemble bitumens. These
pyrobituminous coals, schists and shales are nearly as insoluble in the
solvents of bitumen, viz., ethyl ether, chloroform, benzole, etc., as they
are in distilled water; hence, Dr. Hunt made the action of these solvents
the test of the two classes of substances. All true bitumens are miscible
with or almost wholly soluble in chloroform, a test that clearly separates
them from pyrobituminous minerals. So-called 'asphaltic coals' are
not coals at all, but are geologically old asphaltums.

Besides the asphaltums, almost wholly soluble in chloroform, there
are a large number of minerals that consist only in part of true bitu-
mens. These are found as beds of sedimentary or crystalline rock, often
of immense extent and thickness, impregnated with bitumens of varyi in-
consistency and quality, sometimes very soft and seldom quite solid
after being separated from the rock. In some instances the bitumen
appears to be convertible into asphaltum, and in others not. The
French writers have called these rocks 'asphalte,' but, unfortunately,
they have also called asphaltum by the same name, as if the things
wrere identical and the words synonymous. Among English writers no
uniform custom prevails, but German authors use generally the French
word, at the same time calling asphaltum 'Erdpech' or 'Glanzpech.' I
think it would promote clearness of expression if this word 'asphalte'
were uniformly introduced into all modern languages to designate those
bituminous rocks, with the qualifying words, siliceous, calcareous or
argillaceous, added as required.

The so-called Trinidad pitch, as it is found in and around the lake,
on the island of Trinidad, is a mixture of bitumen, water, mineral and
vegetable matter, the whole inflated with gas. When removed from
the deposit, most of the water dries out, the gas escapes, the mass
changes in color from brown to blue-black, becoming brittle, and at
the same time more or less sticky as it loses water. At a rough esti-
mate, about 25 per cent, of the natural cheese-pitch is bitumen.

Various theories have been formulated by scientific men to' account
for the origin of asphaltum and other forms of bitumen. By some it
is thought that complex chemical changes take place between water.
•carbonate of lime and iron, and other elements that are supposed to
exist in the free state or in combination with carbon as carbides, at
great depths from the surface. When they have been formed they are
supposed to rise towards the surface with steam and water. This is
called the 'chemical' theory. Others think that organic animal and
vegetable matter that lias been buried in strata near the surface of the

ASPI1ALTUM FOR A MODERN STREET.

227

earth has been converted by a process of partial decay into bitumen.
This is called the 'indigenous' theory. Others think that the natural
heat of the crust of the earth generated by pressure and, perhaps, other
causes, has distilled bitumens from pyrobituminous minerals, and, in
some instances, from coal, and they have penetrated the surround-
ing and overlying porous formations, often filling crevices and forming
veins, Avhen the pressure becomes sufficient to rupture the overlying
formations. I am inclined to think this latter theory, of 'distillation,'
will best account for all the varying conditions under which the various
forms of bitumen occur.

Bitumens occur in all periods of the geological history of the earth's
crust, but are mainly confined to the formations anterior to the coal
period and to the later formations of the tertiary. While asphaltum
is found in some of the oldest formations, the greater number of the
deposits of solid bitumen and bituminous rocks occur in the more recent
formations.

In order to show graphically the relations of the pyrobituminous
minerals to the various forms of bitumen, I have arranged the following
table, which represents the development of our present knowledge of
these substances from the time when M. Leon Malo first published a
similar table about forty years ago:

[Anthracite, North America, "Wales, Belgium, France, etc.

, *

r =>
o

S
%

Splint,

Cannel,

Peat,

Shales,

Schists.

Natural gas

o .9

Found all over the world ; yielding bituminous sub-
stances by destructive distillation, shales of
Autun and Mansfeld, Bog-head mineral, Wollon-
gonite, etc.

In the United States, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc.
Russia, France, China, etc.
Natural naphtha. — Persia, Cuba and generally in petroleum regions.
Petroleum. — Central United States, California, Peru, Cuba, Russia,

Borneo, Java, etc.
Maltha. — Persia, Albania, Texas, California, Peru, Trinidad, Mexico,
Cuba, etc
North America. — New Brunswick, West Virginia, Utah, Califor-
nia, Mexico.
Central America. — Cuba and other West Indies.
South America. — Trinidad, Peru, Venezuela.
Europe. — Caucasia, France, Dalmatia, Italy, Germany.
Asia. — Asia Minor, Persia, Euphrates Valley.
Africa. — Egypt and other localities.

North America. — Kentucky, Indian Territory, California, Utah,

Texas, Athabasca River.
Central America. — Mexico and Cuba.
South America. — Island of Trinidad, Venezuela.
Europe. — Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Austria, etc.
Asia. — Asia Minor, Palestine, Persia, China.
Africa. — Egypt and other localities.

228

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

While it might be interesting to describe in detail all the minerals
mentioned in this table, we are at present concerned with only two, viz.,
asphaltums and asphaltes. Again, while it might be interesting to
describe asphaltums and asphaltes from all the many localities in which
they occur, we are at present concerned only with those in use in street
paving, and particularly those in use in the United States.

It is said that the idea of constructing a roadway of asphalte was
first suggested by the observation that lumps of asphalte that have
dropped from carts upon a road, when trodden by animals and rolled
beneath wheels, became compacted into a homogeneous and resisting
surface. These observations were made in eastern France, in the valley
of the Rhone, where very extensive deposits occur, extending into
Switzerland. They were first brought into notice, about 1721, by Eirinis

Fig. 1. The Pitch Lake in Trinidad as it Appeared Before 1890.

d'Erynys, a Greek physician, who published a pamphlet in which were
described deposits of sand and limestone saturated with bitumen that
he had discovered some years previously in the Val de Travers, Canton
of Neufchatel, Switzerland. He described also a bituminous distillate
which he used in the treatment of disease. He compared the deposits
to similar beds in the valley of Siddim, near Babylon. They were for-
gotten for nearly a century and then re-discovered.

By whom this material was first used in road building is unknown.
Early in 1850, M. de Coulaine published a paper in the "Annales des
Ponts et Chausses/ in which he discussed the use of bitumen in road
building as if it was an established industry. He states, without giving
any date, that the first attempt to construct a street of bitumen in Paris
was made upon the Place Louis XV., opposite the Church of Saint

ASPHALTUM FOR A MODERN STREET.

229

Koch. This pavement was formed of fragments of quartz and of mastic
of coal-tar, upon a bed of sandstone, the joints of which were filled with
the mastic. These coal-tar streets, even with a concrete base, were
not satisfactory, thus early establishing the undesirable qualities of coal-
tar preparations in the construction of streets.

He states his preference for the asphaltes found at Seyssel, Val de
Travers and Lobsan, which are composed principally of carbonate of
lime and bitumen or sandstone and bitumen. As found in nature, these
asphaltes consist either of chalk, sandstone or coarser gravel which
have been filled to saturation with bitumen, which when extracted or
separated from the mineral constituents of the rocks, is semi-fluid, re-
sembling mineral tar. The deposits occur in beds between more dense
and barren rock, and are mined out by running galleries and tunnels

Fig. 2. Digging and Removing Pitch from the Lake prior to 1890.

into the hills that border the valleys, in a manner similar to the mining
of coal in some sections of country.

Other deposits of similar material occur at Eagussa, in Sicily, and
at Limmer, in Hanover. The Seyssel and Neufchatel rocks are gen-
erally preferred for streets, as they contain more lime and less sand, and
are also freer from sulphur compounds.

On the North American continent there are deposits of vast extent
both of asphaltum and asphaltes. Generally speaking, asphaltum is not
used in street construction; the deposits being either too pure, and hence
too valuable for such uses, or, on the other hand, so impure as to be
purified only at too great cost. As the asphalte is used in enormous
quantities, freight becomes a very important consideration in the selec-
tion of the material used in any given locality. This item of cost has given

230

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the deposit on the island of Trinidad very great importance as a source
of supply for all the Atlantic Coast cities and even those as far west as
Denver, while the Pacific Coast cities have been supplied from deposits
in California, which to some extent have competed with Trinidad pitch,
not only in the Mississippi Valley, but even in New York and other
Eastern cities.

The deposits in Trinidad are comprised in the so-called lake and
extensive masses outside of it that have either overflowed from the lake
or have been derived from independent sources. In the aggregate the
extent of the deposits can only be estimated, as their boundaries cannot
be determined with any approach to accuracy. They amount, without
any doubt, to several millions of tons.

Y\ nile I have classed the Trinidad pitch with the asphaltes, it is
really a unique substance. 1 have elsewhere called it 'Parianite,' from

Fig.

Loading Ships at Wharf.

the beautiful bay of Paria, near the coast of which the deposit occurs.
The lake is a lake only in name; the deposit, without doubt, filling the
crater of an old mud volcano. As described for more than a century
preceding 1890, it exhibited an expanse of about one hundred and four-
teen acres, with a nearly circular outline, in which irregular areas of
pitch are separated by smaller areas of water. Around the borders of the
lake, vegetation, commencing at some distance from the edge, is rooted
in the pitch itself, and, increasing in vigor as the border is approached,
becomes upon the land a tropical jungle of canna and palms, perhaps
thirty feet in height. In the center is a circle of islands that float on
the pitch. The irregular water areas are many feet in depth, with
nearly perpendicular sides, containing very transparent water that ap-

ASI'lIALTUM FOR A MODE US STREET.

231

parent! y has its source in subterranean springs. The areas of pitch
arc of considerable extent, highest in the middle, but still nearly level
and gently sloping on all sides to the precipitous edges of the water
areas. These areas are being continually elevated in the center by rising
gas, which, forcing up the center in huge bubbles, cause a continual
ebullition of the plastic mass and a gradual transference of the material
from the center towards the circumference, so that trunks ami branches
of trees submerged in the pitch come to the surface, rise, and after
assuming a perpendicular position, are in time again submerged to an
unknown depth. From the escaping gas the whole central portion of
the lake is maintained in a constant motion that prevents vegetation

Fig. \. Tramway and Trucks on PrTCH Lake.

from taking root, and leaves the surface of the areas of pitch bare
and of a blue-black color.

When the pitch is dug, a negro will drive a long, slender pick to the
eye at a single blow, and, by using the handle as a lever, will break out
a flake of pitch larger than he can lift. From less than an inch below
the surface the pitch is of a brown color, saturated with water and filled
with bubbles of gas. A broken mass will soon dry on the surface and
melt, forming a pellicle that will enclose the wet mass for years and
prevent the escape of the water. In this wet and porous condition it is
calied "cheese pitch.' It is not sticky at all, as the water can be squeezed
from it in the hand, as if it were a sponge.

Formerly the large lumps of this cheese pitch, as it was broken out,
were transported to the beach in carts, but about 1893-4 a wharf was

232

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

constructed on the Bay of Paria, near the lake, and a trolley line and
tramway, leading from the wharf up to and out upon the lake in a loop,
by which the pitch since then has been transported direct from the sur-
face of the lake to the vessel being loaded. Formerly the pitch was car-
ried from the beach to ships lying in the bay in lighters, the shipping
entailing a great deal of labor from repeated handling. Since the tram-
way was installed, the pitch is dug along the line of the tramway and
thrown into iron buckets, resting on trucks that are propelled along the
tramway by an endless cable. Great difficulty was encountered when the
tramway was laid to prevent its sinking in the pitch, which, while hard
enough on the surface to bear up a loaded team, will slowly engulf any

Fig. 5. A Lot Outside the Lake that has Filled in Six Months after being Excavated-

20 Feet.

article of even moderate weight. This trouble was overcome by laying
the tramway on a bed of the leaves of the Moriche palm, some of which
are twenty-five feet in length. When the car-buckets are loaded they
are run to the power-house in groups of three or four, where, after
being weighed, they are transferred by an ingenious device from the
trucks to a trolley that runs on an endless rope from the lake to the
wharf, where the contents of the buckets are dumped into the hold of
the ship-like coal. The plant will handle 500 tons a day in the manner
described.

Immense quantities of the pitch lie outside the lake, and the pitch
from these deposits, wherever worked, is still shipped by means of

ASPHALTUM FOR A MODERN STREET.

233

lighters. The surface of the lake is 148 feet above the sea-level, and
the pitch has flowed down to the sea from the lake in an immense
stream that resembles a black glacier. Excavations made in this mass
soon fill up again and all traces of them are in time obliterated, and
buildings, the foundations of which are placed in or upon the pitch, are
soon thrown out of perpendicular, from the unstable condition of the
pitch, which appears to be moving or flowing towards the sea under
a great pressure. These phenomena present the unique spectacle of a
mass so solid as to be walked or driven over, and at the same time so
plastic as to be in a state of unstable equilibrium, with constant ebulli-
tion from escape of gas and also in constant motion towards the sea.

Before the pitch is put to any use it is refined. In the operations
attending its shipment and subsequent removal from the hold of the

Fig. 6. Barrels of Iipuree at La Bria, Trinidad, and Piles of Pitch awaiting Shipment

in the Lighters near Shore.

ship, it has been very much broken up, and much of the gas has escaped
with some of the water. In this condition it is put into enormous
kettles, which are heated from above downward, and very slowly, until
the contents of thirty tons or more are melted. The heat necessary to
melt the pitch expels the water, the fragments of wood and other light
impurities rise to the surface, and the heavy mineral matter, in large
part, sinks to the bottom. The clean pitch between them is drawn off
into barrels.

A more primitive method of refining the pitch is used at the island,
where the pitch is boiled in old sugar kettles and skimmed, when the
'dean pitch is ladled into barrels and enters commerce as 'epuree.'

In the neighborhood of Trinidad, on the mainland of Venezuela, is
■another so-called Bermudez lake. It is found in a low savannah, extend-

234 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ing between a range of mountains and the shore o tone of the estuaries
that enter the northern part of the delta of the Orinoco from the Bay of
Paria. The lake lias an irregularly shaped surface, about one mile and a
half by one mile in dimensions, giving an area of something less than
1,000 acres. This area is covered with rank grass and shrubs, from one
to eight feet in height, with groves of large Moriche palms. There is no
extended surface of clean pitch as at Trinidad; but instead, at certain
points, soft pitch wells up as if from subterranean springs. As the gen-
eral surface of the deposit is not more than two feet above the surround-
ing swamp, in the rainy season it is flooded, and at other times so low
that any excavation will immediately fill with water.

Instead of being more than a hundred feet in depth as at Trinidad,
this deposit is a shallow exudation from numerous springs, over a wide
surface, from a mere coating to from seven to nine feet in depth, the
average being perhaps four feet. The largest of the areas covered with
soft pitch is not more than seven acres in extent. The soft material
has become hardened in the sun at the edges, but at the center is too
soft to walk upon, in this respect resembling many of the deposits of
less extent in California. This pitch is also too soft to hold permanently
the escaping gas, as at Trinidad, but when covered with water it ri>es
in mushroom-like forms.

Some of these areas have been burned over, producing from the
combustion of the vegetation and of the asphaltum itself an intense heat-
that has converted the bitumen into coke and glance pitch. When
this crust of hardened material is removed, beneath it is found asphal-
tum that may be used for paving.

Under the classification that I have adopted, the bitumen of the
Bermudez deposit is nearly pure asphaltum, which has been formed by.
the heat of the sun and by fire, from an exudation of maltha, or mineral
tar, over a wide expanse, beneath the coke and other products of combus-
tion, while here and there are masses of glance pitch, which are the
result of less violent action of heat.

Many of the West India islands, from Trinidad around to Cuba,
contain deposits of asphaltum. The most noted among them are the
Mumjack of Barbadoes and the asphaltum veins of Cuba. These, how-
ever, have not entered commerce, with the exception, perhaps, of the
very pure asphaltum found in Cardenas harbor, which is obtained in
limited quantities and is used in varnish-making. None of these are-
used in paving.

In Mexico there are very extensive deposits of asphaltum of great
purity, but up to the present time they have not entered commerce.

In Texas, and extending into the Indian Territory, there axe large
deposits of both siliceous and calcareous asphaltes. In Uralde county,
Texas, near Cline, to the west of San Antonio, on the Southern Pacific

ASPIIALTUM FOR A MODERN STREET.

235

Railroad, are very extensive deposits of coquina or shell limestone, filled
with bitumen. As found, the material is very tough and difficult to
break. When the bitumen is dissolved out with chloroform, there re-
mains a mass of small shells, very light and porous, but with sufficient
stability to form a rock. The shells contain from nine to thirteen per
cent, of bitumen. While a large sum has been expended on a plant
for extracting this bitumen, the enterprise has never proved a pecuniary
success. In northern Texas, near the Eed Eiver, are extensive deposits
of bituminous sand, which has been used locally for sidewalks with suc-
cess. Across the Eed Eiver, near the Arbuckle Mountains, in the
Chickasaw Nation, beds of bituminous sand occur of great extent. They
extend across the country in anticlinal folds for miles in length. The
material is not stone, as the sand falls into a powder as soon as the

Fig. 7. The ' Big Spring ' of Tar. 30 Feet in Diameter. Upper O.tai. Ventura County, Cal

bitumen is removed from it. When the material is broken into small
pieces and placed in boiling water, the bitumen rises to the surface
nearly free from sand, while the bulk of the sand sinks through the
water clean. The bitumen thus obtained is of very superior quality for
any purpose. Still farther north and east, near the town of Dougherty,
several deposits occur. One is a mass of great extent of fragments of
chert and limestone cemented together with bitumen. A mastic has
been made by grinding this material. Another mass consists of a magne-
sian chalk, of carboniferous age, saturated with bitumen. Another is a
mass of large shells filled with more than twenty per cent, of bitumen.
Other deposits of loose sand occur in beds, saturated with ten per cent,
of bitumen. These materials have been used separately and ground
together for paving mixtures for street surfaces.

236

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

In Utah, upon the Uintah Indian reservation, are found veins of
asphaltum of remarkable purity, to which the name 'Gilsonite' has been
given. It has been found very useful for insulation and a great variety
of purposes, but has only been used in combination with softer material
for paving.

Among the coast ranges of California there are deposits of asphal-
tum and siliceous asphalte of vast extent. At Santa Cruz, to the east
and west of Santa Barbara, near the coast near San Buena Ventura and
Los Angeles, on the Ojai ranch, and at Asphalto, in Kern County, the
principal ones are found. Those of commercial value are at the works
of the Alcatraz Company, west of Santa Barbara, and near Asphalto.
At the works of the Alcatraz Company the bitumen is dissolved in a

Fig. 8. Asphaltum Glacier, Kern County, Cai

solvent and conveyed through pipes some thirty miles to the coast,
where the solvent is removed and the bitumen prepared for shipment.

At Asphalto, on the north side of the Coast range, in Kern County,
the asphaltum occurs nearly pure in veins of great extent that have been
mined to a depth of more than three hundred feet. From these state-
ments it will be seen that the deposits of asphaltum and asphalte in
the United States are of vast extent and variety.

While the bitumen in these different deposits in different parts of
the world bears a generic relation, there are specific differences between
the different varieties that render some of them more desirable for cer-
tain purposes than the others. The purest asphaltums are brilliant
black, brittle solids that consist of compounds of carbon and hydrogen
with small proportions of oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen. The latter

ASPHALTUM FOR A MODERN STREET.

237

of these constituents are not always present and vary widely in amount
when present, so that, from a chemical standpoint, the different asphal-
tums and the bitumens of the different asphaltes are very unlike sub-
stances. In the practical uses to which these substances are applied, the
selection for any given purpose does not appear to depend upon differ-
ence of composition. The purest varieties are used for making fine
varnishes and lacquers. Others are used for coarser varnishes that are
baked on to iron and other surfaces. Others are applied, softened with
solvents that evaporate. These substances find wide uses for insulating
purposes, alone and in mixture with other materials.

The widest use to which they are applied is in street-paving sur-
faces, for which purpose vast quantities are used every year. It has been

Fig. 9. Shaft on Asphaltum Vein near Asphalto, from which mass was taken

weighing 6,500 Pounds.

found in practice that good streets and poor streets have been made
from nearly all the different varieties of asphaltums and asphaltes that
can be obtained in such quantity and at such a price as to render their
use possible. The different results obtained appear to be due to causes
external to the asphaltum or asphalte employed, such as the kind and
quality of the materials with which they are mixed and the method, or
lack of method, by which they are mixed. These conclusions appear
to be warranted by a large number of experiments extending over many
years, some of which have been very expensive for the municipalities
making them.

238 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

THE EFFECT OF PHYSICAL AGENTS ON BACTERIAL LIFE.*

By Dr. ALLAN MACFADYEN,
THE JENNER INSTITUTE OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE.

THE fact that life did not exist upon the earth at a remote period of
time, the possibility of its present existence as well as the pros-
pect of its ultimate extinction, can be traced to the operation of certain
physical conditions. These physical conditions upon which the main-
tenance of life as a whole depends are in their main issues beyond
the control of man. We can but study, predict and it may be
utilize their effects for our benefit. Life in its individual manifesta-
tions is, therefore, conditioned by the physical environment in which
it is placed. Life rests on a physical basis, and the main springs of
its energies are derived from a larger world outside itself. If these
conditions, physical or chemical, are favorable, the functions of life
proceed; if unfavorable, they cease — and death ultimately ensues.
These factors have been studied and their effects utilized to conserve
health or to prevent disease. It is our purpose this evening to study
some of the purely physical factors, not in their direct bearing on man,
but in relation to much lower forms in the scale of life — forms which
constitute in number a family far exceeding that of the human species,
and of which we may produce at will in a test-tube, within a few
hours, a population equal to that of London. These lowly forms of
life — the bacteria — belong to the vegetable kingdom, and each individ-
ual is represented by a simple cell.

These forms of life are ubiquitous in the soil, air and water, and
are likewise to be met with in intimate association with plants and
animals, whose tissues they may likewise invade with injurious
or deadly effects. Their study is commonly termed bacteriology — a
term frequently regarded as synonymous with a branch of purely medi-
cal investigation. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that
bacteriology is solely concerned with the study of the germs of disease.
The dangerous microbes are in a hopeless minority in comparison
with the number of those which are continually performing varied
and most useful functions in the economy of nature. Their^ wide
importance is due to the fact that they insure the resolution and re-
distribution of dead and effete organic matter, which if allowed to
accumulate would speedily render life impossible on the surface of the
earth. If medicine ceased to regard the bacteria, their study would

* Lecture before the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

PHYSICAL AGENTS AND BACTERIAL LIFE. 239

still remain of primary importance in relation to many industrial
processes in which they play a vital part. It will be seen, therefore,
that their biology presents many points of interest to scientific workers
generally. Their study as factors that ultimately concern us really
began with Pasteur's researches upon fermentation. The subject of
this evening's discourse, the effect of physical agents on bacterial life,
is important not merely as a purely biological question, though this
phase is of considerable interest, but also on account of the facts I have
already indicated, viz., that micro-organisms fulfil such an important
function in the processes of nature, in industrial operations and in
connection with the health of man and animals. It depends largely on
the physical conditions to be met with in nature whether they die or
remain inactive. Further, the conditions favoring one organism may
be fatal to another, or an adaptability may be brought about to unusual
conditions for their life. To the technologist the effect of physical
agents in this respect is of importance, as a knowledge of their mode of
action will guide him to the means to be employed for utilizing the
micro-organisms to the best advantage in processes of fermentation.
The subject is of peculiar interest to those who are engaged in com-
bating disease, as a knowledge of the physical agents that favor or
retard bacterial life will furnish indications for the preventive measures
to be adopted. With a suitable soil and an adequate temperature
the propagation of bacteria proceeds with great rapidity. If the
primary conditions of soil and an adequate temperature are not present,
the organisms will not multiply, they remain quiescent or they
die. The surface layers of the soil harbor the vast majority of the
bacteria, and constitute the great storehouse in nature for these forms
of life. They lessen in number in the deeper layers of the soil, and
few or none are to be met with at a depth of 8-10 feet. As a matter
of fact, the soil is a most efficient bacterial filter, and the majority of
the bacteria are retained in its surface layers and are to be met with
there. In the surface soil, most bacteria find the necessary physical
conditions for their growth, and may be said to exist there under natural
conditions. It is in the surface soil that their main scavenging func-
tions are performed. In the deeper layers, the absence of air and the
temperature conditions prove inimical to most forms.

Amongst pathogenic bacteria the organisms of lockjaw and of
malignant oedema appear to be eminently inhabitants of the soil. As
an indication of the richness of the surface soil in bacteria, I may
mention that 1 gramme of surface soil may contain from several hun-
dred thousand to as many as several millions of bacteria. The air
is poorest in bacteria. The favoring physical conditions to be met
with in the soil are not present in the air. Though bacteria are to be
met with in the air. they are not multiplying forms, as is the case in

240 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the soil. The majority to be met with in air are derived from the
soil. Their number lessens when the surface soil is moist, and it in-
creases as the surface soil dries. In a dry season the number of air
organisms will tend to increase.

Town air contains more bacteria than country air, whilst they
become few and tend to disappear at high levels and on the sea. A
shower of rain purifies the air greatly of bacteria. The organisms
being, as I stated, mainly derived from the surface of the ground,
their number mainly depends on the physical condition of the soil,
and this depends on the weather. Bacteria cannot pass independ-
ently to the air; they are forcibly transferred to it with dust from
various surfaces. The relative bacterial purity of the atmosphere is
mainly, therefore, a question of dust. Even when found floating about
in the air the bacteria are to be met with in much greater number
in the dust that settles on exposed surfaces, e. g., floors, car-
pets, clothes and furniture. Through a process of sedimentation
the lower layers of the air become richer in dust and bacteria, and
any disturbance of dust will increase the number of bacteria in the
air.

The simple act of breathing does not disseminate disease germs
from a patient; it requires an act of coughing to carry them into the
air with minute particles of moisture. From the earliest times great
weight has been laid upon the danger of infection through air-borne
contagia, and with the introduction of antiseptic surgery the en-
deavor was made to lessen this danger as much as possible by means
of the carbolic spray, etc. In the same connection numerous
bacteriological examinations of air have been made, with the view of
arriving at results of hygienic value. The average number of micro-'
organisms present in the air is 500-1000 per 1000 liters; of this
number only 100-200 are bacteria, and they are almost entirely harm-
less forms. The organisms of suppuration have been detected in
the air, and the tubercle bacillus in the dust adhering to the walls of
rooms. Investigation has not, however, proved air to be one of the
important channels of infection. The bactericidal action of sunlight,
desiccation and the diluting action of the atmosphere on noxious
substances will always greatly lessen the risk of direct aerial infec-
tion.

The physical agents that promote the passage of bacteria into the
air are inimical to their vitality. Thus, the majority pass into the
air not from moist but from dry surfaces, and the preliminary drying
is injurious to a large number of bacteria. It follows that if the air
is rendered dust-free, it is practically deprived of all the organisms
it may contain. As regards enclosed spaces, the stilling of dust and
more especially the disinfection of surfaces liable to breed dust or

PHYSICAL AGENTS AND BACTERIAL LIFE. 241

to harbor bacteria, are more important points than air disinfection,
and this fact has been recognized in modern surgery. In an investi-
gation, in conjunction with Mr. Lunt, an estimation was arrived at
of the ratio existing between the number of dust particles and bacteria
in the air. We used Dr. Aitken's dust-counter, which not only renders
the air dust particles visible, but gives a means of counting them
in a sample of air. In an open suburb of London we found
20,000 dust particles in 1 cubic centimeter of air; in a yard in the
center of London about 500,000. The dust contamination we found
to be about 900 per cent, greater in the center of London than in a
(iniet suburb. In the open air of London* there was on an average
just one organism to every 38,300,000 dust particles present in the
air, and in the air of a room, amongst 184,000,000 dust particles, only
one organism could be detected.

These figures illustrate forcibly the poverty of the air in micro-
organisms, even when very dusty, and likewise the enormous dilution
they undergo in the atmosphere. Their continued existence is
rendered difficult through the influence of desiccation and sunlight.
Desiccation is one of nature's favorite methods for getting rid of bac-
teria. Moisture is necessary for their development and their vital
processes, and constitutes about 80 per cent, of their cell-substance.
When moisture is withdrawn most bacterial cells, unless they pro-
duce resistant forms of the nature of spores, quickly succumb. The
organism of cholera air-dried in a thin film dies in three hours. The
organisms of diphtheria, typhoid fever and tuberculosis show more
resistance, but die in a few weeks or months.

Dust containing tubercle bacilli may be carried about by air cur-
rents, and the bacilli in this way transferred from an affected to a
healthy individual. It may, however, be said that drying attenuates
and kills most of these forms of life in a comparatively short time.
The spores of certain bacteria may, on the other hand, live for many
years in a dried condition, e. g., the spores of anthrax bacilli, which
are so infective for cattle and also for man (wool-sorters' disease).
Fortunately few pathogenic bacteria possess spores, and, therefore,
drying by checking and destroying their life is a physical agent that
plays an important role in the elimination of infectious diseases.
This process is aided by the marked bactericidal action of sunlight.
Sunlight, which has a remarkable fostering influence on higher plant
life, does not exercise the same influence on the bacteria. With few
exceptions we must grow them in the dark in order to obtain success-
ful cultures; and a sure way of losing our cultures is to leave them
exposed to the light of day. Direct sunlight is the most deadly agent,
and kills a large number of organisms in the short space of one
to two hours; direct sunlight proves fatal to the typhoid bacillus in

VOL. LVIII— 16

242 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

half an hour to two hours; in the diphtheria bacillus in half an hour
to one hour, and to the tubercle bacillus in a few minutes to several
hours. Even anthrax spores are killea by direct light in three and
a half hours. Diffuse light is also injurious, though its action
is slower. By exposing pigment-producing bacteria to sunlight
colorless varieties can be obtained, and virulent bacteria so weak-
ened that they will no longer produce infection. The germicidal
action of the sun's rays is most marked at the blue end of the spec-
trum, at the red end there is little or no germicidal action. It is
evident that the continuous daily action of the sun along with desic-
cation are important physical agents in arresting the further develop-
ment of the disease germs that are expelled from the body.

It has been shown that sunlight has an important effect in the
spontaneous purification of rivers. It is a well-known fact that a
river, despite contamination at a given point, may show little or no
evidence of this contamination at a point further down in its course.
Buchner added to water 100,000 colon bacilli per cubic centimeter,
and found that all were dead after one hour's exposure to sunlight.
He also found that in a clear lake the bactericidal action of sunlight
extended to a depth of about six feet. Sunlight must, therefore, be
taken into account as an agent in the purification of waters, in addition
to sedimentation, oxidation and the action of algae.

Air or the oxygen it contains has important and opposite effects on
the life of bacteria. In 1861, Pasteur described an organism in con-
nection with the butyric acid fermentation which would only grow in
the absence of free oxygen. And since then a number of bacteria,
showing a like property, have been isolated and described. They
are termed anaerobic bacteria, as their growth is hindered or stopped
in the presence of air. The majority of the bacteria, however, are
aerobic organisms, inasmuch as their growth is dependent upon a free
supply of oxygen. There is likewise an intermediate group of organ-
isms, which show an adaptability to either of these conditions, being
able to develop with or without free access to oxygen. Preeminent
types of this group are to be met with in the digestive tract of animals,
and the majority of disease-nroducing bacteria belong to this adaptive
class. When a pigment-producing organism is grown without free
oxygen its pigment production is almost always stopped. For anae-
robic forms N" and H= give the best atmosphere for their growth,
whilst CO.' is not favorable, and may be positively injurious, as, e. g., in
the case of the cholera organism.

The physical conditions favoring the presence and multiplica-
tion of bacteria in water under natural conditions are a low altitude,
warmth, abundance of organic matter and a sluggish or stagnant con-
dition of the water. As regards water-borne infectious diseases, such

PHYSICAL AGENTS AND BACTERIAL LIFE. 243

as typhoid or cholera, their transmission to man by water may be
excluded by simple boiling or by an adequate nitration. The
freezing of water, whilst stopping the further multiplication of or-
ganisms, may conserve the life of disease germs by eliminating the
destructive action of commoner competitive forms. Thus the typhoid
bacillus may remain frozen in ice for some months without injury.
Employment of ordinary cold is not, therefore, a protection against
dangerous disease germs.

As regards electricity, there is little or no evidence of its direct
action on bacterial life, the effects produced appear to be of an indirect
character, due to the development of heat or to the products of elec-
trolysis.

Ozone is a powerful disinfectant, and its introduction into polluted
water has a most marked purifying effect. The positive effects of
the electric current may, therefore, be traced to the action of the
chemical products and of heat. I am not aware that any direct action
of the X-rays on bacteria has up to the present been definitely proved.

Mechanical agitation, if slight, may favor, and if excessive, may
hinder bacterial development. Violent shaking or concussion may
not necessarily prove fatal so long as no mechanical lesion of the
bacteria is brought about. If, however, substances likely to produce
triturating effects are introduced, a disintegration and death of the
cells follows. Thus Eowland, by a very rapid shaking of tubercle
bacilli in a steel tube, with quartz sand and hard steel balls, produced
their complete disintegration in ten minutes.

Bacteria appear to be very resistant to the action of pressure. At
300-450 atmospheres putrefaction still takes place, and at 600
atmospheres the virulence of the anthrax bacillus remained unim-
paired. Of the physical agents that affect bacterial life, tempera-
ture is the most important. Temperature profoundly influences
the activity of bacteria. It may favor or hinder their growth, or it
may put an end to their life. If we regard temperature in
the first instance as a favoring agent, very striking differences
are to be noted. The bacteria show a most remarkable range of tem-
perature under which their growth is possible, extending from
zero to 70° C. If we begin at the bottom of the scale we find organ-
isms in the water and in soil that are capable of growth and
development at zero. Amongst these are certain species of phosphor-
escent bacteria, which continue to emit light even at this low tempera-
ture. At the Jenner Institute we have met with organisms growing
and developing at 34-40° F. The vast majority of interest to us find,
however, the best conditions for their growth from 15° up to 37° C.
Each species has a minimum, an optimum and a maximum tempera-
ture at which it will develop. It is important in studying any 'given

244 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

species that the optimum temperature for their development he as-
certained, and that this temperature he maintained. In this
respect we can distinguish three broafl groups. The first group in-
cludes those for which the optimum temperature is from 15-20° C.
The second group includes the parasitic forms, viz., those which grow
in the living body, and for which the optimum temperature is at
blood heat, viz., 37° C. We have a third group, for which the opti-
mum temperature lies as high as 50-55° C. On this account this
latter group has been termed thermophilic on account of its
growth at such abnormally high temperatures — temperatures which
are fatal to other forms of life. They have been the subject of per-
sonal investigation in conjunction with Dr. Blaxall. We found
that there existed- in nature an extensive group of such organisms to
which the term thermophilic bacteria was applicable. Their growth
and development occurred best at temperatures at which ordinary pro-
toplasm becomes inert or dies. The best growths were always ob-
tained at 55-65° C. Their wide distribution was of a striking nature.
They were found by us in river water and mud, in sewage and
also in a sample of sea water. They were present in the
digestive tract of man and animals, and in the surface and deep layers
of the soil, as well as in straw and in all samples of ensilage examined.
Their rapid growth at high temperatures was remarkable, the whole
surface of the culture medium being frequently overrun in from fifteen
to seventeen hours. The organisms examined by us (fourteen forms
in all) belonged to the group of the Bacilli. Some were motile, some
curdled milk and some liquefied gelatin in virtue of a proteolytic
enzyme. The majority possessed reducing powers upon nitrates
and decomposed proteid matter. In some instances cane sugar
was inverted and starch was diastased. These facts well illustrate
the full vitality of the organisms at these high temperatures, whilst
all the organisms isolated grew best at 55-65° C. A good growth in
a few cases occurred at 72° C. Evidence of growth was obtained even
at 74° C. They exhibited a remarkable and unique range of tempera-
ture, extending as far as 30° of the Centigrade scale.

As a concluding instance of the activity of these organisms we
may cite their action upon cellulose. Cellulose is a substance that
is exceedingly difficult to decompose, and is, therefore, used in the
laboratory for filtering purposes in the form of Swedish filter paper,
on account of its resistance to the action of solvents. We allowed
these organisms to act on cellulose at 60° C. The result was that in
ten to fourteen days a complete disintegration of the cellulose had
taken place, probably in CO2 and marsh gas. The exact conditions that
may favor their growth, even if it be slow at subthermophilic tempera-
tures, are not yet known — they may possibly be of a chemical nature.

PHYSICAL AGENTS AND BACTERIAL LIFE. 245

Organisms may be gradually acclimatized to temperatures that
prove unsuited to them under ordinary conditions. Thus the anthrax
bacillus, with an optimum temperature for its development of 37° C,
may be made to grow at 12° C, and at 42° C. Such anthrax bacilli
proved pathogenic for the frog with a temperature of 12° C, and for
the pigeon with a temperature of 42° C.

Let us, in a very few words, consider the inimical action of tem-
perature on bacterial life. An organism placed below its minimum
temperature ceases to develop, and if grown above its optimum tem-
perature becomes attenuated as regards its virulence, etc., and
may eventually die. The boiling point is fatal for non-sporing organ-
isms in a few minutes. The exact thermal death-point varies accord-
ing to the optimum and maximum temperature for the growth
of the organism in question. Thus, for water bacteria with a low
optimum temperature, blood heat may be fatal; for pathogenic bacteria
developing best at blood heat, a thermophilic temperature may be
fatal (60° C); and for thermophilic bacilli any temperature above
75° C. These remarks apply to the bacteria during their multiply-
ing and vegetating phase of life. In their resting or spore stage
the organisms are much more resistant to heat. Thus the anthrax
organism in its bacillary phase is killed in one minute at 70° C; in
its spore stage it resists this temperature for hours, and is only killed
after some minutes by boiling. In the soil there are spores of bacteria
which require boiling for sixteen hours to ensure their death.
These are important points to be remembered in sterilization or dis-
infection experiments, viz., whether an organism does or does not pro-
duce these resistant spores. Most non-sporing forms are killed at 60°
C. in a few minutes, but in an air-dry condition a longer time is neces-
sary. Dry heat requires a longer time to act than moist heat: it re-
quires 140° C. for three hours to kill anthrax spores. Dry heat can-
not, therefore, be used for ordinary disinfection on account of its
destructive action. Moist heat in the form of steam is the most ef-
fectual disinfectant, killing anthrax spores at boiling point in a few
minutes, whilst a still quicker action is obtained if saturated steam
under pressure be used. No spore, however resistant, remains alive
after one minute's exposure to steam at 140° C. The varying thermal
death-point of organisms and the problems of sterilization cannot be
better illustrated than in the case of milk, which is an admirable soil
for the growth of a large number of bacteria. The most obvious ex-
ample of this is the souring and curdling of milk that occurs after
it has been standing for some time. This change is mainly due to the
lactic acid bacteria, which ferment the milk sugar with the production
of acidity.

Another class of bacteria may curdle the milk without souring

246 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

it in virtue of a rennet-like ferment, whilst a third class precipitate
and dissolve the casein of the milk, along with the development of
butyric acid. The process whereby milk is submitted to a heat of
65° to 70° C. for twenty minutes is known as pasteurization, and the
milk so treated is familiar to us all as pasteurized milk. Whilst the
pasteurizing process weeds out the lactic acid bacteria from the milk,
a temperature of 100° C. for one hour is necessary to destroy the
butyric acid organisms: and even when this has been accomplished
there still remain in the milk the spores of organisms which
are only killed after a temperature of 100° C. for three to six hours.
It will, therefore, be seen that pasteurization produces a partial, not
a complete sterilization of the milk as regards its usual bacterial in-
habitants. The sterilization to be absolute would require six hours
at boiling point. But for all ordinary practical purposes pasteur-
ization is an adequate procedure. All practical hygienic require-
ments are likewise adequately met by pasteurization, if it is properly
carried out, and the milk is subsequently cooled. Milk may carry
the infection of diphtheria, cholera, typhoid and scarlet fevers,
as well as the tubercle bacillus from a diseased animal to the human
subject. For the purpose of rendering the milk innocuous, freez-
ing and the addition of preservatives are inadequate methods of
procedure. The one efficient and trustworthy agent we possess is
heat. Heat and cold are the agents to be jointly employed in the
process, viz., a temperature sufficiently high to be fatal to organisms
producing a rapid decomposition of milk, as well as to those which
produce disease in man; this is to be followed by a rapid cooling to
preserve the fresh flavor and to prevent an increase of the bacteria
that still remain alive. The pasteurized process fulfils these require-
ments.

In conjunction with Dr. Hewlett, I had occasion to investigate in
how far the best pasteurizing results might be obtained. We found
that 60° to 68° C. applied for twenty minutes weeded out about
90 per cent, of the organisms present in the milk, leaving a 10 per
cent, residue of resistant forms. It was found advisable to fix the
pasteurizing temperature at 68° C, in order to make certain of killing
any pathogenic organisms that may happen to be present. We' passed
milk in a thin stream through a coil of metal piping, which
was heated on its outer surface by water. By regulating the length
of the coil, or the size of the tubing, or the rate of flow of the milk,
almost any desired temperature could be obtained. The temperature
we ultimately fixed at 70° C. The cooling was carried out in similar
coils placed in iced water. The thin stream of milk was quickly
heated and quickly cooled as it passed through the heated and cooled
tubing, and whilst it retained its natural flavor, the apparatus ac-

PHYSICAL AGENTS AND BACTERIAL LIFE. 247

complished at 70° C. in thirty seconds a complete pasteurization, in-
stead of in twenty minutes, i. e., about 90 per cent, of the bacteria
were killed, whilst the diphtheria, typhoid, tubercle and pus organisms
were destroyed in the same remarkably short period of time, viz., thirty
seconds. This will serve to illustrate how the physical agent of heat
may be employed, as well as the sensitiveness of bacteria to heat when
it is adequately employed.

Bacteria are much more sensitive to high than to low tempera-
tures, and it is possible to proceed much further downwards than
upwards in the scale of temperature, without impairing their vitality.
Some will even multiply at zero, whilst others will remain alive when
frozen under ordinary conditions.

I will conclude this discourse by briefly referring to experiments
recently made with most remarkable results upon the influence of
low temperatures on bacterial life. The experiments were conducted
at the suggestion of Sir James Crichton-Browne and Professor Dewar.
The necessary facilities were most kindly given at the Eoyal Institu-
tion, and the experiments were conducted under the personal super-
vision of Professor Dewar. The action of liquid air on bacteria was
first tested. A typical series of bacteria was employed for this pur-
pose, possessing varying degrees of resistance to external agents. The
bacteria were first simultaneously exposed to the temperature of liquid
air for twenty hours (about — 190° C). In no instance could
any impairment of the vitality of the organisms be detected as regards
their growth of functional activities. This was strikingly illustrated
in the case of the phosphorescent organisms tested. The cells emit
light which is apparently produced by a chemical process of intra-
cellular oxidation, and the phenomenon ceases with the cessation of
their activity. These organisms, therefore, furnished a very happy
test of the influence of low temperatures on vital phenomena. These
organisms when cooled down in liquid air became non-luminous, but
on re-thawing the luminosity returned with unimpaired vigor as the
cells renewed their activity. The sudden cessation and rapid re-
newal of the luminous properties of the cells, despite the extreme
changes of temperature, was remarkable and striking. In further ex-
periments the organisms were subjected to the temperature of liquid
air for seven days. The results were again nil. On re-thawing the
organisms renewed their life processes with unimpaired vigor. We
had not yet succeeded in reaching the limits of vitality. Professor
Dewar kindly afforded the opportunity of submitting the organisms
to the temperature of liquid hydrogen — about — 250° C. The same
series of organisms was employed, and again the result was nil. This
temperature is only 21° above that of the absolute zero, a temperature
at which, on our present theoretical conceptions, molecular movement

248 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ceases and the entire range of chemical and physical activities with
which we are acquainted either cease, or, it may be, assume an entirely
new role. This temperature again is iar below that at which any
chemical reaction is known to take place. The fact, then, that life
can continue to exist under such conditions affords new ground for
reflection as to whether after all life is dependent for its continuance
on chemical reactions. We, as biologists, therefore follow with the
keenest interest Professor Dewar's heroic attempts to reach the absolute
zero of temperature; meanwhile, his success has already led us to re-
consider many of the main issues of the problem. And by having af-
forded us a new realm in which to experiment, Professor Dewar has
placed in our hands an agent of investigation from the effective use of
which we who are working at the subject at least hope to gain a little
further insight into the great mystery of life itself.

FLIES AND TYPHOID FEVER. 249

FLIES AND TYPHOID FEVER.

By Dr. L. O. HOWARD,

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

FTEE the outbreak of the late war with Spain in the early sum-
mer of 1898, typhoid fever soon became prevalent in concen-
tration camps in different parts of the country. In many cases — in
fact in fully one-half of the total number — the fever was not recognized
as typhoid for some time, hut towards the close of the summer it was
practically decided that the fever which prevailed was not malarial,
hut enteric. During that summer the medical journals and the news-
papers contained a number of communications from contract sur-
geons au<l others advancing the theory that flies were largely respon-
sible for the spread of the disease, owing to the fact that in many of
these camps the sinks or latrines were placed near the kitchens and
dining tents, and that the enormous quantity of excrement in the sinks
was not properly cared for. One of the most forcible writers on this
topic was Dr. H. A. Veeder, whose paper, entitled 'Flies as Spreaders
of Disease in Camps/ published in the 'New York Medical Record' of
September IT, 1898, brought together a series of observations and
strong arguments in favor of his conclusion that flies are prolific con-
veyors of typhoid under improper camp conditions.

This idea was not a new one. Following the proof of the agency
of flies in the transmission of Asiatic cholera by Tizzoni and Uattani,
Sawtchanko, Simmonds, Uffelmann, Flugge and Macrae, it was shown
by Celli as early as 1888 that flies fed on the pure cultures of Bacillus
typhi abdominalis are able to transmit virulent bacilli in their ex-
crement. Dr. George M. Kober, of Washington, in his lectures before
the Medical College of Georgetown University, had for some years been
insisting upon the agency of flies in the transmission of typhoid, and
in the report of the health officer of the District of Columbia for the
year ending June 30, 1895, referred to the probable transferrence of
typhoid germs from the privies and other receptacles for typhoid stools
to the food supply of the house by the agency of flies.

Moreover, the Surgeon-General of the Army, Dr. George M. Stern-
berg, was fully alive to the great importance of the isolation and dis-
infection of excrement, as evidenced in his prize essay on 'Disinfection
and Personal Prophylaxis in Infectious Diseases,' published by the
American Public Health Association in 1885, and in the first circular
issued from his office in the spring of 1898 (April) careful instruc-

250

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tions were given regarding the preparation of sinks and their care, with
a direct indication of the danger of transfer of typhoid fever by flies.
These instructions were not followed, and the result was that over 21
per cent, of the troops in the national encampments in this country dur-
ing the summer of 1898 had typhoid fever, and over 80 per cent, of the
total number of deaths during that year were from this one cause.*

This condition of affairs was not confined to the United States.
An epidemic occurred in the camp of the Eighth Cavalry at Puerto
Principe, Cuba, in which two hundred and fifty cases of the fever oc-
curred. The disease was imported by the regiment into its Cuban camp,
and Dr. Walter Eeed, U. S. A., upon investigation, reported to the
Surgeon-General that the epidemic "was clearly not due to water
infection, but was transferred from the infected stools of the patients
to the food by means of flies, the conditions being especially favorable
for this manner of dissemination. . . . "f

In all the published accounts, and in all literature of closely allied
subjects, the expression used in connection with the insects has been

Fig. 1. Musca domestica— enlarged.

simply the word 'flies.' Nothing could be more unsatisfactory to the
entomologist than such a general word as this, except it were taken for
granted that the house-fly (Musca domestica) was always meant. It
has not apparently been realized that there are many species of flies
which are attracted to intestinal discharges, nor does it seem to have
been realized that, while certain of these species may visit, and do visit,
food supplies in dining rooms, kitchens and elsewhere, many others
are not likely to be attracted.

In 1895, the writer made a study of the house-fly, not from this

* Conclusions reached after a study of typhoid fever among American soldiers in 1898, hy Dr.
Victor C. Vaughan, a member of the Army Typhoid Commission, read before the annual meet-
ing of the American Medical Association at Atlantic City, N. J., June 6, 1900. 'Philadelphia Med-
ical Journal,' June 9, 1900, pages 1315 to 1325.

t 'Sanitary Lessons of the War,' by George M. Sternberg, Surgeon-General, TJ. S. A., read at
the meeting of the American Medical Association, at Columbus, O., June 6 to 9, 1899. 'Phila.
Med. Jour.,' June 10 and 17, 1899.

FLIES AND TYPHOID FEVER.

251

standpoint, but from a desire to learn the principal source from which
our houses are supplied with this eternal nuisance, with a view to
being able to suggest remedial measures. Experimental work in this
direction was continued for some years. In the course of this work he
early decided that an overwhelming majority of the house-flies found in
domiciles breed in horse manure. This substance is its favored larval
food, and experimental work showed that by the semi-weekly treatment
of the horse manure in one large stable, the house-fly supply of the
neighborhood was very greatly reduced. In confined breeding cages he
had been unable to breed house-flies in any other substance than horse-
dung, and consequently when the camp typhoid question and the agency
of flies became a matter of such general comment in 1898, he saw the
desirability of a careful study of the insects which frequent or breed in
human excrement, in order to give exact data from which reliable state-

Fig. 2. Sepsis violacea— enlarged.

Fig. 3. Nemopoda minuta-
enlarged.

ments could be made and upon which reliable conclusions could be
based. This work was begun and carried on through the summer of
1899 and to some extent in the summer of 1900, with results which will
be briefly summarized in the following paragraphs. The exact details,
somewhat too technical, altogether too long and certainly too un-
pleasant for publication in a journal of this character, will be published
in the Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences.

In all seventy-seven distinct species of flies, belonging to twenty-
one different families, were found by actual observation, either by
rearing or by captures, to be coprophagous; thirty-six species were found
to breed in human fasces under more or less normal conditions, while
forty-one were captured upon such material. All have been studied
with more or less care, and their other habits ascertained. The most

252

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

abundant of the flies reared were Helicobia quadrisetosa, Sepsis violacea,
Nemopoda minuta, Limosina albipennis, Limosina fontinalis, Sphrero-
cera subsultans and Scatophaga furcata, while the most abundant forms
captured were Phormia terramovce and Borborus equinus. In a second
class, not including the most abundant forms reared and captured, but
including species which were rather abundantly found, were Sarcophaga
sarracenice, Sarcophaga assidua, Sarcophaga trivialis, Musca domestica
(the common house-fly), Morellia micans, Muscina stabulans, Myospila
meditabunda, Ophyra leucostoma, Phorbia cinerella, and Spharocera
pasilla, of the reared series, and PseudopyrelUa cornicina and Limosina
crassimana among the captured series. All the others of the seventy-
seven species were either scarce or not abundant.

The results so far stated and the observations made in the inves-
tigation as a whole have a distinct entomological interest, as showing
the exact food habits of a large number of species, many of the obser-

Fig. 4. Scatophaga furcata— enlarged.

vations being novel contributions to the previous knowledge of these
forms. But the principal bearings of the work are only brought out
when we consider which of these forms are likely, from their habits,
actually to convey disease germs from the substance in which they
have bred or which they have frequented to substances upon which
people feed. Therefore, collections of the Dipterous insects (flies)
occurring in kitchens, pantries and dining rooms were made, with
the assistance of correspondents and observers in different parts of the
country, through the summer of 1899, and also in the summer and
autumn of 1900. Such collections were made in the States of Massa-
chusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Nebraska and California. Nearly all of the flies thus
captured were caught upon sheets of the ordinary sticky fly-paper,
which, while ruining them as cabinet specimens, did not disfigure
them beyond the point of specific recognition.

FLIES AND TYPHOID FEVER.

253

In all 23,087 flies were examined.* They were caught in rooms
in which food supplies are ordinarily exposed, and may safely he said
to have been attracted by the presence of these food supplies. Of
these 23,087 flies, 22,808 were Musca domestica; that is to say, 98.8 per
cent, of the whole number captured belonged to the species known as
the common house-fly. The remainder, consisting of 1.2 per cent, of
the whole, comprised various species, the most significant ones being
Homaloymia canicularis (the species ordinarily known as the 'little
house-fly'), of which 81 specimens were captured; the stable-fly
(Muscina stabulans), 37 specimens; Plwra femorata, 33; Lucilia ccesar
(screw-worm fly), 8; Drosophila amelophila, 15; Sarcophagatrivialis, 10;
and Calliphora erythrocephala (the common blow-fly), 7.

Musca domestica is, therefore, the species of greatest importance from

Fig. 5. Sph.erocera subsultans-
enlarged.

Fig. 6. Phormia terr;enov.e-
enlarged.

the food-infesting standpoint; Homaloymia canicularis is important
and Muscina stabulans is of somewhat lesser importance. Drosophila
amelophila, although not occurring in the former list of abundant
species, does rarely breed in excreta and is an important form; it would
have been much more abundant in the records of house captures had
more of these been made in the autumn, after fruit makes its appear-
ance upon the dining tables and sideboards, since this species is the
commonest of the little fruit-flies which are seen flying about ripe
fruit in the fall of the year. The Calliphora and the Lucilia are of
slight importance, not only on account of their rarity in houses, but
because they are not, strictly speaking, true excrement insects. They

* The determination work in the Diptera was all done by the writer's assistant, Mr. D. W.
Coquillett, who is an authority on this group of insects.

254

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

are rather carrion species. Other forms were taken, but either their
household occurrence was probably accidental or from their habits
they have no significance in the disease-transfer function.

It appears plainly that the most abundant species breeding in or
attracted to dejecta do not occur in kitchens and dining rooms, but
it is none the less obvious that while the common house-fly, under
ordinary city and town conditions as they exist at the present day,
and more especially in such cities and towns, or in such portions of
cities as are well cared for and inhabited by a cleanly and respectable
population, may not be considered an imminent source of danger, it
is, nevertheless, under other conditions a factor of the greatest im-
portance in the spreading of enteric fever.

The house-fly undoubtedly prefers horse manure as a breeding
place. We have shown that it is not one of the most abundant species of
flies breeding in or attached to human fasces, but, in the course of the
observations made in the summer of 1899, we have definitely proved

Fig. 7. Sarcophaga assidua— enlarged.

the following facts relative to the house-fly, and in the statement of
these facts it must be remembered that every specimen has been
carefully examined by an expert dipterologist, so that there can be
no mistake:

(1.) In the army camps the latrines are not properly cared for
and where their contents are left exposed, Musca domestica will, and
does, breed in these contents in large numbers, and is attracted to
them without necessary oviposition.

Such observations were not made by the writer at the concentra-
tion camps of 1898, but were made at the summer camps of the
District of Columbia Militia, during the summers of 1899 and 1900.

The contrast between the conditions here observed and those which
existed at the great army camp at the Presidio, San Francisco, Cali-
fornia, as observed by the writer through the courtesy of Surgeon-
General Sternberg and Colonel W. H. Forwood, surgeon in charge of
the Department of California, in the late autumn of 1899, was most

FLIES AND TYPHOID FEVER.

255

striking. At the Presidio camp, the chance for the transfer of typhoid
by flies had by intelligent care been reduced to zero. This, however,
Mas, of course, a more or less permanent camp and opportunities were
better, but indicated in a beautiful way what might be done and what
should be done even in a temporary camp.

(2) In towns where the box privy nuisance is still in existence
the house-fly is attracted to such places to a certain extent, though not
as abundantly as other flies, which, however, are not found in houses.
Observations to this effect were made by the writer and his assistants
in many parts of the United States.

(3.) In the filthy regions of a city, where sanitary supervision is
lax, and where in low alleys and corners and vacant lots deposits are
made by dirty people, the house-fly is attracted to the stools, may breed
in them, and is thus a constant source of danger. The writer has seen
a deposit made over night in South Washington in an alleyway swarm-

FlG. 8. MORELLIA MICANS— ENLARGED.

Fig. 9. Myospila meditabukda— enlarged.

ing with flies, in the bright sunlight of a June morning, temperature
92° F., and within thirty feet of this substance were the open doors and
windows of the kitchens of two houses occupied by poor people, these
two houses being only elements in a long row.

The conclusions which the writer has reached after two years of
this experimental work are:

(1) Of the seventy-seven species of flies found under such conditions
that their bodies, especially their feet and their proboscides, may
become covered with virulent typhoid germs, only eight are likely to
carry them to objects from which they can enter the alimentary canal
of man.

(2) Of these eight species, two, namely, Lucilia ccesar and Calliphora
erythrocephala. can very rarely carry such germs, though they may
carry the germs of putrefaction and cause blood-poisoning, in alighting
upon abrasions of the skin or open wounds.

256

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

(3) Four of these specimens, namely, Homaloymia canicularis,
Muscina stabulans, Phora femoraia and Sarcophaga trivialis, possess •
some degree of importance, but their comparative scarcity in houses •
renders them by no means of prime importance.

(4) The common little fruit-fly, Drosophila ampehphila, is a
dangerous species.

(5) The house-fly is a constant source of danger, and wherever
the least carelessness in the disposal of or the disinfection of dejecta
exists, it becomes an imminent source of danger.

When we consider the prevalence of typhoid fever and the fact
that virulent typhoid bacilli may occur in the excrement of an indi-
vidual for some time before the disease is recognized in him, and that
virulent germs may be found in the excrement for a long time after
the apparent recovery of a patient, the wonder is not that typhoid is
so prevalent, but that it does not prevail to a much greater extent-

Fig. 10. Muscina stabulans— Enlarged.

FlG. 11. I'HORIilA CINEKELLA — ENLARGED.

Box privies should be abolished in every community, or they should be
disinfected daily. The depositing of excrement in the open within the
town or city limits should be considered a punishable misdemeanor
in cities which have not already such regulations, and the law should be
enforced more vigorously in towns in which it is already prohibited.
Such offenses are generally committed after dark, and it is often diffi-
cult, or even impossible, to trace the offender; therefore, the regulations-
should be carried even further, and should require the first responsible
person who notices the deposit to immediately inform the police, so
that it may be removed or covered up. Dead animals are so reported,,
but human excrement is much more dangerous. Boards of health in
all communities should look after the proper treatment or disposal of
horse manure, primarily in order to reduce the number of house-
flies to a minimum, and all regulations regarding the disposal of garbage
and foul matter should be made more stringent and should he more
stringently enforced.

GEOMETRY: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 257

GEOMETRY: ANCIENT AND MODERN.

By Professor EDWIN S. CRAWLEY,

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

AMONGST the records of the most remote antiquity we find little
to lead to the conclusion that geometry was known or studied as
a branch of mathematics. The Babylonians had a remarkably well-
developed number system and were expert astronomers; but, so far as we
know, their knowledge of geometry did not go beyond the construction
of certain more or less regular figures for necromantic purposes. The
Egyptians did better than this, and Egypt is commonly acknowledged
to be the birthplace of geometry. It was a poor kind of geometry, how-
ever, from our point of view, and should rather be designated as a sys-
tem of mensuration. Nevertheless it served as a beginning, and prob-
ably was the means of setting the Greek mind, at work upon this sub-
ject. Our knowledge of Egyptian geometry is obtained from a papyrus
in the British Museum known as the Ahmes Mathematical Papyrus. It
dates from about the eighteenth century B. C, and purports to be a copy
of a document some four or five centuries older. It is the counterpart
of what to-day is called an engineer's hand-book. It contains arithmeti-
cal tables, examples in the solution of simple equations, and rules for
determining the areas of figures and the capacity of certain solids.
There is no hint of anything in the nature of demonstrational geometry,
nor any evidence of how the rules were derived. In fact, they could not
have been obtained as the result of demonstration, for they are generally
wrong. For example, the area of an isosceles triangle is given as the
product of the base and half the side, and that of a trapezoid as the prod-
uct of the half-sums of the opposite sides. These rules give results
which are approximately correct so long as they are applied to triangles
whose altitude is large compared with the base, and to trapezoids which
do not depart very far from a rectangular shape. Whether the Egyp-
tians ever came to realize that these rules were erroneous we cannot say,
but it is known that long after the Greeks had discovered the correct
ones they were still in use. Thus Cajori, 'History of Mathematics,' page
12, says: "On the walls of the celebrated temple of Horus at Edfu have
been found hieroglyphics written about 100 B. C, which enumerate the
pieces of land owned by the priesthood and give their areas. The area
of any quadrilateral, however irregular, is there found by the formula
a + b c + d „

2 — * — 2 * *-a a ^and for one pair of opposite sides and

c and d for the others.] It is plausibly argued that a superstitious tra-

VOL. LVIII.— 17

258 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ditionalism made it an act of sacrilege to alter what had become part of
the sacred writings.

When we consider the conditions of life in Egypt we can easily see
why this particular kind of geometric knowledge so early gained cur-
rency. The annual inundation of the Nile was continually altering the
minor features of the country along its course, and washing away land-
marks between adjacent properties. Some means of re-establishing
these marks and of determining the areas of fields was therefore essen-
tial. To meet this demand the surveyors devised the rules which Ahines
has given us. The further necessity of ascertaining the contents of a
barn of given shape and dimensions likewise gave rise to the rules for
determining volumes.

We learn also that the Egyptians were acquainted with the truth of
the Pythagorean theorem, that the square of the hypotenuse of a right
triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides, for
they applied this knowledge practically by means of a triangle whose
sides were 3, 4 and 5 respectively, in laying down right angles. This
general truth was derived in all probability by deduction from a large
number of individual cases. The Egyptian rule for the area of a circle
was remarkably accurate for such an early date. It consisted in squar-
ing eight-ninths of the diameter. This gives to n the value 3.1605.

It is generally supposed that the Greeks had their attention drawn
to geometry through intercourse with the Egyptians. It was but a step,
however, for them to pass beyond the latter, and with them we find the
birth of the true mathematical spirit which refuses to accept anything
upon authority, but requires a logical demonstration. It is well known
what an important place was held by geometry in Greek philosophy.
The Pythagorean school contributed much that was important along
with a great deal that was fanciful and of little value. Pythagoras him-
self was the first to prove the theorem referred to above, which goes by
his name. The Greeks for the most part pursued the study of geometry
as a purely intellectual exercise. Anything in the nature of practical
applications of the subject was repugnant to them, and hence but little
attention was paid to theorems of mensuration. This reminds one of
the story told of a professor of mathematics in modern times who, in
beginning a course of lectures, made the remark: "Gentlemen, 'to my
mind the most interesting thing about this subject is that I do not see
how under any circumstances it can ever be put to any practical use."
Euclid in his 'Elements' does not mention the theorem that the area of a
triangle is equal to half the product of its base and altitude, nor does he
enter into any discussion of the ratio of the circumference to the diam-
eter of a circle. This last, however, was a problem which as early as
the time of Pythagoras had attracted much attention. 'Squaring the
circle' was a stumbling block to the Greeks and has been ever since.

GEOMETRY: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 259

The pursuit of the impossible seems to have an irresistible attraction for
some minds. This remark applies only to the modern devotees of the
subject, however. The Greeks did not know that the thing they sought
was an impossibility. To square the circle, to trisect an angle and to
duplicate the cube were three problems upon which the Greeks lavished
more attention probably than upon any others. It was not labor
wasted, because it led incidentally to many theorems, which otherwise
might have remained unknown, but the principal object sought was not
attained. To make matters clear it should be stated that to meet the
requirements of Greek geometry the instruments used in the solution
must be only the compasses and the unmarked straight edge. So that
to square the circle meant to construct by these means the side of a
square whose area should equal that of a given circle. The Greeks
eventually succeeded in solving the last two problems by the aid of
curves other than the circle, but this, of course, was unsatisfactory. As
we know now they were pursuing ignes fatui. Nevertheless it is
brought to the knowledge of mathematicians with painful frequency
that a vast amount of energy is still wasted upon these problems, espe-
cially the first. Let me, therefore, take the space here to repeat that
squaring the circle is not simply one of the unsolved problems of
mathematics which is awaiting the happy inspiration of some genius,
but that it has been ably demonstrated to be incapable of solution in
the manner proposed.

When Euclid compiled his 'Elements' the knowledge of geometry
current amongst the Greeks was about the same as that which we have
to-day under the name of elementary geometry. The term Euclidean
geometry has a somewhat different signification, which will be ex-
plained below.

About a century before Euclid's time the Greeks discovered the
conic sections, and Apollonius of Perga, who lived about a century after
Euclid, brought the geometry of these curves to a high degree of per-
fection. Archimedes, whose time was intermediate between that of
Euclid and of Apollonius, had a more practical turn of mind and applied
his mathematical knowledge to useful purposes. Amongst other things

he showed that the value of n lies between 3- and 3=^ that is,

between 3.1429 and 3,1408, a closer approximation than the Egyptian.
We see, therefore, that in the few centuries during which the Greeks
occupied themselves with the study of geometry the knowledge of the
right line, circle and conic sections reached about as high a state of de-
velopment as it was possible to attain until the invention of more pow-
erful methods of research, and many centuries were destined to elapse
before this was to occur. I do not overlook the fact that the beautiful
and extensive modern geometry of the triangle and the systems of re-

26o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

markable points and circles associated with it, which has been developed
by Brocard, Lemoine, Emmerich, Vigarie and others, was within the
reach of the Greeks; but this does not destroy the force of the remark
above.

The operations of mathematics are divided fundamentally into two
kinds, analytic, which employ the symbolism and methods of algebra
(in its broadest sense), and geometric, which consists of the operation of
pure reason upon geometric figure. The two are now only partially
exclusive, however, for analysis is frequently assisted by geometry, and
geometric results are frequently obtained by analytic methods.

With the Greeks, Hindoos and Arabs, the only peoples who con-
cerned themselves to any extent with mathematics until comparatively
modern times, the operations of algebra and geometry were entirely
distinct. With the Hindoos and Arabs algebra received more atten-
tion than geometry and with the Greeks the reverse was true. Many
of the theorems of Euclid are capable of an algebraic interpretation ,
and this fact was probably well known, but nevertheless the theorems
themselves are expressed in geometric terms and are proved by purely
geometric means; and they do not, therefore, constitute a union of
analysis with geometry in the modern sense.

The seventeenth century brought the invention of analytic geome-
try by Descartes and that of the calculus by Newton and Leibnitz.
These methods opened hitherto undreamed-of possibilities in geometric
research and led to the systematic study of curves of all descriptions-
and to a generalization of view in connection with the geom-
etry of the right line, circle and conies, as well as of the
higher curves, which has been of the greatest value to the
modern mathematician. To point out by a very simple illustration the
nature of this work of generalization let us consider the case of a circle
and straight line in the same plane, the line being supposed to be of
indefinite extent. According to the relative position of this line and
circle the Greek geometer would say that the line either meets the
circle, or is tangent to the circle, or that the line does not meet the
circle at all. We say now, however, that the line always meets the
circle in two points, which may be real and distinct, real and coincident
or imaginary. Thus a condition of things which the Greek was obliged
to consider under three different cases we can deal with now as a
single case. This generalized view is a direct consequence of the
analytic treatment of the question.

It will be seen from the illustration used above that two very im-
portant conceptions are introduced into geometry by the use of the
analytic method. One of these is the conception of coincident or con-
secutive points of intersection, as in the case of a tangent, and the other
is that of imaginary elements, as in the case of the imaginary points of

GEOMETRY: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 261

intersection of a line and circle which are co-planar and non-intersect-
ing in the ordinary sense. It is impossible to exaggerate the im-
portance of these conceptions. Without them the beautiful fabric of
modern geometry would not stand a moment. It will be seen to many
readers, no doubt, that a fabric built upon such a foundation will have
very much the same stability as a 'castle in Spain.' Such, however, is
far from the case. The analysis by which our operations proceed is a
thoroughly well founded and trustworthy instrument, and when we
give to it the geometric interpretation which we are entirely justified in
doing, we find frequently that it reveals to us facts which our senses
unaided by its finer powers of interpretation could not have discovered.
These facts require for their adequate explanation the recognition of
the so-called imaginary elements of the figure. Let us take one more
illustration. If from a point outside of, but in the same plane with, a
circle we draw two tangents to the circle and connect the points of
tangency with a straight line, the original point and the line last men-
tioned stand in an important relation to each other and are called re-
spectively pole and polar with regard to the circle. Now suppose the
point is inside the circle. The whole construction just described be-
comes then geometrically impossible, but analytically we can draw from
a point within a circle two imaginary tangents to the circle, and simi-
larly we can connect the imaginary points of tangency by a straight
line, and this straight line is found to be a real line. Moreover, in its
relations to the point and circle it exhibits precisely the same properties
which are found in the case of the pole and polar first described. Hence
this point and line are also included in the general definition of pole
and polar. Such examples might be multiplied indefinitely, but they
would all go to emphasize the fact of the great power of generalization
which resides in the methods of analytic geometry.

While the power of the analytic method as an instrument of re-
search is far greater than that of the older pure geometric method, yet
to many minds it lacks somewhat the beauty and elegance of that
method as an intellectual exercise. This is due to the fact that its
operations, like all algebraic operations, are largely mechanical. Given
the equations representing a certain geometric condition, we subject
these equations to definite transformations and the results obtained de-
note certain new geometric conditions. We have been whisked from
the data to the result very much as we are hurried over the country
in a railroad train. We may have noted the features of the country as
we passed through it or we may not; we arrive at our destination just
the same. Pure geometric research, on the other hand, resembles travel
on foot or horseback. We must scrutinize the landmarks and keep a
careful watch on the direction in which we are traveling, lest we take
•-a wrong turn and fail to reach our destination. The result is that we

262 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

acquire a thorough familiarity with the country through which we pass.
The analytical method, however, affords abundant opportunity for men-
tal activity, although of a different kind from that required in the
other. First, the most advantageous analytic expression for the given
geometric conditions must be sought; then the proper line of analytic
transformation must be determined upon; and finally the result must
be interpreted geometrically. This last step requires keen insight in
order to ensure the full value of the result, for it is here that we often
find far more than we anticipated, or than a casual glance will reveal.

The obligation thus incurred by geometry to analysis has been
largely repaid by the aid which analysis has derived from geometry.
The study of pure analysis is unquestionably the most abstruse branch
of mathematics, but it is now advancing with rapid strides and demands
less and less the aid of geometry. The results of the analytic method
in geometry, however, are too fruitful for it to be either desirable or
possible for us to go back to a condition of complete separation of these
two methods.

Amongst the distinctly modern developments of geometry is what
is known as hyper-geometry, the geometry of space of more than three
dimensions. The fact that the product of two linear dimensions is
representable by an area, and the product of three linear dimensions by
a volume, naturally leads us to ask what is the geometric representa-
tive of the product of four or more linear dimensions. The answer to
this question leads to the ideal conception of space of four or more
dimensions. Just as in space of three dimensions, the space of our
every-day experience, we can draw three concurrent straight lines such
that each one is perpendicular to each of the other two, so in space of
four dimensions it must be possible to draw four concurrent straight
lines such that each one is perpendicular to each of the other three.
It is needless to say it transcends the power of the human mind to
form such a conception, nevertheless it is possible to study the geome-
try of such a space, and much has been done in this way both analyti-
cally and by the methods of pure geometry. If our space has a fourth
dimension (not to speak of any higher dimension) as some mathemati-
cians seem disposed seriously to maintain, a body moved from any posi-
tion in the direction of the fourth dimension will disappear from view.
In fact, it will be annihilated so far as we are concerned. Again, a
body placed in an inclosed space can be removed therefrom while the
walls of the envelope remain intact; or the envelope itself can be turned
inside out without rupturing the walls. For example, it would be
possible to extract the meat from an egg and leave the shell unbroken.
For most persons, however, the geometry of four-dimensional space is
likely to remain a mathematical curiosity, serving no useful purpose
except to furnish an opportunity for acute logical reasoning, for in-

GEOMETRY: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 263

studying the geometry of such space we have only our reasoning powers
to guide us and cannot fall back upon experience, as we so often do
more or less unconsciously, perhaps, in ordinary geometry.

Geometry of three-dimensional space is often studied by projecting
the solid in question upon two or more planes and working with these
plane projections instead of with the solid itself. This is done exclu-
sively in descriptive geometry, the geometry of the engineer and builder
with their plan and elevation, so called. The geometry of four-dimen-
sional figures has been studied in an analogous way. A four-dimen-
sional figure, it should be remarked, is a figure whose bounding parts
are three dimensional figures, just as a three-dimensional figure is
one whose bounding parts are surfaces or two-dimensional figures. A
four-dimensional figure can be projected on a three-dimensional space
and its properties studied from such projections made from different
points of view, corresponding to the plan and elevation of ordinary
geometry. The mathematical department of the University of Pennsyl-
vania has in its possession wire models of solid projections of all the
possible regular four-dimensional hyper-solids, the number of which is
limited in the same way as is the number of regular three-dimensional
solids. These models were constructed, after a careful study of the
question, by Dr. Paul E. Heyl, a recent student and graduate of the
University.

Amongst the subjects of most profound interest to mathe-
maticians of recent years has been an investigation into the foundations
of geometry and analysis. It was found, as the growth of the science
proceeded, that much of fundamental importance, which hitherto had
been accepted without question, would not bear searching scrutiny, and
it began to be feared that the foundation might collapse in places
altogether. We are concerned here with this only so far as it relates to
geometry. Whatever may be said of geometry as a science which pro-
ceeds by pure reason from certain axioms, postulates and definitions,
it is undoubtedly true that for at least the most fundamental concep-
tions we are thrown back upon experience; and that in the matter of
axioms or postulates there is some latitude as to what we shall accept.
Amongst the axioms or postulates given by Euclid is one known as the
parallel-postulate, which states that if two coplanar straight lines are
intersected by a third straight line (transversal) and if the interior
angles on one side of the transversal are together less than two right
angles, the two straight lines, if produced far enough, will meet on the
same side of the transversal on which the sum of the interior angles is
less than two right angles. This is, in fact, a theorem, and it is hardly
possible to suppose that Euclid did not adopt it as a postulate only
after finding that he could neither prove it nor do without it. It be-
longs to a set of theorems which are so connected that if the truth of

264 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

any one of them be assumed the others are readily proved. The
theorem that the sum of the three angles of a triangle is equal to two
right angles belong to this set. Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus, sec-
ond century A. D.) seems to have been the first to publish an attempted
proof of this postulate of Euclid. Almost all mathematicians down to
the beginning of the nineteenth century have given more or less atten-
tion to this question, and the account of their efforts to prove the postu-
late forms one of the most interesting chapters in the history of mathe-
matics. Cajori, in his 'History of Elementary Mathematics/ says,
page 270: "They all fail, either because an equivalent assumption is
implicitly or explicitly made, or because the reasoning is otherwise
fallacious. On this slippery ground good and bad mathematicians alike
have fallen. We are told that the great Lagrange, noticing that the
formulas of spherical trigonometry are not dependent upon the paral-
lel-postulate, hoped to frame a proof on this fact. Toward the close
of his life he wrote a paper on parallel lines and began to read it before
the Academy, but suddenly stopped and said: 'II faut que j'y songe
encore' (I must think it over again); he put the paper in his pocket and
never afterwards publicly recurred to it."

About the time to which I have referred, the end of the eighteenth
aud beginning of the nineteenth century, the idea began to force itself
upon mathematicians that perhaps there was more in the question than
appeared on the surface. It was one of the many instances which have
occurred in all branches of human knowledge where some truth of
fundamental importance has begun to force itself simultaneously on a
number of minds. We leave the significance of this aspect of the ques-
tion to the psychologists. Another curious fact to be noted in connec-
tion with the writings which have finally shown us the true meaning,
of the parallel-postulate is that either they attracted little or no gen-
eral attention when they first appeared, or else they remained unpub-
lished. The names of Lobatchewsky and the Bolyais have been made
immortal by their writings on this subject, but it was not until long
after they were published that their vast importance was recognized.
The inimitable Gauss wrote on the same subject, but left his work un-
published, and Cajori (ibid., p. 274) mentions two writers of much
earlier date who anticipated in part the theories of Lobatchewsky and
the Bolyais. These are Geronimo Saccheri (1667-1733), a Jesuit father
of Milan, and Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728-1777), of Muhlhausen,
Alsace.

Lobatchewsky (Nicholaus Ivanovitch Lobatchewsky, 1793-1856)
conceived the brilliant idea of cutting loose from the parallel-postulate
altogether and succeeded in building up a system of geometry without
its aid. The result is startling to one who has been taught to look upon
Ihe facts of geometry (that is, of the Euclidean geometry) as incon-

GEOMETRY: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 265

trovertible. The denial of the parallel-postulate leaves Lobatchewsky
to face the fact that under the conditions given in the postulate the
two lines, if continually produced, may never meet on that side of the
transversal on which the sum of the interior angles is less than two
right angles. In other words, through a given point we may draw in
a plane any number of distinct lines which will never meet a given line
in the same plane. A result of this is that the sum of the angles of a
triangle is variable (depending on the size of the triangle), but is always
less than two right angles. Notwithstanding the shock to our precon-
ceived notions which such a statement gives, the geometry of
Lobatchewsky is thoroughly logical and consistent. What, then, does
it mean? Simply this: We must seek the true explanation of the
parallel-postulate in the characteristics of the space with which we are
dealing. The Euclidean geometry remains just as true as it ever was,
but it is seen to be limited to a particular kind of space, space of zero-
curvature the mathematicians call it; that is, for two dimensions, space
which conforms to our common notion of a plane. Lobatchewsky's
geometry, on the other hand, is the geometry of a surface of uniform
negative curvature, while ordinary spherical geometry is geometry of
a surface of uniform positive curvature. The Lobatchewskian geometry
is sometimes spoken of as geometry on the pseudo-sphere.

The 'absolute geometry' of the Bolyais (Wolfgang Bolyai de Bolya,
1775-1856, and his son, Johann Bolyai, 1802-1860) is similar to that of
Lobatchewsky. 'The Science Absolute of Space,' by the younger Bol-
yai, published as an appendix to the first volume of his father's work,
has immortalized his name.

The work of Lobatchewsky and the Bolyais has been rendered ac-
cessible to English readers by the translations and contributions of
Prof. George Bruce Halsted, of the University of Texas.

If we proceed beyond the domain of two-dimensional geometry we
merge the ideas of non-Euclidean and hyper-space. The ordinary
triply-extended space of our experience is purely Euclidean; and if we
approach the conception of curvature in such a space it must be curva-
ture in a fourth dimension, and here the mind refuses to follow,
although by pure reasoning we can show what must take place in such
a space.

H. Grassman, Blemann and Beltrami have written profoundly on
these questions, and it is to the last that is due the discovery that the
theorems of the non-Euclidean or Lobatchewskian geometry find their
realization in a space of constant negative curvature.

We naturally ask the question: Is there any reason to suppose that
the space which we inhabit is other than Euclidean? To this a nega-
tive reply must be returned. We may have suspicions, but we have no
evidence. If we could discover a triangle the sum of whose angles by

266 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

actual measurement departs from two right angles, the fact of the non-
Euclidean character of our space would be established at once. But no
such triangle has been discovered. Even the largest, which are con-
cerned in the measurement of stellar parallax, do not help us, and it
does not seem possible to get larger ones. Nevertheless Clifford and
others have shown that some physical phenomena, which require the
conception of elaborate and complex machinery for their explanation,
are capable of very simple explanation upon the hypothesis of a fourth
dimension. Then, too, in the domain of pure mathematics several
phenomena find a ready explanation upon the basis of such an assump-
tion. In the theory of curves we constantly make use of the assump-
tion that a curve may return into itself after passing through infinity,
which is only another aspect of the same hypothesis. In fact, with-
out this aid our processes of generalization, so important to the develop-
ment of modern geometry, would be sadly hampered. Professor New-
comb has carried this matter to its logical conclusion and has deduced
the actual dimensions of the visible universe in terms of the measure-
ment of curvature in the fourth dimension. In such a space it becomes
actually possible for a curve with infinite branches to pass through in-
finity (so-called) and return into itself. Upon this hypothesis our uni-
verse is unbounded in the sense that however far we travel we can never
reach its limits, for it has none, but it is not infinite. Just as we can
travel forever on the surface of the earth without reaching any limits,,
but that surface is not infinite. But even supposing that all this is-
true, the question still presses home: What is beyond?

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 267

AN ADDRESS GIVEN BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF AN-
THROPOLOGY OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION, 1878.

By T. H. HUXLEY.

[Huxley's address at the Dublin meeting of the British Association gives
an admirable account of the condition of anthropological science twenty-
two years ago. It has not been republished in the 'Collected Essays,'
but like everything that Huxley wrote it is worth reading at the present
time.]

WHEN I undertook, with the greatest possible pleasure, to act as
a lieutenant of my friend, the president of this section, I
steadfastly purposed to confine myself to the modest and useful duties
of that position. For reasons, with which it is not worth while to
trouble you, I did not propose to follow the custom which has grown up
in the Association of delivering an address upon the occasion of taking
the chair of a section or department. In clear memory of the admir-
able addresses which you have had the privilege of hearing from Pro-
fessor Flower, and just now from Dr. McDonnell, I can not doubt that
that practice is a very good one; though I would venture to say, to use
a term of philosophy, that it looks very much better from an objective
than from a subjective point of view. But I found that my resolution,
like a great many good resolutions that I have made in the course of
my life, came to very little, and that it was thought desirable that I
should address you in some way. But I must beg of you to understand
that this is no formal address. I have simply announced it as a few
introductory remarks, and I must ask you to forgive whatever of
crudity and imperfection there may be in the mode of expression of
what I have to say, although naturally I shall do my best to take care
that there is neither crudity nor inaccuracy in the substance of it.
It has occurred to me that I might address myself to a point in con-
nection with the business of this department which forces itself more
or less upon the attention of everybody, and which, unless the bellicose
instincts of human nature are less marked on this side of St. George's
Channel than on the other, may possibly have something to do with the
large audiences we are always accustomed to see in the anthropological
department. In the geological section I have no doubt it will be
pointed out to you, or, at any rate, such knowledge may crop up in-
cidentally, that there are on the earth's surface what are called loci
of disturbance, where, for long ages, cataclysms and outbursts of lava
and the like take place. Then everything subsides into quietude;

268 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

but a similar disturbance is set up elsewhere. In Antrim, at the
middle of the tertiary epoch, there was a great center of physical
disturbance. We all know that at the present time the earth's crust,
at any rate, is quiet in Antrim, while the great centers of local dis-
turbance are in Sicily, in Southern Italy, in the Andes and elsewhere.
My experience of the British Association does not extend quite over
a geological epoch, but it does go back rather longer than I care to
think about; and when I first knew the British Association, the locus
of disturbance in it was the geological section. All sorts of terrible
things about the antiquity of the earth, and I know not what else, were
being said there, which gave rise to terrible apprehensions. The whole
world, it was thought, was coming to an end, just as I have no doubt
that, if there were any human inhabitants of Antrim in the middle of
the tertiary epoch, when those great lava streams burst out, they would
not have had the smallest question that the whole universe was going
to pieces. Well, the universe has not gone to pieces. Antrim is,
geologically speaking, a very quiet place now, as well cultivated a place
as one need see, and yielding abundance of excellent produce; and so,
if we turn to the geological section, nothing can be milder than the
proceedings of that admirable body. All the difficulties that they
.seemed to have encountered at first have died away, and statements
that were the horrible paradoxes of that generation are now the com-
monplaces of school boys. At present the locus of disturbance is to
be found in the biological section, and more particularly in the an-
thropological department of that section. History repeats itself, and
precisely the same apprehensions which were expressed by the abo-
rigines of the geological section, in long far back time, are at present
expressed by those who attend our deliberations. The world is coming
to an end, the basis of morality is being shaken, and I don't know what
is not to happen if certain conclusions which appear probable are to be
verified. Well, now, whoever may be here thirty years hence — I cer-
tainly shall not be — but, depend upon it, whoever may be speaking at
the meeting of this department of the British Association thirty years
hence will find, exactly as the members of the geological section have
found, on looking back thirty years, that the very paradoxes and
horrible conclusions, things that are now thought to be going to shake
the foundations of the world, will by that time have become parts of
every-day knowledge and will be taught in our schools as accepted
truth, and nobody will be one whit the worse.

The considerations which I think it desirable to put before you,
in order to show the foundations of this conviction at which I have
very confidently arrived, are of two kinds. The first is a reason based
entirely upon philosophical considerations, namely, this — that the
region of pure physical science, and the region of those questions which

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 269

specially interest ordinary humanity, are apart, and that the con-
clusions reached in the one have no direct effect in the other. If
you acquaint yourself with the history of philosophy, and with the
endless variations of human opinion therein recorded, you will find that
there is not a single one of those speculative difficulties which at the
present time torment many minds as being the direct product of
scientific thought, which is not as old as the times of Greek philosophy,
and which did not then exist as strongly and as clearly as such diffi-
culties exist now, though they arose out of arguments based upon
merely philosophical ideas. Whoever admits these two things — as
everybody who looks about him must do — whoever takes into account
the existence of evil in this world and the law of causation — has be-
fore him all the difficulties that can be raised by any form of scientific
speculation. And these two difficulties have been occupying the minds
of men ever since man began to think. The other consideration I have
to put before you is that, whatever may be the results at which physical
science, as applied to man shall arrive, those results are inevitable —
I mean that they arise out of the necessary progress of scientific thought
as applied to man. You all, I hope, had the opportunity of hearing the
excellent address which was given by our president yesterday, in which
he traced out the marvellous progress of our knowledge of the higher
animals which has been effected since the time of Linnaeus. It is no
exaggeration to say that at this present time the merest tyro knows a
thousand times as much on the subject as is contained in the work of
Linnaeus, which was then the standard authority. Now how has that
been brought about? If you consider what zoology, or the study of
animals, signifies, you will see that it means an endeavor to ascertain
all that can be studied, all the answers that can be given respecting
any animal under four possible points of view. The first of these
embraces considerations of structure. An animal has a certain struc-
ture and a certain mode of development, which means that it passes
through a series of stages to that structure. In the second place,
every animal exhibits a great number of active powers, the knowledge
of which constitutes its physiology; and under those active powers
we have, as physiologists, not only to include such matters as have been
referred to by Dr. McDonnell in his observations, but to take into
account other kinds of activity. I see it announced that the zoological
section of to-day is to have a highly interesting paper by Sir John
Lubbock on the habits of ants. Ants have a policy, and exhibit a
certain amount of intelligence, and all these matters are proper subjects
for the study of the zoologist as far as he deals with the ant. There
is yet a third point of view in which you may regard every animal.
It has a distribution. Not only is it to be found somewhere on the
earth's surface, but paleontology tells us, if we go back in time, that

270 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the great majority of animals have had a past history — that they
occurred in epochs of the world's history far removed from the present.
And when we have acquired all that knowledge which we may enumer-
ate under the heads of anatomy, physiology and distribution, there
remains still the problem of problems to the zoologist, which is the
study of the causes of those phenomena, in order that we may know
how they came about. All these different forms of knowledge and
inquiry are legitimate subjects for science, there being no subject which
is an illegitimate subject for scientific inquiry, except such as involves
a contradiction in terms, or is itself absurd. Indeed, I don't know that
I ought to go quite so far as this at present, for undoubtedly there
are many benighted persons who have been in the habit of calling by
no less hard names conceptions which the president of this meeting
tells us must be regarded with much respect. If we have four dimen-
sions of space we may have forty dimensions, and that would be a long
way beyond that which is conceivable by ordinary powers of imagina-
tion. I should, therefore, not like to draw too closely the limits as
to what may be contradiction to the best-established principles. Now,
let us turn to a proposition which no one can possibly deny — namely,
that there is a distinct sense in which man is an animal. There is
not the smallest doubt of that proposition. If anybody entertains a
misgiving on that point he has simply to walk through the museum
close by, in order to see that man has a structure and a framework
which may be compared, point for point and bone for bone, with those
of the lower animals. There is not the smallest doubt, moreover, that,
as to the manner of his becoming, man is developed, step by step, in
exactly the same way as they are. There is not the smallest doubt that
his activities — not only his mere bodily functions, but his other func-
tions— are just as much the subjects of scientific study as are those of
ants and bees. What we call the phenomena of intelligence, for ex-
ample (as to what else there may be in them, the anthropologist makes
no assertion) — are phenomena following a definite causal order just as
capable of scientific examination, and of being reduced to definite law,
as are all those phenomena which we call physical. Just as ants form
a polity and a social state, and just as these are the proper and legiti-
mate study of the zoologist, so far as he deals with ants, so do men
organize themselves into a social state. And though the province of
politics is of course outside that of anthropology, yet the consideration
of a man, so far as his instincts lead him to construct a social economy,
is a legitimate and proper part of anthropology, precisely in the same
way as the study of the social state of ants is a legitimate object of
zoology. So with regard to other and more subtle phenomena. It
has often been disputed whether in animals there is any trace of the
religious sentiment. That is a legitimate subject of dispute and of

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 271

inquiry; and if it were possible for my friend, Sir John Lubbock, to
point out to you that ants manifest such sentiments, he would have
made a very great and interesting discovery, and no one could doubt
that the ascertainment of such a fact was completely within the prov-
ince of zoology. Anthropology has nothing to do with the truth or
falsehood of religion — it holds itself absolutely and entirely aloof from
such questions — but the natural history of religion, and the origin and
the growth of the religions entertained by the different kinds of the
human race, are within its proper and legitimate province. I now go
a step farther, and pass to the distribution of man. Here, of course,
the anthropologist is in his special region. He endeavors to ascertain
how various modifications of the human stock are arranged upon the
earth's surface. He looks back to the past, and inquires how far the
remains of man can be traced. It is just as legitimate to ascertain how
far the human race goes back in time as it is to ascertain how far the
horse goes back in time; the kind of evidence that is good in the one
case is good in the other; and the conclusions that are forced on us in
the one case are forced on us in the other also. Finally, we come to
the question of the causes of all these phenomena, which, if permissible
in the case of other animals, is permissible in the animal man. What-
ever evidence, whatever chain of reasoning justifies us in concluding
that the horse, for example, has come into existence in a certain
fashion in time, the same evidence and the same canons of logic
justify us to precisely the same extent in drawing the same kind of
conclusions with regard to man. And it is the business of the an-
thropologist to be as severe in his criticism of those matters in respect
to the origin of man as it is the business of the paleontologist to be
strict in regard to the origin of the horse; but for the scientific man
there is neither more nor less reason for dealing critically with the
one case than with the other. Whatever evidence is satisfactory in one
case is satisfactory in the other; and if any one should travel outside
the lines of scientific evidence and endeavor either to support or oppose
conclusions which are based upon distinctly scientific grounds, by con-
siderations which are not in any way based upon scientific logic or
scientific truth — whether that mode of advocacy was in favor of a
given position, or whether it was against it, I, occupying the chair of
the section, should, most undoubtedly, feel myself called upon to call
him to order, and tell him that he was introducing topics with which
we had no concern whatever.

I have occupied your attention for a considerable time, yet there is
still one other point respecting which I should like to say a few words,
because some very striking reflections arise out of it. The British
Association met in Dublin twenty-one years ago, and I have taken the
pains to look up what was done in regard to our subject at that period.

272 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

At that time there was no anthropological department. That study
had not yet differentiated itself from zoology, or anatomy, or physiology
so as to claim for itself a distinct place. Moreover, without reverting
needlessly to the remarks which I placed before you some time ago, it
was a very volcanic subject, and people rather liked to leave it alone.
It was not until a long time subsequently that the present organization
of this section of the Association was brought about; but it is a curious
fact that although truly anthropological subjects were at the time
brought before the geographical section — with the proper subject of
which they had nothing whatever to do — I find, that even then, more
than half of the papers that were brought before that section were,
more or less distinctly, of an anthropological cast. It is very curious
to observe what that cast was. We had systems of language — we
had descriptions of savage races — we had the great question, as it then
was thought, of the unity or multiplicity of the human species. These
were just touched upon, but there was not an allusion in the whole
of the proceedings of the Association, at that time, to those questions
which are now to be regarded as the burning questions of anthropology.
The whole tendency in the present direction was given by the publica-
tion of a single book, and that not a very large one — namely, 'The
Origin of Species.' It was only subsequent to the publication of the
ideas contained in that book that one of the most powerful instruments
for the advance of anthropological knowledge — namely, the Anthropo-
logical Society of Paris — was founded. Afterwards the Anthropo-
logical Institute of this country and the great Anthropological Society
of Berlin came into existence, until it may be said that, at the present
time, there is not a branch of science which is represented by a
larger or more active body of workers than the science of anthropology. .
But the whole of these workers are engaged, more or less intentionally,
in providing the data for attacking the ultimate great problem, whether
the ideas which Darwin has put forward in regard to the animal world
are capable of being applied in the same sense and to the same extent
to man.

That question, I need not say, is not answered. It is a vast and
difficult question, and one for which a complete answer may possibly be
looked for in the next century; but the method of inquiry is under-
stood, and the mode in which the materials bearing on that inquiry
are now being accumulated, the processes by which results are now
obtained, and the observation of new phenomena lead to the belief that
the problem also, some day or other, will be solved. In what sense
I can not tell you. I have my own notion about it, but the question for
the future is the attainment, by scientific processes and methods, of
the solution of that question. If you ask me what has been done within
the last twenty-one years towards this object, or rather towards clear-

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 273

ing the ground in the direction of obtaining a solution, I don't know
that I could lay my hand upon much of a very definite character —
except as to methods of investigation — save in regard to one point. I
have some reason to know that about the year 1860, at any rate,
there was nothing more volcanic, more shocking, more subversive of
everything right and proper, than to put forward the proposition that
as far as physical organization is concerned there is less difference
between man and the highest apes than there is between the highest
apes and the lowest. My memory carries me back sufficiently to re-
mind me that in 1860 that question was not a pleasant one to handle.
The other day I was reading a recently published valuable and inter-
esting work, 'L'espece humaine,' by a very eminent man, M. de
Quatrefages. He is a gentleman who has made these questions his
special study, and has written a great deal and very well about them.
He has always maintained a temperate and fair position, and has been
the opponent of evolutionary ideas, so that I turned with some in-
terest to his work as giving me a record of what I could look on as
the progress of opinion during the last twenty years. If he has any
bias at all, it is one in the opposite direction to that in which my own
studies would lead me. I can not quote his words, for I have not the
book with me, but the substance of them is that the proposition which
I have just put before you is one the truth of which no rational person
acquainted with the facts could dispute. Such is the difference which
twenty years has made in that respect, and speaking in the presence
of a great number of anatomists, who are quite able to decide a question
of this kind, I believe that the opinion of M. de Quatrefages on the
subject is one they will all be prepared to endorse. Well, it is a com-
fort to have got that much out of the way. The second direction in
which I think great progress has been made is with respect to the
processes of anthropometry, in other words, in the modes of obtaining
those data which are necessary for anthropologists to reason upon.
Like all other persons who have to deal with physical science, we
confine ourselves to matters which can be ascertained with precision,
and nothing is more remarkable than the exactness which has been
introduced into the mode of ascertaining the physical qualities of man
within the last twenty-five years. One can not mention the name of
Broca without the greatest gratitude; I am quite sure that, when
Professor Flower brings forward his paper on cranial measurements
on Monday next, you will be surprised to see what precision of method
and what accuracy are now introduced, compared with what existed
twenty-five years ago, into these methods of determining the facts of
man's structure. If, further, we turn to those physiological matters
bearing on anthropology which have been the subject of inquiry within
the last score of years, we find that there has been a vast amount of

VOL. LVIII.— 18

274 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

progress. I would refer you to the very remarkable collection of the
data of sociology by Mr. Herbert Spencer, which contains a mass of
information useful on one side or the other, in getting towards the
truth. Then I would refer you to the highly interesting contributions
which have been made by Prof. Max Miiller and by Mr. Tylor to the
natural history of religions, which is one of the most interesting chap-
ters of anthropology. In regard to another very important topic, the
development of art and the use of tools and weapons, most remarkable
contributions have been made by General Lane Fox, whose museum at
Bethnal Green is one of the most extraordinary exemplifications that
I know of the ingenuity, and, at the same time, of the stupidity of the
human race. Their ingenuity appears in their invention of a given
pattern or form of weapon, and their profound stupidity in this, that
having done so, they kept in the old grooves, and were thus prevented
from getting beyond the primitive type of these objects and of their
ornamentation. One of the most singular things in that museum is the
exemplification of the wonderful tendency of the human mind when
once it has got into a groove to stick there. The great object of
scientific investigation is to run counter to that tendency.

Great progress has been made in the last twenty years in the direc-
tion of the discovery of the indications of man in a fossil state. My
memory goes back to the time when anybody Who broached the notion
of the existence of fossil man would have been simply laughed at. It
was held to be a canon of paleontology that man could not exist in a
fossil state. I don't know why, but it was so; and that fixed idea acted
so strongly on men's minds that they shut their eyes to the plainest
possible evidence. Within the last twenty years we have an astonish-
ing accumulation of evidence of the existence of man in ages antecedent
to those of which we have any historical record. What the actual date
of those times was, and what their relation is to our known historical
epochs, I don't think anybody is in a position to say. But it is beyond
all question that man, and not only man, but what is more to the
purpose intelligent man, existed at times when the whole physical con-
formation of the country was totally different from that which char-
acterizes it now. Whether the evidence we now possess justifies us
in going back further or not, that we can get back as far as the epoch
of the drift is, I think, beyond any rational doubt, and may be re-
garded as something settled. But when it comes to a question as to
the evidence of tracing back man further than that — and recollect the
drift is only the scum of the earth's surface — I must confess that to my
mind, the evidence is of a very dubious character.

Finally, we come to the very interesting question — as to whether,
with such evidence of the existence of man in those times as we have
before us, it is possible to trace in that brief history any evidence of

ADDRESS BEFORE THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 275

the gradual modification from a human type somewhat different from
that which now exists to that which is met with at present. I must
confess that my opinion remains exactly what it was some eighteen
years ago, when I published a little book which I was very sorry to
hear my friend, Professor Flower, allude to yesterday, because I had
hoped that it would have been forgotten amongst the greater scandals
of subsequent times. I did there put forward the opinion that what is
known as the Neanderthal skull is of human remains, that which
presents the most marked and definite characteristics of a lower type —
using the language in the same sense as we would use it in other
branches of zoology. I believe it to belong to the lowest form of
human being of which we have any knowledge, and we know from the
remains accompanying that human being, that as far as all fundamental
points of structure were concerned, he was as much a man — could wear
boots just as easily — as any of us, so that I think the question remains
pretty much where it was. I don't know that there is any reason for
doubting that the men who existed at that day were in all essential
respects similar to the men who exist now. But I must point out to
you that this conviction is by no means inconsistent with the doctrine
of evolution. The horse, which existed at that time, was in all essential
respects identical with the horse which exists now. But we happen
to know that going back further in time the horse presents us with
a series of modifications by which it can be traced back from an earlier
type. Therefore, it must be deemed possible that man is in the same
position, although the facts we have before us with respect to him tell
in neither one way nor the other. I have now nothing more to do
than to thank you for the great kindness and attention with which
you have listened to these informal remarks.

276 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

THE STORY OF AUTONOUS.

By Prof. WILLIAM HENRY HUDSON,

STANFORD UNIVERSITY.

IF any one in these days condescends to read that first favorite with
the youth of bygone generations, 'Robinson Crusoe/ he will be
aware that, disregarding its more subtle meanings and the allegorical
intention upon which the author himself laid so much stress, we may
consider the narrative as a detailed study of self-help. In our actual
world, we depend to an extent which we seldom appreciate upon social
environment, organization, the labors of others and the accumulated
culture-capital of the past. Well, DeFoe takes a man of an eminently
sturdy, courageous and practical type, casts him upon a desert island
and there leaves him to shift for himself. Supplies which he manages
to rescue from the ship give him a fund of materials to start with;
but henceforth he has nothing to rely upon, save his own head and
hands. To follow this plain and simple hero in his successful struggle
against seemingly overwhelming odds does not fall within our present
plan. But the issue shows how, by his own unaided exertions, an
individual may reconstruct for himself a great many of those conditions
of comfortable living which we are apt to assume to be impossible
without the cooperation of others; and thus the mastery of man over
his fate is vindicated — though it would certainly go hard with most
of us if we were thrown into Eobinson Crusoe's position.

Rousseau, who was the first to point out the educational significance
of DeFoe's book, desired that Emile, in studying it, should examine
the mariner's behavior, "to try to find out whether he omitted anything,
and whether anything could have been better done." Questions of
this kind may often have been in the reader's mind and are useful in
bringing out the admirable art exhibited in every episode and detail.
But there is another question which will, perhaps, occur to some, and
which at once carries us beyond DeFoe's own narrative into a very wide
field of speculation. Robinson Crusoe was already a mature man when
he was cast away; he was in full possession of the stored-up resources
of civilization; his mental powers were well developed; he brought
a man's strength and training to bear upon the problems of his life.
The theme of his story is, therefore, on the philosophic side, after all,
a relatively simple and narrow one. But now let us suppose for a
moment that he had been cut adrift from all his social moorings before
education began — before, even, consciousness had awakened to a sense

THE STORY OF AUTONOUS. 277

of outward things. What would have happened to him then? Would
he necessarily have perished? Or, if he survived, would he have grown
into anything better than a brute? What would the course of his life
have been? And can we conceive that, lacking all influence from
without, all family and social intercourse, all idea of human traditions
as embodied in manners, customs, institutions, books, he would ever,
mentally and morally, have reached the full stature of a man?

I am not going to attempt to discuss these questions from the
standpoint of modern science, or in connection with the recent con-
troversies of the evolutionists. My purpose is simply to give some
account of an extremely crude, but none the less quaint and interesting
old book, in which, under the thin guise of a story, an effort is made
to answer them. The little volume is exceedingly rare and is probably
unknown, even by name, to most readers of these pages. An outline
of its contents may, therefore, prove entertaining, if not exactly
instructive.

I must first dismiss some details of a bibliographical character. Re-
ferring, in his Memoirs, to his one-time tutor, John Kirkby, the
historian Gibbon speaks slightingly enough of a work of his which,
aspiring 'to the honors of a philosophical romance,' had brought him a
certain measure of fame. Gibbon cites it by a brief title only — 'The His-
tory of Automathes'; but its full title, after the fashion of the time, set
forth a regular programme, or summary, of the volume — "The Capac-
ity and Extent of the Human Understanding, exemplified in the ex-
traordinary case of Automathes, a young nobleman, who was accidentally
left in his infancy upon a desert island and continued nineteen years
in that solitary state, separate from all human society." The book,
which bears date 1745, was thought by Gibbon to be a kind of com-
pound of 'Robinson Crusoe' and an Arabian story, 'The History of
Hai Ebn Yockdan.' On closer examination, however, it turns out to
be a barefaced plagiarism from a much smaller work, issued anony-
mously nine years before — "The History of Autonous: Containing a
Relation how that young Nobleman was accidentally left alone in
his Infancy, upon a desolate Island, where he lived nineteen years,
remote from all human Society, till taken up by his Father; with an
Account of his Life, Reflections and Improvements in Knowledge
during his Continuance in that Solitary State. The whole as taken
from his own mouth." It is almost incredible that, even in an age
when literary frauds were more frequent and less easily detected than
at present, Kirkby should have dared to publish his own book as
original; but he never appears to have been taken to task for his
conduct, nor, indeed, do readers and critics of 'Automathes' seem to
have known or cared anything about 'Autonous.' But, from a pretty
minute comparison of the two works, in the library of the British

278 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Museum, I am able to state that where Kirkby's dependence upon an
earlier writer is referred to at all — as in the article in the 'Dictionary
of National Biography' — the case for plagiarism is not put half strongly
enough. Kirkby did not merely borrow hints, ideas, episodes; he stole
the entire book, adding, expanding and slightly rearranging in places,
but adhering to the plan of his predecessor and sometimes retaining
his actual phraseology for paragraphs and pages together. To illustrate
these statements would necessitate the reproduction of a number of
lengthy passages, and space cannot here be spared for such an under-
taking. I have said this much to make clear to any reader of Gibbon's
Memoirs, or Scott's fragment of autobiography, why I now disregard
Kirkby's work and confine myself to what was evidently its immediate
Bource and model.*

The writer of the 'History of Autonous,' then, opens his narrative
by telling us how he became acquainted with that young nobleman, at
the University of Eumathema, in the Kingdom of Epinoia. He is
invited to take a short pleasure trip with him in his barge up the
river. It is on this occasion that Antonous entertains his guest with
the story of his life.

His father, Eugenius, chief of one of the most ancient houses in
the kingdom, had married Paramythia, a young lady of 'quality nothing
inferior to himself.' About the time of Autonous's birth, a rebellion
broke out in Epinoia. It was promptly quashed; but, through 'the
underhand Dealing of some ill-designing Persons,' enemies of Eugenius,
he was arrested, tried and found guilty of treason. He was, therefore,
condemned to banishment and the forfeiture of his estates.

With his wife, child and a couple of servants, the unfortunate
nobleman sets sail for a distant land; the ship goes to pieces in a
storm, and all on board perish, except Eugenius, Paramythia and the
baby, who are east upon an uninhabited island. The father manages,
like Eobinson Crusoe, to save some necessaries and a number of
miscellaneous articles from the wreck, and, with these, a little dog,
which afterwards plays an important part in the story.

On examination of the island, it is found that, most fortunately,
there are no 'noxious animals' or venomous creatures there, 'but multi-
tudes of goats, deer and fowls of every kind,' furnishing abundance
of provision. Eugenius hunts with bow and arrow and presently builds
a cottage, in a grove of trees and within view of the sea, in the hope,
like Enoch Arden, of sooner or later sighting a chance sail. But the

* 'Autonous' occupies 117 pages; 'Automathes,' 284. The difference is due partly to Kirkby'
tendency to amplification, and partly to a long critical introduction containing a good deal of
political disquisition, not at all to the point, and incorporating the machinery of a manuscript dis-
covered in a cylinder, which adds neither to the clearness nor to the interest of the subsequent
narrative. (Of course, as we do not know who wrote 'Autonous' there is the chance that this
was a first draft of the later and longer book, by Kirkby himself. But this does not seem likely. )

THE STORY OF AUTO NOUS. 279

island lies out of the ordinary course of vessels; wherefore, but for a
merciful Providence, the little party would have perished one by one — a
catastrophe which, says Autonous with refreshing simplicity, 'wou'd
have depriv'd me of the Opportunity of thus telling my Story.'

Herbs, roots and 'limpid water,' with the produce of the chase,
therefore constitute their fare; and their greatest pleasure, animal wants
being satisfied, is found in 'the usual Eesort of Persons in affliction' —
namely, 'Devotions and Spiritual Exercises.' Incidentally, we are here
treated, in the characteristic style of the eighteenth century, to a brief
disquisition on 'Nature' and 'Luxury'; but this may be skipped as
having nothing directly to do with our narrative. By-and-by, poor Para-
mythia, unable to endure the hardships of the new life, falls sick and
dies. For a time Eugenius is heart-broken. Then he returns to the care
of the helpless baby, and, to obtain milk for him, domesticates a hind.
By mere power of imitation, Autonous learns from the fawn to take
nourishment directly from the animal, while by watching his constant
companion, the dog, he soon begins to dig up edible roots.

Things in this way are prepared for the real commencement of
Autonous's story. The death of his wife preys upon the mind of
Eugenius; he grows restless and spends his time in vain attempts to
devise some means of escape. One unusually clear day, he fancies that
he can detect a faint streak of land upon the far horizon. Upon this,
he patches up the ship's boat, which had been cast ashore, to start out
by himself upon a voyage of discovery. Once more Fate shows herself
against him. The boat, drawn into a swift current, is carried to
another island and afterwards washed away. Eugenius saves himself,
but father and son are now separated.

Autonous is not quite two years old when this happens. For nine-
teen years he lives entirely alone; at the expiration of which time
both he and Eugenius are picked up by a stray ship of war and carried
back to Epinoia. The latter's innocence is forthwith made clear to the
world, and all ends happily. But, it may well be asked, in what con-
dition is Autonous himself, after this long period of isolation? The
good people of Epinoia are surprised, as we in our time are surprised,
to find him acting more like 'a Philosopher than a Savage.' How had
such an amazing result been brought about?

Looking back into the obscurity of his strange past, Autonous
declares his first consciousness to have consisted in the simple sense
of being in the cottage his father had built. He had, of course, no
recollection of anything before his arrival on the island, or of his
father and mother; but he remembered, vaguely, taking 'little journeys'
from the cottage, the guidance or barking of the dog keeping him
from going altogether astray. But he retained no image of the hind
by which he had been suckled, for that portion of his experience

280 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

belonged to the life of instinct and sensation merely. When he awoke
to a realization of himself and the outer world, he found himself living,
as a matter of simple habit, on roots and fruit, to which he had gone,
apparently, in imitation of the animals and birds. "During this Part
of my Life," he says, "my Eational Faculty laid [sic], as it were,
dormant within me. I never made the least Reflection upon my
Condition, nor turned my Thoughts to the Contemplation of anything
about me." Such, Autonous conceives to be "the thoughtless State of
all Persons for the greatest Part of the Childhood, while the Mind
is furnishing itself with Instruments to work with."

With Autonous, however, this condition naturally lasts longer than
with ordinary children, who from the beginning are associated with
older people and have the advantage of the education directly and
indirectly given by such intercourse. But it happens that, while all
children are more or less inquisitive, Autonous is particularly so; and
endowed, moreover, with unusual power of response to the stimuli of
surroundings, he soon begins to gather in, from all sides, the rough
materials of thought.

Happy accident first stirs him to 'serious Reflection/ One exceed-
ingly hot day he strays 'something further than ordinary' from his
cottage; and going to a small lake to quench his thirst, he is surprised
'with the appearance of a creature in the Lake' of a shape very different
from anything he 'ever had seen,' which, as he stoops to the water,
seems to leap upward to him, as if with a design to seize him. He
flies in terror to a neighboring wood; but after a time, his thirst re-
turning, he takes courage again, goes back to the lake and repeats the
experiment; but only with the same dreadful result. This, Autonous
explains, was the first time he had ever seen his reflection in smooth,
still water, having previously drunk from fountains, or from shallow
and rapid streams. He is so terribly frightened that for some weeks
he hardly dares to leave the cottage, while his sleep is broken by 'fearful
Starts and Dreams.' Little by little, the horror wears off, but other
effects do not. He has been aroused to a 'sense of myself,' and begins
to ask — a trifle prematurely, we fancy — 'What am I? How came I
Here?' These questions are rather too definitely put, but the incident
and its consequences certainly foreshadow in an interesting way some
of the speculations of recent anthropologists on the part played by
shadows and reflections in the growth of the idea of the other self,
or soul. Autonous's thoughts, however, take a somewhat different turn.
He later discovers a 'crystal Brook,' in which, to his astonishment, he
observes another sky, another dog, another world. By examination, he
finds that there is, none the less, a real bottom to this brook; and thus
he learns the secret of 'natural Reflection/ Remembering his former
fright, he also studies himself very carefully in the water, and concludes

THE STORY OF AUTO NOUS. 281

that he had been alarmed by his 'own Image and Eesemblance.' From
this, he makes a sudden leap into theories concerning himself and the
manner in which he and the dog had got to be where they are; and
recalling what he had already noted of the 'usual method by which all
other living creatures propagated their likes/ he sapiently infers that
their own coming into the world must have been after the same fashion.
All this must have happened, he believed, when he was about ten years
of age.

The notion that he must have had a beginning somewhere, and
that, though he was now living entirely alone, he was really in some
inscrutable way linked to his kind, is now confirmed by an exami-
nation of his cottage, which up to the present he has accepted unin-
quiringly and as a mere matter of course. Comparing it with the
dwellings of the beavers on the lake-shore, he guessed that it must have
been built by predecessors of his own and arranged for their comfort
and protection. The remains of one of the ship's boats, decaying on
the strand, are, moreover, caught up in his speculation, suggesting
transportation, and hinting, if at first rather vaguely, at a great human
world out of which he has been cast. "But what," exclaims Autonous,
"is the Beginning of Eeason but the Beginning of Sorrow to creatures
whose Eeason can only serve to discover their Wants and Imperfections
to them?" His tranquillity — the tranquillity of mere animal existence —
is at an end. His mind broods continually over the 'Thoughts of
Human Society,' without which he feels there can be no happiness for
him, or even peace. He watches the birds and beasts, and envies their
social lot. Had the boat been in sufficient repair, he feels that he
might even have started off in the wild hope of finding somebody some-
where. "So strong an Inclination has Nature implanted in us for the
Conversation of our Fellow-Creatures, in order to communicate our
joys and griefs and sympathize under one another's sufferings."

Despite this heart -hunger, Autonous now enters on the high-road of
intellectual progress. He begins to observe with close attention the
growth of trees, grass and flowers, and the dependence of all animal
life upon the fertility of the soil. Thus far we can without much
difficulty keep up with him. But from this point he goes forward with
such leaps and bounds that we are left almost breathless in our efforts
to follow. For now he notes how the 'successive Renewals of Nature'
exactly correspond with 'the Motions of the Sun,' and the agreement
between the phases of the moon and the tides. The revolutions of
'the lesser heavenly luminaries' also become the subject of his 'noc-
turnal Contemplations'; moreover, he studies the rainbow, and discovers
the 'necessity of Eain and the solar Heat' to 'ripen the Fruits of the
Earth/

Nor are these the only, or the most astonishing, results of his

282 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

solitary cogitations. He considers 'the admirable Structure of the
Bodies of every Species of Animal' within his reach; is struck by
the detailed adaptations of their faculties to the various conditions of
their lives; and soon learns to appreciate their 'Art and Foresight' in
the preservation of self and young. "In fine," he declares — and by this
time we are, of course, fully aware of the drift of his thought, "I beheld
the marks of Wisdom wherever I cast my Eyes. An universal Harmony
and Dependence appeared through all the Parts of Creation, and the
most neglected Things, when duly examined, were not without their
manifest use; and I was everywhere surprised with an apparently wise
Design, where the least Design was expected."

Had our young Natural Philosopher, we ask, been reading the
'Essay on Man' on the sly? His 'universal Harmony and Dependence'
is only the 'great chain of being7 over again, and when he further
informs us that 'from the works of Nature and Providence' he was
inevitably led to the knowledge of the First Mover,' he is simply
explaining how he looked 'through Nature up to Nature's God.' In
fact, the religious development of Autonous, solitary and untaught,
furnishes us with an interesting illustration of the early eighteenth-
century argument from design. The familiar discussion follows of
'beauty' and 'fitness' as evidences of 'some intelligent Agent,' who is
easily shown to be at once all-wise, all-powerful and all-good. All this,
indeed, belongs to the 'mere Light of Nature.' But we have only to
remember the common eighteenth-century view of the relation of
natural and revealed religion to appreciate the importance of the step
which the lonely youth had now taken.

We may observe, in passing, that the conditions of life on the island
are highly favorable to an optimistic philosophy. Dwelling in a veri-
table little Garden of Eden, where general peace prevails and the red
tooth and claw of nature are seldom shown, Autonous has no difficulty
in believing in a Providence both omnipotent and benign. This is
surely the best of all possible worlds, he might have said, with Leibnitz
and Dr. Pangloss; and there is no rude fact to meet him at the first
turning of the eye and shake his whole scheme to its foundations. But
what if Autonous had been thrown among birds and beasts of prey?
Our author has simplified his task by not raising that question.

Meanwhile the youth is gaining ground in other directions. From
what, in the true style of his time, he calls 'the harmonious Chanting
of the feathered Tribes,' he infers that speech is the 'method used
among men to communicate their minds in conversing one with an-
other'; and from the ignis fatuas and the glow-worm he learns some-
thing, though not as yet much, of fire and light. He also gets a little
practical experience well worth recording. A couple of bottles, saved
by his father from the wreck, have been standing all these years

THE STORY OF AUTONOUS. 283

untouched on a shelf in the cottage. By accident one is broken and
Autonous tastes the contents, which prove to be 'a most delicious and
heady sort of Wine.' He is delighted, straightway opens the other
bottle, and, sad to relate, gets drunk. Having quite by himself dis-
covered the nature of God, he now, quite by himself, discovers the
nature of intoxication. It is by this time apparent, I think, that
Autonous is an unusually wise young fellow. Finding how ill the
potations make him, he very properly throws 'the remainder of this
beautiful Liquor, Bottle and all, into the Sea.'

During the feverish affection brought on by his bout, he walks a
good deal at night, and is lucky enough (for thus, in the order of
Providence, does good grow out of evil) to see the moon in eclipse.
This phenomenon fills him with 'exceeding Amazement,' and for a time
he does not know 'what to make of it.' But he is not the youth to
be long puzzled over a little thing like an eclipse. Presently an eclipse
of the sun occurs — seemingly for his personal benefit. Upon this, he
sets to work in earnest, and soon clears up all the difficulty. Consider-
ing how long it took for the race at large to learn the real nature of an
eclipse, we may regard this as one of our philosopher's most remark-
able performances.

His continued study of animals — 'some of which,' as he sagely
remarks, 'afforded an excellent Pattern of Prudence and Industry, for
the Imitation of Men' — leads to no less important results. Observing
the beavers, in particular, he remarks 'with what true Policy every dis-
tinct Community' is 'governed under its peculiar Monarch' — the only
wonder being that he did not infer from his investigations the principles
of the Hanoverian Succession. Their methods of building houses and
dams, of laying up supplies for the winter and of gnawing down trees
with their teeth, specially delight him; and from their example, and
that of the dog, he learns to swim; thus becoming acquainted with
'fresh matter for wonder5 in the shape of fish. He now devotes a good
deal of time to the contents of the cottage, and takes note of 'two or
three knives and forks,' and a hatchet, the sharpness of which suggests
a use similar to that which the beavers made of their teeth in cutting
trees. Hammer and a bag of nails, a rusty sword, a bow, a silver
tankard and some other utensils are also discovered by him, but these
he confesses that he was never 'so ingenious' as to turn to account.
But he learns the color and malleability of several metals, and as,
by hacking at various articles with the chopper, he deprives them 'of
the forms in which he found them,' so he concludes, by one of his
rapid processes of reasoning, that 'they must by some like Operation' —
by some human power and effort, he presumably means — 'have been
first wrought into the same/

In this part of his story, Autonous of course depends a good deal

284 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

on the then familiar theory that all art arose from observation and
imitation of nature — a theory which often appears in the literature of
the time and which will be at once recognized by readers of Dryden
and Pope.*

A large chest and a couple of boxes, hitherto neglected, are now
ransacked by our inquiring young friend. Much of their contents
merely puzzles him; but he is highly pleased to discover books, white
paper, some lead-pencils, pens, an inkstand, a magnifying glass, a case
of mathematical instruments, a fan, a small looking-glass, a gold watch
and a snuff-box. These form his playthings for some time and, little
by little, he gets to understand the properties of glass and of the
magnifier, the peculiar properties of which he finds to be due 'to
convexity/ But, above all, he is enraptured by the fan, on which is
painted a landscape, with several figures in his 'own shape.' Two in
particular rivet his attention — 'a comely Pair,' who seem 'wholly taken
up with the Contemplation of each other.' They are 'seated under the
Umbrage of a spreading Beech,' and he notes that 'their whole Bodies,
save their Faces and Hands,' are 'hid from Sight under much the same
sort of Coverings' as he had found 'in the Chest and Boxes.' One of
these figures he concludes to be the male, the other the female; and
upon the latter he gazes 'with more than common delight,' very gal-
lantly, as well as very properly, concluding 'that the sex to which she
belongs must be a masterpiece of nature's workmanship.' But the
growth of tender sentiment does not here interfere (as it is occasionally
known to do) with severer studies. Autonous — though he confesses
that, this may be judged 'quite above my capacity' — becomes 'in some
Degree' acquainted with the pencils and paper, the books and instru-
ments; and by dint of pothering over a volume of mathematics he
gleans 'the Principles of that Science,' becoming quite familiar with
the use and form of figures. All this happens about his fifteenth or
sixteenth year, about which time he begins to make various improve-
ments in and about the cottage, laying out the garden in imitation of
the landscape on the fan, repairing the fences, clearing bushes and
shrubs, and generally substituting order for confusion.

All this while Autonous is busy with the 'Contemplation of himself
and ripens apace into a metaphysician. He soon distinguishes between
mind and matter, the former of which he recognizes as the 'only and
proper self,' and by watching closely the procedure of the mind, actually
reaches some notion of the doctrine of the association of ideas. Sleep,
with its phenomenon of unconsciousness and dreams, also engages his
attention, and while he is occupied with these mysterious matters, it
happens that his dog is killed by a beaver. This was Autonous's first

* See 'Annus Mirabilis,' Sec. 155; 'Essay on Man,' Epistle III.

THE STORY OF AUTO NOUS. 285

introduction to death. Keasoning over this occurrence, he advances
step by step to the thought of dissolution and the immortality of the
soul. We may suppose that he is really grieved over the loss of his
faithful companion, but of this he says very little. And we have heard
of other philosophers who, preoccupied with such questions as God,
freedom and immortality, have had small energy to spare for ordinary
mundane affairs.

Having followed Autonous in some detail up to this point, we shall
probably express no great surprise when we learn of his further achieve-
ments, practical and intellectual. Passing over such feats as the inven-
tion of a sun-dial and the fashioning of a quadrant, we come at length
to an important discovery which is made by simple accident. One day,
while he is chopping down a tree, his hatchet strikes fire, some chips
are ignited and he burns his fingers. Of course, he goes to work to
experiment on this new element, fire, and in his pursuit of knowledge
under difficulties, not only nearly burns down his cottage, but does, in
fact, destroy a good deal of property and a number of animals. In this
way he learns very effectually that fire, though a good servant, is a bad
master. Indirectly, another consequence follows. His alarming adven-
ture rather oddly gives him 'the first sad experience of the severe Lashes
of a self-condemning Conscience'; a trouble compared with which he
finds that all his other sorrows were* as nothing. With such a youth as
Autonous, the remote results of this discovery may be easily anticipated.
An 'inward Sense of guilt and shame' arises; he begins to realize the
"natural Depravity and Perverseness' of his temper; and a new idea —
the idea of Duty — takes shape in his mind. He begins to reflect on
the 'great Disorders of the Soul,' of which other creatures on the island
seem to know nothing, and comes slowly to feel that the world is
'nothing else but a black scene' of 'wickedness and impiety.' Having
thought out for himself the principles of natural religion, our young
theologian is, as we see, on the high-road to Christianity. Man by
nature, he concludes, is in an 'indigent and imperfect State,' and is
evidently so placed that he may be kept in a due sense of dependence
on God. Hence the need of 'some Supernatural means' by which God
must have made known His will to men; hence the inevitableness of
prayer and supplication; and hence the necessity of a future life, with
rewards and punishments, as the logical completion of the scheme of
salvation.

The long course of Autonous's education* is now complete, and
there is nothing left for him but to be rescued and brought into human

* It will be observed that by a striking oversight (whether intentional or not I cannot say)
not a word is said about the question of language. Autonous clearly did not evolve this by him-
self, though, as we have seen, he had arrived at the idea of intercourse through speech. He
must, therefore, on his return to civilization, have been in the condition of a dumb philosopher
unable, till taught, to put his thoughts into language.

286 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

society. He is now, we remember, at the end of his twenty-first year,
and our obvious comment is that he is well advanced for his age. With
his return to civilized life, the story properly closes; but the author of
the second work — the 'History of Automathes' — adds something on his
own account to clinch the moral. The immense progress which the
youth was able, by himself, to make was not, we are asked to recollect,
due to inward natural capacity. Had he been thrown entirely on his
own resources after his father's departure — had he, that is, been
deprived of the various aids his father left behind him — he would
inevitably have perished, or, surviving, have sunk to the level of the
brutes. In such a condition the race at large would have remained
in default of assistance from without. Hence, argues the author,
civilization must have depended, at the first, upon supernatural revela-
tion. Particularly must this have been the case, he further insists —
though the history of Autonous (or Automathes) hardly sustains the
contention — with all religious knowledge. We must, therefore, assume
a primeval revelation to all men, shadows and survivals of which are
to be found in heathen mythologies and extra-Christian speculations.*

It is almost a pity, we are tempted to say, as we lay the strange
little book aside, that Autonous was rescued just when he was. Having
on his own account discovered so many things which it has taken
humanity thousands of years to find out, he might, had he been left
alone, have pushed his researches into who knows what fresh domains
of science, theoretical and applied. Or perhaps, it may be suggested,
his achievements were, after all, due to his peculiar conditions — to
abandon a child on an uninhabited island may, in other words, be the
very best way of developing his faculties. In an age which has already
gone wild over educational theories, some one may be glad to take this
idea under consideration.

More serious comment is unnecessary. Our brief outline will have
sufficed to show the extravagance of Autonous's story, the clumsiness
of its machinery and its general lack of plausibility. Its further weak-
ness as a culture-study — the introduction of too many human aids to
mental growth — will also be equally apparent; though this is probably
referable to the author's realization of the impossibility of getting on
without such assistance, as testified in the actual case of the then famous
Wild Boy of Germany. But the little book does open up a number of
fascinating questions, and, in closing it, we may well ask why, in these
days of scientific and psychological fiction, some novelist in search of
fresh material does not try his hand on what is surely a not uninterest-
ing or unfruitful theme.

* Compare Dryden, ' Introduction to Religio Laici.'

THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF FRANCE. 287

THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF FRANCE.

By Dr. EDWARD D. JONES,

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.

THE country of France, by reason of its position, has been forced
into prominence in the life of Western Europe. The nation is
surrounded by powerful peoples of diverse types, and because of its cen-
tral location has perhaps developed a more cosmopolitan culture than
its neighbors. The French people are separated most completely by
the natural features of their boundaries from those races most closely
resembling them. The road is open where the antagonism of types
is greatest. The continental position of France has involved her in
the troubles as well as in the reforms of her neighbors, and has opened
the door to conquest, but left it open to invaders.

The internal geography of France shows no such extensive moun-
tainous regions, or other sharp geographical divisions, as exist in the
British Islands. The vanquished races of France have therefore not
been able to retain their separate nationalities as completely as have
the Scotch, Welsh and Irish. The British Islands are open on all sides
to the sea, and with their abundant harbors have trained up a nation
of sailors and colonists to carry Anglo-Saxon culture around the world.
France is compact in outline, and though she has much coast, lacks
good harbors. The activity of the national mind has been turned in-
ward. This betrays itself in the intense patriotism of the people, in
the influence exerted by the national capital and in the failure of
France as a colonial power.

The region included in European France comprises about one two-
hundred-and-fiftieth of the land of the earth, and about one eighteenth
of Europe. The area is 204,150 square miles, or about twice that of
the British Islands. The water boundaries are as follows: Medi-
terranean Sea coast, 395 miles; North Sea, Straits of Dover and English
•Channel, 572 miles; Atlantic Ocean, 584 miles.

The boundary between France and Spain coincides, for the most
part, with the crest of the Pyrenees Mountains. It is, from the eco-
nomic point of view, a veritable 'wall of separation.' Indeed, it is a
well-nigh impassable boundary, as may be seen from the Spanish
proverb describing the passes of these mountains — "A son would not
wait there for his father." Communication between France and Spain
is carried on by means of railways, near the Mediterranean and Atlan-
tic coasts, and by water. The French slope of the Pyrenees is a pas-

288 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

toral country. Because of the regularity of the mountain chain this
region affords an unrivaled opportunity to study social structure as
influenced by altitude. In the upper mountain valleys the shepherds
group their homes into clusters of houses. From them the flocks are
led out to pasture, for weeks at a time, on the highest slopes that sup-
port vegetation. In these altitudes there are no true villages except
where a military station and a custom house draw a few troops and
officers together, or where springs have given rise to water-cures. No
minerals have drawn thither a mining population. There is nothing
but water, forest and pasture. Ten or twelve miles down the moun-
tains the upper valleys open into larger ones. At these outlets are
the mountain market towns. These mark the ends of the railway
spurs, and from them the shepherds procure their supplies. Another
twelve miles down, and the level plains are reached. Close to the
openings of the lower valleys the railway branches join to form railway
centers, and towns of considerable size have grown up to transact
the business between the mountain and the plain.

Between Italy and France the highest portion of the Alpine range
intervenes. Over these mountains the Eoman legions and the soldiers
of Hannibal toiled. But here has been achieved one of the most strik-
ing of the conquests of man over nature. The Mount Cenis railway
tunnel route, which pierces these mountains, carries the modern tourist
from the Ehone to the cities of the upper Po Valley in a few hours.
The French slopes of the Alps support only a scant population of moun-
taineers. Many of these migrate in winter to the plains in search of
work, or, housed for long months in their frozen valleys, devote them-
selves to household industries or to reading and self-education. It is
a matter of general remark in the towns of the Ehone Valley that the ■
schoolmasters come from the mountains.

Switzerland and France are divided by the Jura Mountains, but
through the Pass of Belfort a large commerce finds passageway. The
Jura present a semi-Swiss character, though, compared with the Alps,
they are less lofty, differ in geological structure, and receive a greater
rainfall. They are noted for luxuriant pastures and dense forests. The
chief industries are cattle raising and the manufacture of butter and
cheese. In the latter business the co-operative form of industry largely
prevails. The rivulets of the mountains afford numerous small water-
powers, which are employed in wood-working and the manufacture of
watches. Besancon is the watch market of the region. From the
timber are made casks for the wine merchants of Champagne.

North of the Jura lie the Vosges Mountains, along the crest of
which the Germans have placed their boundary for some distance.
The slopes of the Vosges toward Alsace are steep; those toward France
are gradual. The rains which water the region come from the west.

TEE ECONOMIC LIFE OF FRANCE. 289

The French slopes are, therefore, forest-covered, while in Alsace the
lower hills are devoted to the vine, and the upper to grain.

North of the Vosges the boundary line across the plateau of Lor-
raine before plunging into the rugged forests of the Ardennes. From
the latter it finally emerges upon the coast plains to form the Belgian
frontier. Between Belgium and France the political boundary is
purely arbitrary. There is not an economic boundary, but rather a
hive of industry between the two peoples. The political grouping does
not correspond with that of race or language.

This hasty review of the land boundaries of France has embraced
the consideration of five distinct mountain regions. The general re-
lief of France is less uniform than that of Prussia or Russia, but more
uniform than that of Spain or Italy. Forty-six per cent, of French
territory is classed as mountainous. Nevertheless, variations in alti-
tude are softened, and there is in France a great deal of what might
be called transitional country. The highest mountains are fortunately
upon the borders, and but two other regions of broken country need to
be considered.

Let us, then, turn from the boundaries to the internal geography of
France, and first of all complete our enumeration of mountain areas
by considering the Central Highlands and Brittany.

In the south central part of the country there exists an extensive
semi-barren plateau of highly fractured, crystalline, eruptive and vol-
canic rocks. It slopes sharply to the Rhone on the east, more gently
to the Garonne River on the southwest, and to the Loire River on the
north. The rocks of this region are so fractured that the rains which
fall upon them sink almost immediately out of sight. The country is
graced by no transparent mountain lakes or sparkling rivulets. Water
must be carefully collected in cisterns or laboriously transported from
lower levels. Lack of moisture and the forbidding character of the
rock make the pastures so meagre that only sheep and goats can be
supported. From them is won the wool which supports a household
industry, and from their milk cheese is made. In the eleventh cen-
tury the cheese of the little village of Roquefort was put away in a
rock cave to 'ripen'. It was soon found that this cheese possessed re-
markable excellence of flavor. Its fame spread widely, and a new use
was from that time found for the caverns which abound in the Cevennes
Mountains. The demand was so great that 'bastard caverns' were
excavated in the hope of securing the coveted flavor, but the cheese in
them has never acquired the properties of real Roquefort. The west-
ern slopes of the Central Highlands receive a greater rainfall and
possess a more durable pasturage and a more dense population than
the eastern. Auvergne is celebrated as the home of sharp cattle mer-
chants, as well as of the peddlers of France. The central plateau has

VOL. LVIII.— 19

290 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

been aptly termed, by the French, a 'pole of divergence/ from which
the population migrate in all directions, but especially toward the
northern plains, within which lies the pole of attraction.

The peninsula of Brittany, with its backbone of crystalline rock,
may be counted as a semi-mountainous region. It much resembles the
English peninsula of Cornwall. But Britanny contains no attractive
mineral deposits, so it has longer remained a world apart than has
Cornwall, and it still shields many ancient prejudices and practices.
The interior districts are, in analogy with Cornwall, of inferior, un-
attractive character, but agriculture and the dairy industry are profit-
ably carried on along the coast. This region is the only one in France
abounding in good harbors. The sea is the mainstay of a large part of
the population. The fisheries yield herring, sardines, mackerel,
lobsters and oysters. The four departments which compose Brittany
furnish the merchant marine of France with one-fifth of its sailors,
while eighty-two other departments supply the remainder.

The portions of France still remaining to be treated may be grouped
into river- valley and coast regions. Beginning with the southeast, we
have, along the Mediterranean coast, the sea of ancient Phoenician,
Greek and Eoman colonies. This coast is divided into two very dis-
tinct portions, separated by the mouths of the Rhone Eiver. The east-
ern section comprises the Mediterranean foot-hills of the Alpine sys-
tem. It is a region of bold cliffs and promontories. It contains several
excellent harbors, among which are Marseilles, Nice and Toulon, the
last being the first naval station of France. This high, well-drained,
romantic coast-land, forming part of the Riviera, is the most popular
resort of Europe. Here are Cannes, Nice, Menton and the little prin-
cipality of Monaco, possessing independence to no better purpose than,
to license the gaming tables of Monte Carlo. A little distance from
the coast are the romantic islands called by the ancients the Islands of
the Hesperides. To the west of the Rhone are to be found low, sandy
plains, which stretch away to the foot of the Pyrenees. Toward the
coast these give way to malarial swamps. Over these extensive marshes
roam herds of half -wild cattle and horses, pastured in the mountains in
summer, and brought to the coast in winter, just as are the wild bulls
that inhabit the swamps about the mouth of the Guadalquivir in Spain.
The inhabitants of the region have to contend with an unhealthy cli-
mate. Agriculture implies an expensive system of drainage. The
wind-mills used for pumping give to the landscape a striking re-
semblance to Holland. Along the coast bay salt is evaporated by solar
heat. The cities, because they require firm ground for their location,
are of necessity situated a long distance inland. This fact has pre-
vented Languedoc from being a commercial country.

Between the Alps and the Central Highlands intervenes the valley

THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF FRANCE. 291

of the Rhone, which forms the highway across western Europe from
the Mediterranean to the northern plains. The Rhone Valley is a nar-
row one. In the south the culture of silk-worms forms a special in-
dustry. At Lyons the manufacture of silk is located. Between these
two regions there are detached areas suitable for agriculture. The
Rhone is a beautiful stream of transparent blue water and swift current.
The Saone Valley forms the northern continuation of the Rhone. It
is transitional in character, having in the east the characteristics of the
wooded Jura, in the west those of the parched Cote d'Or, and of the
vineyards where Burgundy and Champagne are produced. Here also
are blended the races and dialects of the north and south of France.

In the southwestern corner of the Republic spreads out the valley
of the Garonne. The winds from the Atlantic which blow up this val-
ley are caught as in a sack, and a rainfall is precipitated, which reaches
each of the tributaries of the Garonne. Because of this, the river is
subject to great variations of depth. It is not amenable to commercial
uses, and has been paralleled by a canal. The region about the lower
course of the river is devoted to wine producing, the product being
named after the market 'Bordeaux/ South of the Garonne extends
the level barren moor of the Landes, reaching as far as the foot-hills
of the Pyrenees. This region is, in summer, a baked steppe; in winter,
an almost endless morass. Steps are now being taken to reclaim the
soil by drainage and by planting forests of cork oak. The chances are
good that it will soon be converted into a habitable country.

From the northern slopes of the Central Highlands flow the waters
which form the Loire River. This river flows first north, and then
westward, through a long, narrow fertile valley, emptying into the At-
lantic south of the peninsula of Brittany. Its course, at Orleans, lies
through the grain fields of France. At Angers are extensive nurseries
and market gardens, while hemp-growing and manufacture are promi-
nent. On the lower course of the Loire is the port of Nantes, the tra-
ditional receiving station for such groceries as are called 'colonial
wares' on the Continent.

Preeminent among the rivers of France is the Seine, which gathers
the streams of the gently sloping northern plains of France and flows
with even tide into the English Channel. Early in its course it passes
the centers of manufacture, and is cut up to afford water power. From
Paris to Havre the banks are so closely built up that the Seine has
been called a river-street. The largest river basin of France is that
of the Loire; the most diversified that of the Rhone. The most fertile
is the Garonne Valley, and the most densely populated the Valley of
the Seine. The Seine has those qualities in a river which render it
useful to man. As Michelet says: "It has not the capricious, per-
fidious softness of the Loire, nor the rough ways of the Garonne, nor

2Q2 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the terrible impetuosity of the Ehone, which comes down like a bull
escaped from the Alps, traverses a lake fifty miles long, and rushes to
the sea, biting at its shores as it goes."

Having thus reviewed some of the characteristics of the chief re-
gions of France, let us consider the distribution of the population,
and the location and character of the chief industries, agricultural,
manufacturing and commercial, which are carried on by the French
people. The population of France amounts to thirty-eight and one-
half million souls. The rate of increase has been, for a number of
years, less than that of surrounding nations. Because of this fact it
may be observed that foreign nationalities are encroaching upon French
territory from various sides. The Spaniards are flowing in around the
eastern and western ends of the Pyrenees. The Italians invade Pro-
vence, and the Belgians and Germans the northeastern portion of the
country, while there are large colonies of foreigners in Paris itself.
Within the last forty years the internal movements of the population
show that the valleys have gained at the expense of the mountains.
The north has increased more rapidly than the south. The coal regions
have amassed dense populations. The city portion of the population
has risen from 24.42 per cent, in 1846 to 35.95 per cent, in 1886. Ag-
gregate figures show that in that time the city population has been
increased by five millions, while the country population has decreased
two millions. The occupational statistics still show, however, that
France is to be classed as preeminently an agricultural nation. Agri-
culture and industry are, however, not increasing as rapidly as com-
merce.

The peasantry of France are the foundation strata of the industrial
pyramid upon which the superstructure of manufactures and com-
merce rests. They are a frugal and industrious class. Holdings of
land are small in the fertile valleys, larger in the pasture country and
communal in the mountains, where the land remains in a state of nature
and where the shepherd must needs range widely with his flocks. The
higher portions of the Pyrenees, Alps and Central Highlands are the
sheep walks of France. Between these and the valleys stretches the
belt of heavy pastures devoted to cattle-raising. As in England one
hears of Scotch and Welsh cattle, so in France one hears of the
cattle of Auvergne and Brittany. The stock are grown to full size in
the pastures, and are then (such at least as are designed for Paris)
shipped to the fertile plains around Paris, to be stall-fed
and fattened. In like manner, the cattle sent to London
from the north of England are 'finished,' to use the trade
phrase, in a semicircle of country to the north of that city. The dairy
industry must be sharply distinguished from cattle-raising. The eco-
nomic problems presented by the two are quite different. In France

THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF FRANCE. 293

the dairy industry nourishes, especially in the low-lying, moist plains
which border the English Channel. France has been divided into four
agricultural regions. The first is the land of the olive, bordering the
Mediterranean; the second, to the north of the other, is the corn belt,
extending in the west to the island of Oleron; in the east, to the middle
of the Vosges Mountains. The third is the vine country, limited on
the north by a line drawn from the mouth of the Loire to the middle
of the Ardennes. The vine is grown throughout central and southern
France in detached areas, wherever the soil and exposure especially
favor it. The northern plains compose the fourth agricultural region.
They are devoted to grain, flax, potatoes, apples, small fruits and garden
produce. Southwest of Paris lies the fertile plain of Beauce, the
'Granary of France,' described by Zola in 'La Terre,' and pictured by
Millet. Agricultural methods are in the main clumsy and imperfect,
and their defects are made up only by grinding toil. This condition
of things has been explained as due to the conservatism of the peasant.
There is an absence of newspapers and farmers' organizations to spread
scientific knowledge concerning the processes of agriculture. The
prevalence of small holdings prevents the profitable use of expensive
agricultural machinery on private account. While the price of land is
high, foreign competition keeps the price of staple products low.

As to mineral resources, France is generally accounted under, rather
than over, supplied. There is everywhere an abundance of building-
stone. Paris has exhaustless supplies within the municipal area. This
has had not a little to do with the splendor and durability of Parisian
architecture, which contrasts favorably with the brick of London and
the stucco of Berlin. In the northwestern portion of the Central High-
lands the mountains of Limonsin afford unexcelled porcelain clays,
from which the famous Limoges china is made. The Jura Mountains
produce mill-stones and lithographic stones. Brittany has a little tin.
The Pyrenees offer nothing but mineral waters, except some iron in the
extreme east. At Baccarat, in the Vosges, the ingredients for glass
are found, and St. Gobain and St. Quirin manufacture plate glass.
Nevertheless, France has perhaps less mineral wealth than any other
well-known country of like extent. The chief defect is in connection
with the supplies of iron and coal. Iron ore must always be trans-
ported to coal, for in producing iron two tons of coal are required to
one ton of ore. It is to be desired, therefore, that coal should exist in
large beds, accessible to the miner, and of proper quality for coking.
Iron, though it may be in small deposits, should be free from certain
impurities and not far distant from fuel and flux. France has no
large beds of fine coal, and her iron ore is not of high grade; neither is
it advantageously located with reference to coal. The largest collieries
are in the extreme northeast, and extend across the border into Belgium.

294 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Other important beds are southwest of Lyons at St. Etienne, and north-
west of Lyons near Creuzot. Some anthracite is found in the Alps;
some lignite near Marseilles.

The manufactures of France depend more largely upon skill and
artistic ability, and less upon cheap coal and raw materials, than do
those of England or Germany. The use of the 'factory system' secures
the advantage of cheap motive power and the economy of machines, but
it does not so much further the utilization of skill. This accounts, in
part, for the persistence of household industries in France. The dis-
tribution of industrial skill depends upon the location of trade centers,
where the traditions of craft have been handed down from generation
to generation of workers. Here and there one finds an industry that
grew up under royal patronage, often carried on for a time, as an exotic
by Italian workmen, as was the case with the silk manufactures of
Lyons. The industries of many towns are the survivals of those
founded when the place was one of the privileged cities in which the
Protestants were allowed to live and carry on trade. In other places
industries are still carried on where they were attracted by mediaeval
church fairs, or royal courts, or by water powers no longer utilized, or
harbors now silted up. Skill is a relatively immobile economic factor.
The supplies of raw silk are either imported at or grown close to Mar-
seilles, but to be manufactured they must be taken as far north as
Lyons to secure a healthy and temperate climate. The manufacture
of woolens is located at five points in France, each being midway be-
tween sheep-raising highlands and the populated valleys where markets
are found. The supplies of raw cotton come chiefly from America, and
are landed at Le Havre. Cotton manufacturing requires exactly such
a moist climate as there prevails. It is, therefore, carried on in the
lower valley of the Seine, or, at most, is removed but a short distance
to the east to secure coal and a labor market. The linen manufactories
are naturally in a flax-growing country, and center at Amiens and
Lille. The Liverpool of France is Le Havre. Its Birmingham is St.
Etienne. The French Manchester is said to be Montlucon. The bank
center and city of diversified industries, corresponding to London, is
Paris. There a vast variety of art goods, conveniences and luxuries,
such as Gobelin's tapestry and articles de vertu, collectively known to
the trade as 'Articles of Paris,' are manufactured.

The commercial routes of France have been remarkably distinct
from the earliest historical times. The railways of France have opened
fewer new arteries of trade, and have destroyed less of the old equili-
brium of industry than it has been their fate to do in most other coun-
tries. The distribution of large cities serves well to show where these
commercial highways are located. The southern trade moves from
Marseilles to the Ehone Valley, and across the plains to Paris, or it

THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF FRANCE. 295

passes to the west down the Garonne Valley to Bordeaux From Bor-
deaux a route passes northward, to the west of the highlands, and along
the coast to the city of Tours. At Tours this stream of trade is joined
by that from the southern and western seas, and is carried inland to
Paris. The great capital receives these streams from the south and
feeds, and is in turn fed, from the fan-shaped network of commercial
highways which branch out in every direction over the plains of the
north. The chief of these bring Paris into close communication with
Belgium and the coast.

Paris is situated in the center of the largest habitable plain of
France. It is at the place where the road from the Mediterranean
crosses the overland route from Spain to the low countries. The capi-
tal is near enough to the most important disputed boundaries to be able
to throw the power of the nation into their protection, yet it is far
enough inland from the channel to be safe from naval attack. The
latitude gives Paris a climate which permits of continuous labor, and
does not unduly complicate municipal sanitary problems. The me-
tropolis is surrounded by regions which supplement one another in a
beautiful manner in ministering to her necessities. On the northeast
is a group of large cities devoted to the textile industries. In the south-
east are the chalk plains, famous for wine. From the southwest comes
grain. Due west are the Percheron and Norman hills furnishing their
celebrated breeds of horses, while from further away, Brittany sends
butter and eggs, honey and fish. Along the shores in the north and
west are the ports of Dunkerque, Calais, Dieppe and Le Havre, for
communication, while the lover of surf bathing finds the beach of
Trouville not far away. The immediate environs have had not a little
to do with the prosperity of the city. The merits of these are abundant
artesian water and fine building- stone, a fertile surrounding soil able
to assist in provisioning a metropolis, and romantic beauty of land-
scape, able, in the days of a monarchy, to attract a king to erect palaces
and, in those of a republic, to stimulate a matter-of-fact bourgeois, and
refresh an exhausted ouvrier on a holiday outing.

296 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

PEARSON'S GRAMMAR OF SCIENCE.
ANNOTATIONS ON THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS.

By C. S. PEIRCE.

IF any follower of Dr. Pearson thinks that in the observations I am
about to make I am not sufficiently respectful to his master, I can
assure him that without a high opinion of his powers I should not
have taken the trouble to make these annotations, and without a higher
opinion still, I should not have used the bluntness which becomes the
impersonal discussions of mathematicians.

An introductory chapter of ethical content sounds the dominant
note of the book. The author opens with the declaration that our
conduct ought to be regulated by the Darwinian theory. Since that
theory is an attempt to show how natural causes tend to impart to
stocks of animals and plants characters which, in the long run, pro-
mote reproduction and thus insure the continuance of those stocks, it
would seem that making Darwinism the guide of conduct ought to
mean that the continuance of the race is to be taken as the summum
bonum, and 'Multiplicamini' as the epitome of the moral law. Pro-
fessor Pearson, however, understands the matter a little differently,
expressing himself thus: "The sole reason [for encouraging] any form
of human activity . . . lies in this: [its] existence tends to pro-
mote the welfare of human society, to increase social happiness, or
to strengthen social stability. In the spirit of the age we are bound
to question the value of science; to ask in what way it increases the
happiness of mankind or promotes social efficiency."

The second of these two statements omits the phrase, 'the welfare
of human society,' which conveys no definite meaning; and we may,
therefore, regard it as a mere diluent, adding nothing to the essence
of what is laid down. Strict adhesion to Darwinian principles would
preclude the admission of the 'happiness of mankind' as an ultimate
aim. For on those principles everything is directed to the continuance
of the stock, and the individual is utterly of no account, except in so
far as he is an agent of reproduction. Now there is no other happiness
of mankind than the happiness of individual men. We must, therefore,
regard this clause as logically deleterious to the purity of the doctrine.
As to 'social stability,' we all know very well what ideas this phrase is
intended to convey to English apprehensions; and it must be admitted
that Darwinism, generalized in due measure, may apply to English

PEARSON'S GRAMMAR OF SCIENCE. 297

society the same principles that Darwin applied to breeds. A family
in which the standards of that society are not traditional will go under
and die out, and thus 'social stability' tends to be maintained.

But against the doctrine that social stability is the sole justification
of scientific research, whether this doctrine be adulterated or not with
the utilitarian clause, I have to object, first, that it is historically false,
in that it does not accord with the predominant sentiment of scientific
men; second, that it is bad ethics; and, third, that its propagation
would retard the progress of science.

Professor Pearson does not, indeed, pretend that that which effectu-
ally animates the labors of scientific men is any desire 'to strengthen
social stability.' Such a proposition would be too grotesque. Yet if
it was his business, in treating of the grammar of science, to set forth the
legitimate motive to research — as he has deemed it to be — it was cer-
tainly also his business, especially in view of the splendid successes of
science, to show what has, in fact, moved such men. They have, at
all events, not been inspired by a wish either to 'support social stability'
or, in the main, to increase the sum of men's pleasures. The man of
science has received a deep impression of the majesty of truth, as that
to which, sooner or later, every knee must bow. He has further found
that his own mind is sufficiently akin to that truth, to enable him, on
condition of submissive observation, to interpret it in some measure.
As he gradually becomes better and better acquainted with the char-
acter of cosmical truth, and learns that human reason is its issue and
can be brought step by step into accord with it, he conceives a passion
for its fuller revelation. He is keenly aware of his own ignorance, and
knows that personally he can make but small steps in discovery. Yet,
small as they are, he deems them precious; and he hopes that by con-
scientiously pursuing the methods of science he may erect a foundation
upon which his successors may climb higher. This, for him, is what
makes life worth living and what makes the human race worth perpetu-
ation. The very being of law, general truth, reason — call it what you
will — consists in its expressing itself in a cosmos and in intellects which
reflect it, and in doing this progressively; and that which makes pro-
gressive creation worth doing — so the researcher comes to feel — is pre-
cisely the reason, the law, the general truth for the sake of which it
takes place.

Such, I believe, as a matter of fact, is the motive which effectually
works in the man of science. That granted, we have next to inquire
which motive is the more rational, the one just described or that which
Professor Pearson recommends. The ethical text-books offer us classi-
fications of human motives. But for our present purpose it will suffice
to pass in rapid review some of the more prominent ethical classes of
motives.

298 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

A man may act with reference only to the momentary occasion,
either from unrestrained desire, or from preference for one desideratum
over another, or from provision against future desires, or from persua-
sion, or from imitative instinct, or from dread of blame, or in awed
obedience to an instant command; or he may act according to some
general rule restricted to his own wishes, such as the pursuit of pleasure,
or self-preservation, or good-will toward an acquaintance, or attachment
to home and surroundings, or conformity to the customs of his tribe,
or reverence for a law; or, becoming a moralist, he may aim at bringing
about an ideal state of things definitely conceived, such as one in
which everybody attends exclusively to his own business and interest
(individualism), or in which the maximum total pleasure of all beings
capable of pleasure is attained (utilitarianism), or in which altruistic
sentiments universally prevail (altruism), or in which his community
is placed out of all danger (patriotism), or in which the ways of nature
are as little modified as possible (naturalism); or he may aim at hasten-
ing some result not otherwise known in advance than as that, what-
ever it may turn out to be, to which some process seeming to him good
must inevitably lead, such as whatever the dictates of the human heart
may approve (sentimentalism), or whatever would result from every
man's duly weighing, before action, the advantages of his every pur-
pose (to which I will attach the nonce-name entelism, distinguishing it
and others below by italics), or whatever the historical evolution of
public sentiment may decree (historicism), or whatever the operation
of cosmical causes may be destined to bring about (evolutionism); or
he may be devoted to truth, and may be determined to do nothing not
pronounced reasonable, either by his own cogitations (rationalism), or
by public discussion (dialecticism), or by crucial experiment; or he may
feel that the only thing really worth striving for is the generalizing
or assimilating elements in truth, and that either as the sole object
in which the mind can ultimately recognize its veritable aim (educa-
tionalism), or that which alone is destined to gain universal sway
(pancratism); or, finally, he may be filled with the idea that the only
reason that can reasonably be admitted as ultimate is that living reason
for the sake of which the psychical and physical universe is in process
of creation (religionism).

This list of ethical classes of motives may, it is hoped, serve as a
tolerable sample upon which to base reflections upon the acceptability
as ultimate of different kinds of human motives; and it makes no pre-
tension to any higher value. The enumeration has been so ordered as
to bring into view the various degrees of generality of motives. It
would conduce to our purpose, however, to compare them in other
respects. Thus, we might arrange them in reference to the degree to
which an impulse of dependence enters into them, from express obedi-

PEARSON'S GRAMMAR OF SCIENCE. 299

ence, generalized obedience, conformity to an external exemplar, action
for the sake of an object regarded as external, the adoption of a motive
centering on something which is partially opposed to what is present,
the balancing of one consideration against another, until we reach such
motives as unrestrained desire, the pursuit of pleasure, individualism,
sentimentalism, rationalism, educationalism, religionism, in which the
element of otherness is reduced to a minimum. Again, we might ar-
range the classes of motives according to the degree in which imme-
diate qualities of feeling appear in them, from unrestrained desire,
through desire present but restrained, action for self, action for
pleasure generalized beyond self, motives involving a retro-conscious-
ness of self in outward things, the personification of the community,
to such motives as direct obedience, reverence, naturalism, evolution-
ism, experimentalism, pancratism, religionism, in which the element of
self-feeling is reduced to a minimum. But the important thing is to
make ourselves thoroughly acquainted, as far as possible from the
inside, with a variety of human motives ranging over the whole field
of ethics.

I will not go further into ethics than simply to remark that all
motives that are directed toward pleasure or self-satisfaction, of how-
ever high a type, will be pronounced by every experienced person to
be inevitably destined to miss the satisfaction at which they aim. This
is true even of the highest of such motives, that which Josiah Eoyce
develops in his 'World and Individual/ On the other hand, every
motive involving dependence on some other leads us to ask for some
ulterior reason. The only desirable object which is quite satisfactory
in itself without any ulterior reason for desiring it, is the reasonable
itself. I do not mean to put this forward as a demonstration; because,
like all demonstrations about such matters, it would be a mere quibble,
a sheaf of fallacies. I maintain simply that it is an experiential truth.

The only ethically sound motive is the most general one; and the
motive that actually inspires the man of science, if not quite that,
is very near to it — nearer, I venture to believe, than that of any other
equally common type of humanity. On the other hand, Professor Pear-
son's aim, 'the stability of society/ which is nothing but a narrow British
patriotism, prompts the cui bono at once. I am willing to grant that
England has been for two or three centuries a most precious factor of
human development. But there were and are reasons for this. To
demand that man should aim at the stability of British society, or of
society at large, or the perpetuation of the race, as an ultimate end, is
too much. The human species will be extirpated sometime; and when
the time comes the universe will, no doubt, be well rid of it. Professor
Pearson's ethics are not at all improved by being adulterated with
utilitarianism, which is a lower motive still. Utilitarianism is one of

300 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the few theoretical motives which has unquestionably had an extremely
beneficial influence. But the greatest happiness of the greatest num-
ber, as expounded by Bentham, resolves itself into merely superin-
ducing the quality of pleasure upon men's immediate feelings. Now,
if the pursuit of pleasure is not a satisfactory ultimate motive for me,
why should I enslave myself to procuring it for others? Leslie
Stephen's book was far from uttering the last word upon ethics; but it
is difficult to comprehend how anybody who has read it reflectively can
continue to hold the mixed doctrine that no action is to be encour-
aged for any other reason than that it either tends to the stability of
society or to general happiness.

Ethics, as such, is extraneous to a Grammar of Science; but it is a
serious fault in such a book to inculcate reasons for scientific research
the acceptance of which must tend to lower the character of such
research. Science is, upon the whole, at present in a very healthy
condition. It would not remain so if the motives of scientific men
were lowered. The worst feature of the present state of things is that
the great majority of the members of many scientific societies, and a
large part of others, are men whose chief interest in science is as a
means of gaining money, and who have a contempt, or half-contempt,
for pure science. Now, to declare that the sole reason for scientific
research is the good of society is to encourage those pseudo-scientists
to claim, and the general public to admit, that they, who deal with
the applications of knowledge, are the true men of science, and that
the theoreticians are little better than idlers.

In Chapter II., entitled 'The Facts of Science,' we find that the
'stability of society' is not only to regulate our conduct, but, also, that
our opinions have to be squared to it. In section 10 we are told that
we must not believe a certain purely theoretical proposition because it is
'anti-social' to do so, and because to do so 'is opposed to the interests of
society.' As to the 'canons of legitimate inference' themselves, that are
laid down by Professor Pearson, I have no great objection to them. They
certainly involve important truths. They are excessively vague and capa-
ble of being twisted to support illogical opinions, as they are twisted by
their author, and they leave much groimd uncovered. But I will not
pursue these objections. I do say, however, that truth is truth, whether
it is opposed to the interests of society to admit it or not — and that the
notion that we must deny what it is not conducive to the stability of
British society to affirm is the mainspring of the mendacity and hypoc-
risy which Englishmen so commonly regard as virtues. I must confess
that I belong to that class of scallawags who purpose, with God's help,
to look the truth in the face, whether doing so be conducive to the
interests of society or not. Moreover, if I should ever attack that exces-
sively difficult problem, 'What is for the true interest of society?' I

PEARSON'S GRAMMAR OF SCIENCE. 301

should feel that I stood in need of a great deal of help from the
science of legitimate inference; and, therefore, to avoid running round
a circle, I will endeavor to base my theory of legitimate inference upon
something less questionable — as well as more germane to the subject —
than the true interest of society.

The remainder of this chapter on the 'Facts of Science' is taken up
with a theory of cognition, in which the author falls into the too
common error of confounding psychology with logic. He will have it
that knowledge is built up out of sense-impressions — a correct enough
statement of a conclusion of psychology. Understood, however, as Pro-
fessor Pearson understands and applies it, as a statement of the nature
of our logical data, of 'the facts of science,' it is altogether incorrect.
He tells us that each of us is like the operator at a central telephone
office, shut out from the external world, of which he is informed only
by sense-impressions. Not at all! Few things are more completely
hidden from my observation than those hypothetical elements of
thought which the psychologist finds reason to pronounce 'immediate,'
in his sense. But the starting point of all our reasoning is not in those
sense-impressions, but in our percepts. When we first wake up to the
fact that we are thinking beings and can exercise some control over our
reasonings, we have to set out upon our intellectual travels from the
home where we already find ourselves. Now, this home is the parish
of percepts. It is not inside our skulls, either, but out in the open.
It is the external world that we directly observe. What passes within
we only know as it is mirrored in external objects. In a certain sense,
there is such a thing as introspection; but it consists in an interpretation
of phenomena presenting themselves as external percepts. We first see
blue and red things. It is quite a discovery when we find the eye has
anything to do with them, and a discovery still more recondite when
we learn that there is an ego behind the eye, to which these qualities
properly belong. Our logically initial data are percepts. Those per-
cepts are undoubtedly purely psychical, altogether of the nature of
thought. They involve three kinds of psychical elements, their quali-
ties of feelings, their reaction against my will, and their generalizing or
associating element. But all that we find out afterward. I see an ink-
stand on the table: that is a percept. Moving my head, I get a different
percept of the inkstand. It coalesces with the other. What I call the
inkstand is a generalized percept, a quasi-inference from percepts, per-
haps I might say a composite-photograph of percepts. In this psychi-
cal product is involved an element of resistance to me, which
I am obscurely conscious of from the first. Subsequently, when I
accept the hypothesis of an inward subject for my thoughts, I yield
to that consciousness of resistance and admit the inkstand to the stand-
ing of an external object. Still later, I may call this in question. But

302 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

as soon as I do that, I find that the inkstand appears there in spite of me.
If I turn away my eyes, other witnesses will tell me that it still remains.
If we all leave the room and dismiss the matter from our thoughts, still
a photographic camera would show the inkstand still there, with the
same roundness, polish and transparency, and with the same opaque
liquid within. Thus, or otherwise, I confirm myself in the opinion that
its characters are what they are, and persist at every opportunity in
revealing themselves, regardless of what you, or I, or any man, or gen-
eration of men, may think that they are. That conclusion to which
I find myself driven, struggle against it as I may, I briefly express by
saying that the inkstand is a real thing. Of course, in being real and
external, it does not in the least cease to be a purely psychical product,
a generalized percept, like everything of which I can take any sort of
cognizance.

It might not be a very serious error to say that the facts of science
are sense-impressions, did it not lead to dire confusion upon other
points. We see this in Chapter III., in whose long meanderings through
irrelevant subjects, in the endeavor to make out that there is no rational
element in nature, and that the rational element of natural laws is
imported into them by the minds of their discoverers, it would be
impossible for the author to lose sight entirely of the bearing of the
question which he himself has distinctly formulated, if he were not
laboring with the confusing effects of his notion that the data of
science are the sense-impressions. It does not occur to him that he is
laboring to prove that the mind has a marvelous power of creating an
element absolutely supernatural — a power that would go far toward
establishing a dualism quite antagonistic to the spirit of his philosophy.
He evidently imagines that those who believe in the reality of law, or
the rational element in nature, fail to apprehend that the data of
science are of a psychical nature. He even devotes a section to proving
that natural law does not belong to things-in-themselves, as if it were
possible to find any philosopher who ever thought it did. Certainly,
Kant, who first decked out philosophy with these chaste ornaments of
things-in-themselves, was not of that opinion; nor could anybody well
hold it after what he wrote. In point of fact, it is not Professor Pear-
son's opponents but he himself who has not thoroughly assimilated the
truth that everything we can in any way take cognizance of is purely
mental. This is betrayed in many little ways, as, for instance, when he
makes his answer to the question, whether the law of gravitation ruled
the motion of the planets before Newton was born, to turn upon the cir-
cumstance that the law of gravitation is a formula expressive of the
motion of the planets 'in terms of a purely mental conception,' as if
there could be a conception of anything not purely mental. Eepeatedly,
when he has proved the content of an idea to be mental, he seems to

PEARSON'S GRAMMAR OF SCIENCE. 303

think he has proved its object to be of human origin. He goes to no
end of trouble to prove in various ways, what his opponent would have
granted with the utmost cheerfulness at the outset, that laws of nature
are rational; and, having got so far, he seems to think nothing more is
requisite than to seize a logical maxim as a leaping pole and lightly skip
to the conclusion that the laws of nature are of human provenance.
If he had thoroughly accepted the truth that all realities, as well as
all figments, are alike of purely mental composition, he would have
seen that the question was, not whether natural law is of an intellectual
nature or not, but whether it is of the number of those intellectual
objects that are destined ultimately to be exploded from the spectacle
of our universe, or whether, as far as we can judge, it has the stuff
to stand its ground in spite of all attacks. In other words, is there
anything that is really and truly a law of nature, or are all pretended
laws of nature figments, in which latter case, all natural science is a
delusion, and the writing of a grammar of science a very idle pastime?

Professor Pearson's theory of natural law is characterized by a singu-
lar vagueness and by a defect so glaring as to remind one of the second
book of the Novum Organum or of some strong chess-player whose at-
tention has been so riveted upon a part of the board that a fatal danger
has, as it were, been held upon the blind-spot of his mental retina. The
manner in which the current of thought passes from the woods into the
open plain and back again into the woods, over and over again, betrays
the amount of labor that has been expended upon the chapter. The
author calls attention to the sifting action both of our perceptive and
of our reflective faculties. I think that I myself extracted from that vein
of thought pretty much all that is valuable in reference to the regu-
larity of nature in the Populae Science Monthly for June, 1878,
(p. 208). I there remarked that the degree to which nature seems to
present a general regularity depends upon the fact that the regularities
in it are of interest and importance to us, while the irregularities are
without practical use or significance; and in the same article I en-
deavored to show that it is impossible to conceive of nature's being
markedly less regular, taking it, *by and large,' than it actually is. But
I am confident, from having repeatedly returned to that line of
thought that it is impossible legitimately to deduce from any such con-
siderations the unreality of natural law. 'As a pure suggestion and noth-
ing more,' toward the end of the chapter, after his whole plea has been
put in, Dr. Pearson brings forward the idea that a transcendental opera-
tion of the perceptive faculty may reject a mass of sensation altogether
and arrange the rest in place and time, and that to this the laws in na-
ture may be attributable — a notion to which Kant undoubtedly leaned
at one time. The mere emission of such a theory, after his argument
has been fully set forth, almost amounts to a confession of failure to

304 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

prove his proposition. Granting, by way of waiver, that such a theory
is intelligible and is more than a nonsensical juxtaposition of terms, so
far from helping Professor Pearson's contention at all, the acceptance
of it would at once decide the case against him, as every student of the
Critic of the Pure Reason will at once perceive. For the theory sets the
rationality in nature upon a rock perfectly impregnable by you, me or
any company of men.

Although that theory is only problematically put forth by Professor
Pearson, yet at the very outset of his argumentation he insists upon the
relativity of regularity to our faculties, as if that were in some way
pertinent to the question. "Our law of tides/' he says, "could have
no meaning for a blind worm on the shore, for whom the moon had no
existence." Quite so; but would that truism in any manner help to
prove that the moon was a figment and no reality? On the contrary,
it could only help to show that there may be more things in heaven
and earth than your philosophy has dreamed of. Now the moon, on
the one hand, and the law of the tides, on the other, stand in entirely
analogous positions relatively to the remark, which can no more help
to prove the unreality of the one than of the other. So, too, the final
decisive stroke of the whole argumentation consists in urging substan-
tially the same idea in the terrible shape of a syllogism, which the reader
may examine in section 11. I will make no comment upon it.

Professor Pearson's argumentation rests upon three legs. The first
is the fact that both our perceptive and our reflective faculties reject
part of what is presented to them, and 'sort out' the rest. Upon that,
I remark that our minds are not, and cannot be, positively mendacious.
To suppose them so is to misunderstand what we all mean by truth and
reality. Our eyes tell us that some things in nature are red and others
blue; and so they really are. For the real world is the world of insistent
generalized percepts. It is true that the best physical idea which we can
at present fit to the real world, has nothing but longer and shorter
waves to correspond to red and blue. But this is evidently owing to
the acknowledged circumstance that the physical theory is to the last
degree incomplete, if not to its being, no doubt, in some measure, errone-
ous. For surely the completed theory will have to account for the
extraordinary contrast between red and blue. In a word, it is the
business of a physical theory to account for the percepts; and it would
be absurd to accuse the percepts — that is to say, the facts — of mendacity
because they do not square with the theory.

The second leg of the argumentation is that the mind projects its
worked-over impressions into an object, and then projects into that
object the comparisons, etc., that are the results of its own work. I
admit, of course, that errors and delusions are everyday phenomena, and
hallucinations not rare. We have just three means at our command for

PEARSON'S GRAMMAR OF SCIENCE. 305

detecting any unreality, that is, lack of insistency, in a notion. First,
many ideas yield at once to a direct effort of the will. We call them
fancies. Secondly, we can call in other witnesses, including ourselves
under new conditions. Sometimes dialectic disputation will dispel an
error. At any rate, it may be voted down so overwhelmingly as to con-
vince even the person whom it affects. Thirdly, the last resort is predic-
tion and experimentation. Note that these two are equally essential parts
of this method, which Professor Pearson keeps — I had almost said sedu-
lously— out of sight in his discussion of the rationality of nature. He
only alludes to it when he comes to his transcendental 'pure suggestion.'
Nothing is more notorious than that this method of prediction and ex-
perimentation has proved the master-key to science; and yet, in Chapter
IV., Professor Pearson tries to persuade us that prediction is no part of
science, which must only describe sense-impressions. [A sense-impres-
sion cannot be described.] He does not say that he would permit gener-
alization of the facts. He ought not to do so, since generalization inevi-
tably involves prediction.

The third leg of the argumentation is that human beings are so
much alike that what one man perceives and infers another man will
be likely to perceive and infer. This is a recognized weakness of the
second of the above methods. It is by no means sufficient to destroy
that method, but along with other defects it does render resort to the
third method imperative. When I see Dr. Pearson passing over without
notice the first and third of the only three possible ways of distinguish-
ing whether the rationality of nature is real or not, and giving a lame
excuse for reversing the verdict of the second, so that his decision seems
to spring from antecedent predilection, I cannot recommend his pro-
cedure as affording such an exemplar of the logic of science as one
might expect to find in a grammar of science.

An ignorant sailor on a desert island lights in some way upon the
idea of the parallelogram of forces, and sets to work making experi-
ments to see whether the actions of bodies conform to that formula.
He finds that they do so, as nearly as he can observe, in many trials in-
variably. He wonders why inanimate things should thus conform to a
widely general intellectual formula. Just then, a disciple of Professor
Pearson lands on the island and the sailor asks him what he thinks
about it. "It is very simple," says the disciple, "you see you made the
formula and then you projected it into the phenomena." Sailor: What
are the phenomena? Pearsonist: The motions of the stones you experi-
mented with. Sailor: But I could not tell until afterward whether the
stones had acted according to the rule or not. Pearsonist: That makes
no difference. You made the rule by looking at some stones, and all
stones are alike. Sailor: But those I used were very unlike, and I want
to know what made them all move exactly according to one rule. Pear-

VOL. LVIII.— 20.

306 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

sonist: Well, maybe your mind is not in time, and so you made all the
things behave the same way at all times. Mind, I don't say it is so; but
it may be. Sailor: Is that all you know about it? Why not say the
stones are made to move as they do by something like my mind?

When the disciple gets home, he consults Dr. Pearson. "Why," says
Dr. Pearson, "you must not deny that the facts are really concatenated;
only there is no rationality about that." "Dear me," says the disciple,
"then there really is a concatenation that makes all the component ac-
celerations of all the bodies scattered through space conform to the
formula that Newton, or Lami, or Varignon invented?" "Well, the
formula is the device of one of those men, and it conforms to the facts."
"To the facts its inventor knew, and also to those he only predicted?"
"As for prediction, it is unscientific business." "Still the prediction and
the facts predicted agree." "Yes." "Then," says the disciple, "it ap-
pears to me that there really is in nature something extremely like
action in conformity with a highly general intellectual principle." "Per-
haps so," I suppose Dr. Pearson would say, "but nothing in the least like
rationality." "Oh," says the disciple, "I thought rationality was con-
formity to a widely general principle."

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 307

CHAPTEKS ON THE STAES.

By Professor SIMON NEWCOMB, U. 8. N.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE HEAVENS.

ri THE problem of the structure and duration of the universe is the
-*- most far-reaching with which the mind has to deal. Its solution
may be regarded as the ultimate object of stellar astronomy, the
possibility of reaching which has occupied the minds of thinkers since
the beginning of civilization. Before our time the problem could be
considered only from the imaginative or the speculative point of view.
Although we can to-day attack it by scientific methods, to a limited
extent, it must be admitted that we have scarcely taken more than the
first step toward the actual solution. We can do little more than state
the questions involved, and show what light, if any, science is able to
throw upon the possible answers.

Firstly, we may inquire as to the extent of the universe of stars.
Are the latter scattered through infinite space, so that those we see are
merely that portion of an infinite collection which happens to be within
reach of our telescopes, or are all the stars contained within a certain
limited space ? In the latter case, have our telescopes yet penetrated to
the boundary in any direction? In other words, as, by the aid of
increasing telescopic power, we see fainter and fainter stars, are these
fainter stars at greater distances than those before known, or are they
smaller stars contained within the same limits as those we already know?
Otherwise stated, do we see stars on the boundary of the universe?

Secondly, granting the universe to be finite, what is the arrange-
ment of the stars in space? Especially, what is the relation of the
galaxy to the other stars? In what sense, if any, can the stars be said
to form a permanent system? Do the stars which form the Milky Way
belong to a different system from the other stars, or are the latter a
part of one universal system?

Thirdly, what is the duration of the universe in time? Is it fitted
to last forever in its present form, or does it contain within itself the
seeds of dissolution? Must it,- in the course of time, in we know not
how many millions of ages, be transformed into something very different
from what it now is? This question is intimately associated with the
question whether the stars form a system. If they do, we may suppose
that system to be permanent in its general features; if not, we must
look further for our conclusion.

308 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

The first and third of these questions will be recognized by students
of Kant as substantially those raised by the great philosopher in the
form of antinomies. Kant attempted to show that both the proposi-
tions and their opposites could be proved or disproved by reasoning
equally valid in either case. The doctrine that the universe is infinite
in duration and that it is finite in duration are both, according to him,
equally susceptible of disproof. To his reasoning on both points the
scientific philosopher of to-day will object that it seeks to prove or
disprove, a priori, propositions which are matters of fact, of which the
truth can be therefore settled only by an appeal to observation. The
more correct view is that afterward set forth by Sir William Hamilton,
that it is equally impossible for us to conceive of infinite space (or time),
or of space (or time) coming to an end. But this inability merely grows
out of the limitations of our mental power, and gives us no clue to the
actual universe. So far as the questions are concerned with the latter,
no answer is valid unless based on careful observation. Our reasoning
must have facts to go upon before a valid conclusion can be reached.

The first question we have to attack is that of the extent of the
universe. In its immediate and practical form, it is whether the
smallest stars that we see are at the boundary of a system, or whether
more and more lie beyond, to an infinite extent. This question we are
not yet ready to answer with any approach to certainty. Indeed, from
the very nature of the case, the answer must remain somewhat indefinite.
If the collection of stars which forms the Milky Way be really finite,
we may not yet be able to see its limit. If we do see its limit, there may
yet be, for aught we know, other systems and other galaxies, scattered
through infinite space, which must forever elude our powers of vision.
Quite likely the boundary of the system may be somewhat indefinite,
the stars gradually thinning out as we go further and further, so that
no definite limit can be assigned. If all stars are of the same average
brightness as those we see, all that lie beyond a certain distance must
evade observation, for the simple reason that they are too far off to be
visible in our telescopes.

There is a law of optics which throws some light on the question.
Suppose the stars to be scattered through infinite space in such a way
that every great portion of space is, in the general average, about
equally rich in stars.

Then imagine that, at some great distance, say that of the average
stars of the sixth magnitude, we describe a sphere having its center in
our system. Outside this sphere, describe another one, having a radius
greater by a certain quantity, which we may call S. Outside that let
there be another of a radius yet greater, and so on indefinitely. Thus we
shall have an endless succession of concentric spherical shells, each
of the same thickness, S. The volume of each of these regions will be

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 309

proportional to the square of the diameters of the spheres which bound
it. Hence, supposing an equal distribution of the stars, each of these
regions will contain a number of stars increasing as the square of the
radius of the region. Since the amount of light which we receive from
each individual star is as the inverse square of its distance, it follows
that the sum total of the light received from each of these spherical
shells will be equal. Thus, as we include sphere after sphere, we add
equal amount of light without limit. The result of the successive addi-
tion of these equal quantities, increasing without limit, would be that
if the system of stars extended out indefinitely the whole heavens would
be filled with a blaze of light as bright as the sun.

Now, as a matter of fact, such is very far from being the case. It
follows that infinite space is not occupied by the stars. At best there
can only be collections of stars at great distances apart.

The nearest approximation to such an appearance as that described
is the faint, diffused light of the Milky Way. But so large a frac-
tion of this illumination comes from the stars which we actually
see in the telescope that it is impossible to say whether any visible
illumination results from masses of stars too faint to be individually
seen. Whether the cloud-like impressions, which Barnard has found
in long-exposed photographs of the Milky Way, are produced by
countless distant stars, too faint to impress themselves even upon the
most sensitive photographic plate, is a question of extreme interest
which cannot be answered. But even if we should answer it in the
affirmative, the extreme faintness of light shows that the stars which
produce it are not scattered through infinite space; but that, although
they may extend much beyond the limits of the visible stars, they
thin out very rapidly. The evidence, therefore, seems to be against
the hypothesis that the stars we see form part of an infinitely extended
universe.

But there are two limitations to this conclusion. It rests upon the
hypothesis that light is never lost in its passage to any distance, how-
ever great. This hypothesis is in accordance with our modern theories
of physics, yet it cannot be regarded as an established fact for all
space, even if true for the distances of the visible stars. About half a
century ago Struve propounded the contrary hypothesis that the
light of the more distant stars suffers an extinction in its passage to
us. But this had no other basis than the hypothesis that the stars were
equally thick out to the farthest limits at which we could see them.

It might be said that he assumed the hypothesis of an infinite
universe, and from the fact that he did not see the evidence of infinity,
concluded that light was lost. The hypothesis of a limited universe
and no extinction of light, while not absolutely proved, must be regarded

310 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

as the one to be accepted until further investigation shall prove its
unsoundness.

The second limitation has been the possible structure of an infinite
universe. The mathematical reader will easily see that the conclusion
that an infinite universe of stars would fill the heavens with a blaze of
light, rests upon the hypothesis that every region of space of some
great but finite extent is, on the average, occupied by at least one star.
In other words, the hypothesis is that if we divide the total number of
the stars by the number of cubic miles of space, we shall have a finite
quotient. But an infinite universe can be imagined which does not
fill this condition. Such will be the case with one constructed on the
celebrated hypothesis of Lambert, propounded in the latter part of
the last century. This author was an eminent mathematician, who
seems to have been nearly unique in combining the mathematical and
the speculative sides of astronomy. He assumed a universe constructed
on an extension of the plan of the Solar System. The smallest system
of bodies is composed of a planet with its satellites. We see a number
of such systems, designated as the Terrestrial, the Martian (Mars and
its satellites), the Jovian (Jupiter and its satellites), etc., all revolving
round the Sun, and thus forming one greater system, the Solar System.
Lambert extended the idea by supposing that a number of solar
systems, each formed of a star with its revolving planets and satellites,
were grouped into a yet greater system. A number of such groups form
the great system which we call the galaxy, and which comprises all the
stars we can see with the telescope. The more distant clusters may
be other galaxies. All these systems again may revolve around some
distant center, and so on to an indefinite extent. Such a universe, how
far so ever it might extend, would fill the heavens with a blaze of
light, and the more distant galaxies might remain forever invisible to
us. But modern developments show that there is no scientific basis
for this conception, attractive though it is by its grandeur.

So far as our present light goes, we must conclude that although
we are unable to set absolute bounds to the universe, yet the great mass
of stars is included within a limited space of whose extent we have
as yet no evidence. Outside of this space there may be scattered stars
or invisible systems. But if these systems exist, they are distinct from
our own.

The second question, that of the arrangement of the stars in space,
is one on which it is equally difficult to propound a definite general con-
clusion. So far, we have only a large mass of faint indications, based
on researches which cannot be satisfactorily completed until great ad-
ditions are made to our fund of knowledge.

A century ago Sir William Herschel reached the conclusion that
our universe was composed of a comparatively thin but widely ex-

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 311

tended stratum of stars. To introduce a familiar object, its figure was
that of a large thin grindstone, our Solar System being near the
center. Considering only the general aspect of the heavens, this con-
clusion was plausible. Suppose a mass of a million of stars scattered
through a space of this form. It is evident that an observer in the
center, when he looks through the side of the stratum, would see few
stars. The latter would become more and more numerous as he
directed his vision toward the circumference of the stratum. In other
words, assuming the universe to have this form, we should see a uni-
form, cloud-like arch spanning the heavens — a galaxy in fact.

This view of the figure of the universe was also adopted by Struve,
who was, the writer believes, the first astronomer after Herschel to
make investigations which can be regarded as constituting an important
addition to thought on the subject. To a certain extent we may regard
the hypothesis as incontestable. The great mass of the visible stars
is undoubtedly contained within such a figure as is here supposed.

To show this let Fig. 1 represent a cross section of the heavens at

_^ p -~-^

right angles to the Milky Way, the Solar System being at S. It is an
observed fact that the stars are vastly more numerous in the galactic
regions Gr G than in the regions P P. Hence, if we suppose the stars
equally scattered, they must extend much farther out in 6 G than in
P P. If they extend as far in the one direction as in the other, then
they must be more crowded in the galactic belt. It will still remain
true that the greater number of the stars are included in the flat region
A B C D, those outside this stratum being comparatively few in
number.*

But we cannot assume that this hypothesis of the form of the universe
affords the basis for a satisfactory conception of its arrangement. Were
it the whole truth, the stars would be uniformly dense along the whole
length of the Milky Way. Now, it is a familiar fact that this is not the
case. The Milky Way is not a uniformly illuminated belt, but a chain
of irregular, cloud-like aggregations of stars. Starting from this fact as

* Regarding the galaxy as a belt spanning the heavens, the central line of which is a great
circle, the poles of the galaxy are the two opposite points in the heavens everywhere 90° from
this great circle. Their direction is that of the two ends of the axle of the grindstone, as seen
by an observer in the center, while the galaxy would be the circumference of the stone.

312

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

a basis, our best course is to examine the most plausible hypotheses we
can make as to the distribution of the stars which do not belong to the
galaxy, and see which agrees best with observation.

Let Pig. 2 represent a section of the galactic ring or belt in its own
plane, with the sun near the center S. To an observer at a vast distance
in the direction of either pole of the galaxy, the latter would appear
of this form. Let Fig. 3 represent a cross section as viewed by an
observer in the plane of the galaxy at a great distance outside of it.
How would the stars that do not belong to the galaxy be situated?
We may make three hypotheses:

1. That they are situated in a sphere (A B) as large as the galaxy
itself. Then the whole universe of stars would be spherical in outline,
and the galaxy would be a dense belt of stars girdling the sphere.

2. The remaining stars may still be contained in a spherical space

* 4

r "* -*

4 *? * * VLV. v r-r .

Fig. Z

M ,.

:k:

! -»- *

Q -^tt*i-'}
FiG. 3.

(K L), of which the diameter is much less than that of the galactic
girdle. In this case our Sun would be one of a central agglomeration
of stars, lying in or near the plane of the galaxy.

3. The non-galactic stars may be equally scattered throughout a
flat region (MNP Q), of the grindstone form. This would correspond
to the hypothesis of Herschel and Struve.

There is no likelihood that either of these hypotheses is true in
all the geometric simplicity with which I have expressed them. Stars
are doubtless scattered to some extent through the whole region M N
P Q, and it is not likely that they are confined within limits defined
by any geometrical figure. The most that can be done is to de-
termine to which of the three figures the mutual arrangement most
nearly corresponds.

The simplest test is that of the third hypothesis as compared with
the other two. If the third hypothesis be true, then we should see the

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 313

fewest stars in the direction of the poles of the galaxy; and the number
in any given portion of the celestial sphere, say one square degree,
should continually increase, slowly at first, more rapidly afterwards,
as we went from the poles toward the circumference of the galaxy.
At a distance of 60° from the poles and 30° from the central line or
circumference we should see more than twice as many stars per square
degree as near the poles.

The general question of determining the precise position of the
galaxy naturally enters into our problem. There is no difficulty in
mapping out its general course by unaided eye observations of the
heavens or a study of maps of the stars. Looking at the heavens, we
shall readily see that it crosses the equator at two opposite points; the
one east of the constellation Orion, between 6h. and 7h. of right
ascension; the other at the opposite point, in Aquila, between 18h. and
19h. It makes a considerable angle with the equator, somewhat more
than 60°. Consequently it passes within 30° of either pole. The
point nearest of approach to the north pole is in the constellation
Cassiopeia. In consequence of this obliquity to the equator, its apparent
position on the celestial sphere, as seen in our latitude, goes through
a daily change with the diurnal rotation of the earth. In the language
of technical astronomy, every day at 12h. of sidereal time, it makes so
small an angle with the horizon as to be scarcely visible. If the air is
very clear, we might see a portion of it skirting the northern horizon.
This position occurs during the evenings of early summer. At Oh. of
sidereal time, which during autumn and early winter fall in the evening,
it passes nearly through our zenith, from east to west, and can, there-
fore, then best be seen.

Its position can readily be determined by noting the general course
of its brighter portions on a map of the stars, and then determining by
inspection, or otherwise, the circle which will run most nearly through
those portions. It is thus found that the position is nearly always near
a great circle of the sphere. From the very nature of the case the
position of this circle will be a little indefinite, and probably the esti-
mates made of it have been based more on inspection than on compu-
tation. The following numerical positions have been assigned to the
pole of the galaxy:

Gould, K. A. = 12h. 41m. Dec.= + 27° 21'

Herschel, W 12h. 29m. 31° 30'

Seeliger 12h. 49m. 27° 30'

Argelander 12h. 40m. 28° 5'

Were it possible to determine the distance of a star as readily as
we do its direction, the problem of the distribution of the stars in space
would be at once solved. This not being the case, we must first study
the apparent arrangement of the stars with respect to the galaxy, with a

314 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

view of afterward drawing such conclusions as we can in regard to their
distance.

APPARENT DISTRIBUTION OF THE STARS IN THE SKY.

Distribution of the Lucid Stars: Our question now is how are the
stars, as we see them, distributed over the sky? We know in a general
way that there are vastly more stars round the belt of the Milky Way
than in the remainder of the heavens. But we wish to know in detail
what the law of increase is from the poles of the galaxy to the belt itself.

In considering any question of the number of stars in a particular
region of the heavens, we are met by a fundamental difficulty. We can
set no limit to the minuteness of stars, and the number will depend upon
the magnitude of those which we include in our account. As already
remarked, there are, at least up to a certain limit, three or four times
as many stars of each magnitude as of the magnitude next brighter.
Now, the smallest stars that can be seen, or that may be included in
any count, vary greatly with the power of the instrument used in
making the count. If we had any one catalogue, extending over the
whole celestial sphere, and made on an absolutely uniform plan, so that
we knew it included all the stars down to some given magnitude, and
no others, it would answer our immediate purpose. If, however, one
catalogue should extend only to the ninth magnitude, while another
should extend to the tenth, we should be led quite astray in assuming
that the number of stars in the two catalogues expressed the star
density in the regions which they covered. The one would show three
or four times as many stars as the other, even though the actual
density in the two cases were the same.

If we could be certain, in any one case, just what the limit of
magnitude was for any catalogue, or if the magnitudes in different
catalogues always corresponded to absolutely the same brightness of
the star, this difficulty would be obviated. But this is the case only
with that limited number of stars whose brightness has been photo-
metrically measured. In all other cases our count must be more or
less uncertain. One illustration of this will suffice:

I have already remarked that in making the photographic census
of the southern heavens, Gill and Kapteyn did not assume that stars of
which the images were equally intense on different plates were actually
of the same magnitude. Each plate was assumed to have a scale of its
own, which was fixed by comparing the intensity of the photographic
impressions of those stars whose magnitudes had been previously de-
termined with these determinations, and thus forming as it were a
separate scale for each plate. But, in forming the catalogue from the
international photographic chart of the heavens, it is assumed that the
photographs taken with telescopes of the same aperture, in which

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 315

the plates are exposed for five minutes, will all correspond, and that
the smallest stars found on the plates will be of the eleventh magnitude.

In the case of the lucid stars this difficulty does not arise, because
the photometric estimates are on a sufficiently exact and uniform
scale to enable us to make a count, which shall be nearly correct, of all
the stars down to, say, magnitude 6.0 or some limit not differing
greatly from this. Several studies of the distribution of these stars
have been made; one by Gould in the Uranometria Argentina, one by
Schiaparelli, and another by Pickering. The counts of Gould and
Schiaparelli, having special reference to the Milky Way, are best
adapted to our purpose. The most striking result of these studies is
that the condensation in the Milky Way seems to commence with the
brightest stars. A little consideration will show that we cannot, with
any probability, look for such a condensation in the case of stars
near to us. Whatever form we assign to the stellar universe, we shall
expect the stars immediately around us to be equally distributed in
every direction. Not until we approach the boundary of the universe in
one direction, or some great masses like those of the galaxy in another
direction, should we expect marked condensation round the galactic
belt. Of course we might imagine that even the nearest stars are most
numerous in the direction round the galactic circle. But this would
imply an extremely unlikely arrangement, our system being as it were
at the point of a cone. It is clear that if such were the case for one
point, it could not be true if our Sun were placed anywhere except at
this particular point. Such an arrangement of the stars round us
is outside of all reasonable probability. Independent evidence of the
equal distribution of the stars will hereafter be found in the proper
motions. If then, the nearer stars are equally distributed round us,
and only distant ones can show a condensation toward the Milky Way,
it follows that among the distant stars are some of the brightest in the
heavens, a fact which we have already shown to follow from other
considerations.

Very remarkable is the fact", pointed out first by Sir J. Herschel and
heavens very nearly in a great circle, but not exactly in the Milky Way.
heavens very nearly in a great circle, but not exactly in the Milky Way.
In the northern heavens the brightest stars in Orion, Taurus, Cassiopeia,
being near the Southern Cross and the other in Cassiopeia. This belt
includes the brightest stars in a number of constellations, from Canis
Major through the southern region of the heavens and back to Scorpius.
In the northern heavens the brightest stars in Orion, Taurus, Cassiopeia,
Cygnus and Lyra belong to this belt. It would not be safe, however, to
assume that the existence of this belt results from anything but the
chance distribution of the few bright stars which form it. In order to
reach a definite conclusion bearing on the structure of the heavens,

3i6

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

it is advisable to consider the distribution of the lucid stars as a
whole.

Dr. Gould finds that the stars brighter than the fourth magnitude
are arranged more symmetrically relatively to the bright stars we have
just described than to the galactic circle. This and other facts sug-
gested to him the existence of a small cluster within which our sun
is eccentrically situated and which is itself not far from the middle
plane of the galaxy. This cluster appears to be of a flattened shape and
to consist of somewhat more than 400 stars of magnitudes ranging from

Fig. 4. Northern Hemisphere.

the first to the seventh. Since Gould wrote, the extreme inequality
in the intrinsic brightness of the stars has been brought to light and
seems to weaken the basis of his conclusion on this particular point.

A very thorough study of the subject, but without considering the
galaxy, has also been made by Schiaparelli. The work is based on the
photometric measures of Pickering and the Uranometria Argentina of
Gould. One of its valuable features is a series of planispheres, showing
in a visible form the star density in every region of the heavens for
stars of various magnitudes. We reproduce in a condensed form two of

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS.

1*7

these planispheres. They were constructed by Schiaparelli in the fol-
lowing way: The entire sky was divided into 36 zones by parallels of
declination 5° apart. Each zone was divided into spherical trapezia by
hour-circles taken at intervals of 5° from the equator up to 50° of north
or south declination; of 10° from 50 to 60; of 15° from 60 to 80; of
45° from 80 to 85, while the circle within 5° of the pole was taken as
a single region. In this way 1,800 areas, not excessively different from
each other, were formed.

The star density, as it actually is, might be indicated by the number

Fig. 5. Southern Hemisphere.

of stars of these regions. As a matter of fact, however, the density
obtained in this way would vary too rapidly from one area to the
adjoining one, owing to the accidental irregularities of distribution of
the stars. An adjustment was, therefore, made by finding in the case
of each area the number of stars contained in 1/200 of the entire sphere,
including the region itself and those immediately round it. The num-
ber thus obtained was considered as giving the density for the central
region. The total number of stars being 4,303, the mean number in
1/200 of the whole sphere is 21.5, and the mean in each area is 10.4.

318 POPULAB SCIENCE MONTHLY.

The numbers on the planisphere given in each area thus express the
star density of the region, or the number of stars per 100 square de-
grees, expressed generally to the nearest unit, the half unit being some-
times added.

A study of the reproduction which we give will show how fairly
well the Milky Way may be traced out round the sky by the tendency
of those stars visible to the naked eye to agglomerate near its course.
In other words, were the cloud forms which make up the Milky Way
invisible to us, we should still be able to mark out its course by the
condensation of the stars. As a matter of interest, I have traced out
the central line of the shaded portions of the planispheres as if they
were the galaxy itself. The nearest great circle to the course of this line
was then found to have its pole in the following position:

E. A.; 12h. 18m.

Dec. + 27°.

This estimate was made without having at the time any recollection
of the position of the galaxy given by other authorities. Compared
with the positions given in the last chapter by Gould and Seeliger, it
will be seen that the deviation is only 5° in right ascension, while the
declinations are almost exactly similar. We infer that the circle of con-
densation found in this way makes an angle with the galaxy of less
than 5°.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAINTER STAES.

The most thorough study of the distribution of the great mass of
stars relative to the galactic plane has been made by Seeliger in a series
of papers presented to the Munich Academy from 1884 to 1898. The
data on which they are based are the following:

1. The Bonner Durchmusterung of Argelander and Schonfeld, de-
scribed in our third chapter. These two works included under this title
are supposed to include all the stars to the ninth magnitude, from the
north pole to 24° of south declination. But there are some inconsisten-
cies in the limit of magnitude which we shall hereafter mention.

2. The 'star gauges' of the two Herschels. These consisted simply
in counts of the number of stars visible in the field of view of the tele-
scope when the latter was directed toward various regions of the sky.
Sir William Herschel's gauges were partly published in the 'Philosophi-
cal Transactions.' A number of unpublished ones were found among
his papers by Holden and printed in the publications of the Washburn
Observatory, Vol. II. The younger Herschel, during his expedition to
the Cape of Good Hope, continued the work in those southern regions
of the sky which could not be seen in England.

3. A count of the stars by Celoria, of Milan, in a zone from the
equator to 6° Dec, extended round the heavens.

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 319

From what has been said the question which will first occupy our
attention is that of the distribution of the stars with reference to the
galactic plane, or rather, the great circle forming the central line of the
Milky Way.

The whole sky is divided by Seeliger into nine zones or regions, each
20° in breadth, by small circles parallel to the galactic circle. Eegion I.
is a circle of 20° radius, whose center is the galactic pole. Eound this
central circle is a zone 20° in breadth, called Zone II. Continuing the
division, it will be seen that Zone V. is the central one of the Milky
Way, extending 10° on each side of the galactic circle.

The condensed result of the work is shown in the following table:

Column 'Area' shows the number of square degrees in each region,
so far as included in the survey. It will be remarked that the cata-
logues in question do not include the whole sky, as they stop at 24°
S. Dec.

Column 'Stars' shows the number of stars to magnitude 9.0 found
in each area.

Column 'Density' is the quotient of the number of stars by the area,
and is, therefore, the mean number of stars per square degree in each
region. In column 'D' these numbers are corrected, for certain anom-
alies in the magnitudes given by the catalogues, so as to reduce them to
a common standard.

Area.

Region. Degrees. Stars. Density. D.

1 1,398.7 4,277 3.06 2.78

II 3,146.9 10,185 3.24 3.03

III 5,126.6 19,488 3.80 3.54

IV 4,589.8 24,492 5.34 5.32

V 4,519.5 33,267 7.36 8.17

VI 3,971.5 23,580 5.94 6.07

VII 2,954.4 11,790 3.99 3.71

VIII ...1,790.6 6,375 3.56 3.21

IX 468.2 1,644 3.51 3.14

A study of the last two columns is decisive of one of the fundamental
questions already raised. The star density in the several regions in-
creases continuously from each pole (regions I. and V.) to the galaxy
itself. If the latter were a simple ring of stars surrounding a spherical
system of stars, the star density would be about the same in regions
I., II. and III., and also in VII., VIII. and IX., but would suddenly in-
crease in IV. and VI. as the boundary of the ring was approached.
Instead of such being the case, the numbers 2.78, 3.03 and 3.54 in the
north, and 3.14, 3.21 and 3.71 in the south, show a progressive increase
from the galactic pole to the galaxy itself.

The conclusion to be drawn is a fundamental one. The universe,
or, at least, the denser portions of it, is really flattened between the

320 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

galactic poles, as supposed by Herschel and Struve. In the language of
Seeliger: "The Milky Way is no merely local phenomenon, but is closely
connected with the entire constitution of our stellar system."

This conclusion is strengthened by a study of the data given by
Celoria. It will be remarked that the zone counted by this astronomer
cuts the Milky Way diagonally at an angle of about 62°, and, therefore,
does not take in either of its poles. Consequently, regions I. and IX.
are both left out. For the remaining seven regions the results are
shown as follows: We show first the area, in square degrees, of each of
the regions, II. to VII., included in Celoria's zone. Then follows in the
next column the number of stars counted by Celoria, and, in the third,
the number enumerated in the Durchmusterung in these portions of each
region. The quotients show the star-density, or the mean number of
stars per square degree, recorded by each authority:

Area. Number of Stars. Star-Density.

Region. Degrees. Cel. D. M. Cel. D. M.

II 404.4 27,352 1,230 67.6 3.04

III 284.6 22,551 932 79.3 3.28

IV 254.6 29,469 1,488 115.7 5.83

V 284.6 41,820 1,833 146.9 6.44

VI 284.6 31,706 1,472 111.4 5.22

VII 329.5 25,618 1,342 77.7 4.07

VIII 314.5 22,264 1,184 70.8 3.77

It will be seen that the law of increasing star-density from near
the galactic pole to the galaxy itself is of the same general character
in the two cases. The number of stars counted by Celoria is generally
between 18 and 25 times the number in the Durchmusterung.

An important point to be attended to hereafter is that the star-
density of the Milky Way itself, as derived from each authority, is
between two and three times that near the galactic poles. Very dif-
ferent is the result derived from the Herschelian gauges, which is this:

Region....! II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX.

Density ...107 154 281 560 2019 672 261 154 111

From the gauges of the Herschels it follows that the galactic star-
density is nearly 20 times that of the galactic poles. At these poles the
Herschels counted about 50 per cent, more stars than Celoria. In the
galaxy itself they counted 14 for every one by Celoria. The principal
cause of this discrepancy is the want of uniformity of the magnitudes.

The recent comparisons of the Durchmusterung with the heavens,
mostly made since Seeliger worked out the results we have given,
show that the limit of magnitude to which this list extends is far from
uniform, and varies with the star-density. In regions poor in stars, all
of the latter to the tenth magnitude are listed; in the richer regions of
the galaxy the list stops, we may suppose, with the ninth magnitude, or

CHAPTERS ON THE STABS. 321

even brighter. Yet, in all cases, the faintest stars listed are classed as
of magnitude 9.5. Thus a ninth magnitude star in the galaxy, accord-
ing to the Durchmusterung, is very different from one of this magnitude
elsewhere.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE STARS HAVING A PROPER MOTION.

Having found that the stars of every magnitude show a tendency
to crowd toward the region of the Milky Way, the question arises
whether this is true of those stars which have a sensible proper motion.
Kapteyn has examined this question in the case of the Bradley stars.
His conclusion is that those having a considerable proper motion, say
more than 10" per century, are nearly equally distributed over the sky,
but that when we include those having a small proper motion, we see
a continually increasing tendency to crowd toward the galactic plane.

But the irregularity in the distribution of the stars observed by
Bradley seems to me to render this result quite unreliable. For every
such star Auwers derived a proper motion. And, if these proper motions
are considered, their distribution will be the same as that of the stars.
To reach a more definite conclusion, we must base our work on lists of
proper motions, which are as nearly complete within their limits as it
is possible to make them. Such lists have been made by Auwers and
Boss, their work being based on their observations of zones of stars
for the catalogue of the Astronomische Gesellschaft. The zone observed
by Auwers was that between 15° and 20° in N. Dec; while Boss's was
between 1° and 5°. To speak more exactly, the limits were from 14° 50'
to 20° 10' and 0° 50' to 5° 10', each zone of observation overlapping
10' on the adjoining one. Thus the actual breadths were 5° 20' and
4° 20'. Within these respective limits, Auwers, by a comparison with
previous observations, found 1,300 stars having an appreciable proper
motion, and Boss 295. But Boss's list is confined to stars having a
motion of at least 10"; of such the list of Auwers contains 431. The
number of square degrees in the two zones is 1,556 and 1,830, respec-
tively. The corresponding number of stars with proper motions extend-
ing 10" is, for each 100 square degrees:

In Boss's zone, 18.9.
In Auwers's zone, 23.9.

The question whether the greater richness of nearly 25 per cent,
in Auwers's zone is real is one on which it is not easy to give a conclu-
sive answer. The probability, however, seems to be that it is mainly
due to the greater richness of the material on which Auwers's proper
motions are based. The question is not, however, essential in the
present discussion.

We now examine the question of the respective richness of proper
motion stars in this way:

VOL. LVIII.— 21.

322 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Each of these zones cuts the galaxy at a considerable angle. Each
zone, as a matter of course, has a far larger richness of stars per unit
of surface in the galactic region than in the remaining region. We,
therefore, divide each zone in four strips, two including the galactic
regions and two the intermediate region. The boundaries are some-
what indefinite: we have fixed them by the richness of the total number
of stars. For the galactic strips we take in Boss's zone the strip between
5h. and 8h. of B. A. and that between 17h. and 20h. Each of these
strips being 3h. in length, the two together comprise one-quarter the
total surface of the zone. If the proper motion stars crowd towards the
galaxy like others do, then the numbers in the galactic region should be
proportional to the total number observed in the region. But if they are
equally distributed then there should be only one-quarter as many in the
galactic region as in the other regions.

In the case of Boss's zone, the total number of stars observed and
of those having a proper motion found in the four regions described are
as follows:

Total Number Proper Motions.
Observed. Actual. Prop.

Galactic strip, 5h. to 8h 1,614 24 37

Galactic strip, 17h. to 20h 1,340 36 37

Intermediate strip, 8h. to 17h 2,458 124 111

Intermediate strip, 20h. to 5h 2,831 111 111

The last column contains the number of proper motions we should
find if the whole 295 were distributed proportionally to the areas of
the several strips. There is evidently no excess of richness in the
galactic strips, but rather a deficiency in the strip near 6h., which is
accidental.

In the case of Auwers's zone, the galactic strips are those between
5h. and 8h., and again between 18h. and 21h. Here, as in the other
case, the galactic strips include one-quarter of the whole area. But,
owing to the greater richness of the sky, they include nearly 40 per cent,
of the whole number of stars. Then, if the proper motion stars are
equally distributed, one-quarter should be found in the region, and if
they are proportional to the number of stars observed, 40 per cent,
should be within this region. Grouping the regions outside the galaxy
together, as we need not distinguish between them, the result is as
follows:

Stars Proper Motions.

Observed. Actual. Prop.

Galactic strip, 5" to 8" 1,797 155 157

Galactic strip, 18" to 21" 1,984 202 157

Outside the galaxy 6,008 901 944

We see that in the strip from 5h. to 8h. there is contained almost
exactly one-eighth the whole number of proper motion stars. That is,

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 323

in this region the stars are no thicker than elsewhere. In the region
from 18h. to 21h. there is an excess of 45 stars having proper motions.
Whether this excess is real may well be doubted. It is scarcely, if at
all, greater than might be the result of accidental inequalities of dis-
tribution. Were the proper motion stars proportional to the whole num-
ber, there ought to be 240 within the strip. The actual number is 38
less than this.

It is to be remembered that Auwers's proper motions are not limited
to a definite magnitude, as were Boss's, but that he looked for all stars
having a sensible proper motion. The question, what proper motion
would be sensible, is a somewhat indefinite one, depending very largely
on the data. It may, therefore, well be that the small excess of 45 found
within this strip is due to the fact that more stars were observed and
investigated, and, therefore, more proper motions found. Besides this,
some uncertainty may exist as to the reality of the minuter proper mo-
tions.

The conclusion is interesting and important. If we should blot out
from the sky all the stars having no proper motion large enough to be
detected, we should find remaining stars of all magnitudes; but they
would be scattered almost uniformly over the sky, and show no tendency
toward the galaxy.

From this again it follows that the stars belonging to the galaxy lie
farther away than those whose proper motions can be detected.

324

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

NEEDLESS OBSCURITY IN SCIEN-
TIFIC PUBLICATIONS.

Aftek having called attention in a
recent issue of the Monthly to certain
circumstances leading to the retardation
of science, we may now venture to dis-
cuss a few of the particular ways in
which a scientific writer can perplex
his brother workers. Nobody supposes
that the ordinary author wishes his con-
tribution to be regarded as a sort of
'puzzle-page/ but that is the effect
often unintentionally produced. The
causes of this are of diverse nature.
In these days of ultra-specialization
and of hurry, a specialist often inclines
to address himself solely to his fellow-
specialists, or to an even smaller cir-
cle—his fellow-specialists of the moment,
forgetting those that may come at a
later day. There may be in the whole
world but two men who will take the
trouble to read his paper, or who would
really understand its bearings. Whether
from modesty or from pride, from desire
of brevity or from laziness, our special-
ist addresses his remarks solely to those
two. The student who is not yet quite
at the same level, the professor who
tries to keep abreast of his subject in
general, the worker who comes a few
years later and sees things from an
altered point of view; all these find
themselves 'out of it,' and long investi-
gations are often necessary before they
can be sure of the author's meaning.

The same obscurity is achieved by
those whose humility leads them to
think other folk more learned than
themselves, whereas, in writing scien-
tific papers, as in lecturing, political
speaking or leader-writing, one should
remember the old request of the lis-
tener, 'Of course, I know; but speak to
me as if I didn't know,' and the prac-
tical warning of the playwright, 'Never
fog your audience.' Or it may be not

so much humanity as the short-sighted
egoism of the enthusiast, who assumes
that his little corner must needs be
known to all the world. But it i»
perhaps not so important for our present
purpose to discuss the state of mind
conducing to obscurity, as it is to
point out instances.

Here is a common one. In strati-
graphical geology everyone is supposed
to know the names of the great sys-
tems; and if the names of their main
subdivisions are less familiar, they can
at all events be readily hunted up in
a text-book. But there are an extraor-
dinary number of names nowadays
invented for quite small divisions, or
for purely local rocks, and many of
these names convey of themselves very
little meaning. Is there a geologist
living who can say offhand what
is meant by all or even half of the
following names, which are taken at
random from some recent publications:
Plaisancien, Schlier, Catadupa beds,
Calder Limestone, Hornstein, Oberen
Mergel-schichten, Feuerstein, Scaglia
rosata, Knorrithone, Ferrugineus-
schichten, Deer Creek Limestone, Sem-
meringkalke, Diceratien, Moscow shale,
Lenneschiefer ? The language or the
locality may guide one to a rough
determination, or a few names of fos-
sils may be an indication to the ex-
pert; but when these names are intro-
duced without further explanation, as
is actually the case in many of the
papers from which these instances are
quoted, then perplexity followed by irri-
tation is the natural result. The names
just cited are of diverse nature. Calder
Limestone and Lenneschiefer are terms
of local application and perfectly jus-
tifiable; all that we ask is a hint,
however * guarded, as to the probable
horizon of these restricted rocks in com-
parison with a better known geological

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

325

series. Plaisancien and Diceratien are
minor divisions on the time-scale, which
are doubtless familiar enough to the stu-
dents of Pliocene or of Middle Jurassic
rocks, but which may cause the or-
dinary geologist a journey to the public
library and prolonged search. Feuer-
stein and Oberen Mergel-schichten are
terms the meaning of which is absolutely
governed by the context, or by the
place in which the author happens to
live; stratigraphically considered, there
can be no value in such words as fire-
stone and upper marl-beds. As for
Knorrithone, it is simply a vulgar bar-
barism, the offspring of specialism and
illiteracy, which may do well enough
for the notebook of a field-geologist,
but is out of place in the official pub-
lication from which it is culled. A
couple of friends may talk of the 'Bel.
quad, beds' or the 'corang zone,' but a
sense of respect for their science, no
less than a feeling for foreign readers,
should keep these colloquialisms out of
their serious publications.

Akin to the instance last mentioned
is the slovenly habit indulged in by
many zoologists of referring to a species
by its trivial name alone, without men-
tioning the generic name, which is an
equally essential component of the name
of the species. This is especially a
custom with entomologists of the baser
sort, who, in matters nomenclatorial,
seem to be capable of anything. With
them as with other classes of natural-
ists, this apparent familiarity is prob-
ably due to their ignorance that the
>ame has been applied to species of, it
may be, twenty other genera. They
would be less prone to the habit if they
knew that zoologists of wider knowl-
edge regard it as the hall-mark of
provincialism.

What is true of geological forma-
tions and of species applies also to
genera. Until the reform proposed by
Prof. A. L. Herrera is adopted,
the scientific names of animals and
plants will not be self-explanatory.
How many scientific men, asks the in-
genious Mexican, outside the system-

artists of the group, understand what is
meant by Spinolis zena? Is it a mush
room, an ant, a rose, a spider or a
monkey? Some names are intended to
indicate the class to which the plant
or animal belongs; thus a name ending
in crinus is pretty sure to belong
to a crinoid, one ending in ceras
may be a fossil mollusc belonging to
the Ammonoidea; graptus is fairly cer-
tain to be a graptolite, and saurus a
fossil reptile. The principle might well
be extended, and systematists should at
least refrain from applying a termi-
nation tacitly ear-marked for a particular
group to a new genus belonging to an
other group. If the name of an Echino-
derm genus ends in cystis, the reader
naturally supposes that the animal be-
longs to the extinct class Cystidea, and
he is not a little disturbed if he discovers
that it is a recent sea-urchin. How-
ever, these things are so, and will con-
tinue to be so, until people realize the
responsibility that rests on the proposer
of a new name. It is unnecessary to
do more than recall the fact that, ow-
ing to inadvertence or ignorance, the
same name has often been applied to
more than one kind of organism, and
may for years continue to be used in
both senses, while many names well-
known in zoology occur also in botan-
ical nomenclature.

The point we would emphasize is
this: Considering the difficulties that
inevitably spring from such a state of
affairs, it is the more incumbent on
writers to explain the nature or sys-
tematic position of the organism about
which they are writing. Merely to give
the name, even if it chance to be cor
rect and elsewhere unappropriated, is not
enough. Still less is this satisfactory
when the name has been used in more
than one sense. How often does a zoolo-
gist spend time and trouble in looking
up a paper on some genus in which he
believes himself to be interested, only to
find that the subject of the article is
some different animal, or even a plant,
bearing the same name. To show how
real a grievance this may be, let us give

326

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

an actual case. Last year two natural-
ists presented to the French Academy
of Sciences an account of their investi-
gations into the perivisceral fluid of
Phymosoma. The mention of perivis-
ceral fluid indicates that Phymosoma is
an animal and that it possesses viscera;
also that it is not a fossil. But neither
the title nor the paper itself gives any
further hint as to the zoological position
of the creature. We must, therefore,
have recourse to some work of reference,
such as Scudder's 'Nomenclator,' and
here we find Phymosoma given as the
name of a sea-urchin, better known as
Cyphosoma. This may be the reason
why the paper in question has been in-
dexed in a well-known bibliography un-
der the head of Echinoderms. But on
inquiring further into the matter we
find, first, that the sea-urchin Phymo-
noma is only known as a fossil, or if
ft does occur in the recent state, it is
by no means so common as readily to
afford material for biological investiga-
tion; secondly, that the phenomena ob-
served are not such as we have hitherto
been taught to associate with the Echi-
noidea. These considerations, while not
excluding the possibility that the Phy-
mosoma of the paper is a sea-urchin,
arouse our suspicion. But what is to
be done? We ransack the works of ref-
erence in a great library, we appeal to
our zoological friends, specialists in
various branches, professors, bibliog-
raphers. In vain. The resources of
civilization appear exhausted, and we
'Why on earth don't you
write to the authors?' says some su-
perior practical person. My dear sir, are
you not aware that the address of a
scientific writer is never affixed to his
publications, that if he is a Frenchman
with a common name his initials are
invariably replaced by M., and that,
with all respect to Messrs. Cassino,
Friedlander and other benefactors of
scientific humanity, it is still as difficult
to hunt down a budding author as to

solve any other problem of scientific*
nomenclature? Before risking a letter
that, even should it arrive, may elicit
no reply, it occurs to us that the au-
thors, being French, are likely to follow
the names used by Prof. Edmond
Perrier in his large 'Traite de zoologie.'
Unfortunately this work, since it is still
in progress, has as yet no index. How-
ever, by dint of wading through the
probable groups of animals, we are at
last rewarded by finding Phymosoma
among the Gephyreans. No doubt a
specialist on that small section of the
worms will think all this fuss highly
absurd, for the name Phymosoma is
naturally quite familiar to him. So
much the worse, since no Gephyrean has
a right to it. True it is that A. de
Quatrefages, in 1865, obscurely printed
the name Phymosomum (not Phymo-
soma), as applicable to a subgenus of
the Gephyrean Sipunculus; but the
name Phymosoma was proposed for the
sea-urchin by d'Archiac and Haime, in
1853. If both names be objected to on the
score of etymology, and the more correct
form Phymatosoma be suggested, con-
fusion is certain to arise with a name
given to a beetle in 1831 by Laporte and
Brull6, viz., Phymatisoma, which is, in
fact, though erroneously, frequently
written Phymatosoma. At every turn,
then, there is risk of that very confu-
sion which it is the object of scientific
nomenclature to eliminate.

Now it is distinctly to be understood
that this narration has not exaggerated
the facts one jot, and it is clear that
the experience may have been shared
by many others. All this loss of time,
vexation of spirit and promulgation of
actual error might have been spared by
the insertion of the single word
'Gephyreen' in the title, or, at least, by
some intimation in the paper itself.
Justly then do we stigmatize heedless-
ness in such matters as an agent in th*
retardation of science.

An Editor.

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

327

SCIENTIFIC L1TEEATUEE.

BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE.
The second volume of the 'Cyclopedia
of American Horticulture/ edited by
Prof. L. H. Bailey, has made its ap-
pearance from the press of the Mac-
millan Company and shows the same
general excellence attributed to the first
volume already noticed in this maga-
zine. Subjects under the initials
E. M. are treated in the last volume.
Among the most notable topics of
broader interest are Ferns, Horticulture,
Greenhouses and the zonal regions in
the various States discussed. A bio-
graphical sketch of Asa Gray, by Pro-
fessor Bailey, carries with it a touch
of interest due to the acquaintance
of the editor with that eminent botanist.
By the most recent census it has been
shown that nearly 2,500 species of native
American plants have been brought into
cultivation. Dr. Wilhelm Miller gives
a piquant description of the manner
in which the Cyclopedia was written
and edited in an article in the 'Asa Gray
Bulletin' for August, 1900, of which the
following paragraph is fairly charac-
teristic: "The rest is hard work, and
every man to his own method. Pro-
fessor Bailey uses any or all methods,
or no method; usually the latter. He
is too busy getting done to think about
the best way. Allamanda he wrote in
sixty minutes by the clock. It is an
article of about 640 words, with eight
good species, and accounts for ten trade
names. The plants are not merely de-
scribed; they are distinguished. Eleven
pictures were cited. Not less than
twenty books were consulted. Four
dried specimens were named. This was
the first genus he tackled."

A much-needed introduction to vege-
table physiology (J. & A. Churchill),

by Dr. Reynolds Green, of the Pharma-
ceutical Society of Great Britain, has
just appeared. The author discusses the
general anatomy of the plant and takes
up the general principles of physiology
in a very attractive manner, although in
certain sections the conciseness of the
elementary text is not adhered to. It
is a readable book, and the author is
particularly apt in his sections dealing
with respiration and fermentation. It
is distracting, however, to find Professor
Green in disagreement with himself con-
cerning the dialysation of the enzymes,
a group of substances which have been
the subject of important investigations
by Professor Green for a number of
years. This book will undoubtedly find
its way into every botanist's library in
a few years.

The annual report of the State
Geologist of New Jersey, for 1899, upon
Forests is a carefully indexed volume of
328 pages (State Printers), with 31
plates and some text figures. The re-
port is in four principal divisions. C.
C. Vermeule gives a general description
of the forested area and the conditions
of the timber in the several natural
divisions of the State, which is well set
forth by the aid of well-colored maps.
Prof. Arthur Hollick treats the rela-
tion between forestry and geology in
New Jersey and divides the State into
three zones; that of deciduous trees, that
of coniferous trees and an intermediate
formation. Attention is also paid to the
evolution of the species of trees as
exhibited by fossil specimens. Prof.
J. B. Smith discusses the role of insects
in the forest. Dr. John Gifford reports
on the forestal conditions and silvicul-
tural prospects of the coastal plain of
New Jersey. These, with other matter

328

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

given by the State Geologist, John C.
Smock, form a splendid volume of very
great practical value as well as of
scientific interest.

Three important bulletins (Reports
Nos. 5, 7 and 11) of the U. S. Dept.
of Agriculture, dealing with the investi-
gations upon vegetable fibers, have been
recently mailed to correspondents. It
is notable that comparatively slow prog-
ress has been made in the perfection
of methods of cultivation and use of new
fiber plants. The time seems at hand
for the making of extended and serious
attempts to utilize the fiber furnished
by ramie and other plants, and the
importance of adding a staple of this
kind to the products of the country
would justify any reasonable expendi-
ture of time and experimentation.

The indexes and bibliographies which
are being issued by the United States
Department of Agriculture are among
the most complete and comprehensive in
the fields which they cover, and will be
found helpful to persons who are pursu-
ing studies in the various branches of
science related to agriculture. The
latest contribution in this line is an
'Index to Literature relative to Animal
Industry,' prepared by Mr. George
F. Thompson. The volume covers the
publications issued by the Department
of Agriculture from its establishment in
1837 to 1898, and comprises 676 pages,
with some 80,000 entries. It includes a
wide range of subjects, relating to the
care and management of domestic ani-
mals, diseases and their treatment, sta-
tistics of different kinds of live stock,
and investigations upon animal prod-
ucts such as milk, butter, cheese, eggs,
wool, meats, etc. In these lines it ren-
ders available for convenient reference a
large amount of scientific investigation,
much of it unsurpassed in its line, which
is so scattered through various bulletins
and reports as to be easily lost sight of,
and difficult for one unfamiliar with the
* publications of the Department to bring
1 ogether.

NEUROLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY AND
EDUCATION.

Th'S eighth volume of the 'Science
Series,' edited by Professor J. McKeeu
Cattell and published by the Putnams,
is Professor Jacques Loeb's 'Compara-
tive Physiology of the Brain and Com-
parative Psychology.' The author is
known as an able investigator of the
physiology of the invertebrates and a
thinker of daring genius. His book is
in no sense a mere compend; it has the
life and vigor natural to a student's
presentation of his own research and
theories. Professor Loeb's aim is to an-
alyze the behavior of animals, roughly
attributed to the nervous system, into
elements, and to seek the definite factors
that account for these elementary re-
actions; to replace the various hypo-
thetical accounts of the nervous mechan-
ism by the- theory that it is a complex
of a number of largely independent seg
mental organs; and to pave the way
for an explanation of nervous action by
definite laws of physical and chemical
change. The book is thus an important
example of the present attempts of
students of life-processes to reduce phys-
iology to the more elementary sciences
of matter.

In 'Fact and Fable in Psychology'
(Houghton, Mifflin & Co.), Professor
Joseph Jastrow reprints with some al-
terations a number of essays. The
author is eminent among psychol-
ogists for his original research, and
his clearness and skill in exposition are
already known to readers of the Popu-
lar Science Monthly, in which most
of these essays originally appeared. His
wide knowledge and clear judgment fit
him admirably to treat the rather deli-
cate subjects with which his book is
concerned, namely, that group of fact3
which arise in our minds at the word
'occult,' matters which have received
such diverse treatment by both psy-
chologists and laymen. They are direct-
ly dealt with in the essays on 'The mod-
ern occult,' 'The problems of psychical
research,' 'The logic of mental teleg-

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

329

raphy' and 'The psychology of spirit-
ualism,' while those entitled 'The psy-
chology of deception,' 'Hypnotism and
its antecedents,' 'The natural his-
tory of analogy,' 'The mind's eye'
and 'A study of involuntary move-
ments' throw light upon the gen-
eral characteristics of the phenomena
involved and the mental attitudes which
people take toward them. The infor-
mation given about the means taken
by those whose interest it is to mislead
observation, about the inevitable influ-
ence of our previous experiences, our
temporary frame of mind and the 'un-
conscious logic of our hopes and fears'
on our sensations and judgments, and
about the tendency to make uncon-
sciously expressive movements, is scien-
tifically valuable, and is attractively set
forth. The attitude taken toward Chris-
tian science, spiritualism, thought-trans-
ference and veridical hallucinations is, as
would be expected, sane and consistent.
There is, too, a pleasing courtesy and
absence of any pharisaical air of supe-
riority in the criticisms. It is Professor
Jastrow's good fortune to possess, in
addition to the knowledge of the criteria
of evidence and inference in human
phenomena proper to a scientific psy-
chologist, an insight into the inter-
ests and motives of men outside his own
class. This makes his comments on the
types of interest in psychical research
and the factors predisposing to belief in
thought-transference or in spiritualism
of especial value. There is a growing
class, at least among psychologists, Who
have been so affected by the quantity of
talk about psychical research and the
quality of the work done in it, as to be
fairly careless whether there be spirit

communication or no, whether the
adepts of spiritualism be knaves or fools
or neither or both. Even to these Pro-
fessor Jastrow's shrewd comments on
the raison d'etre of the belief will be in
teresting.

Barring some traces of a too Worda
worthian sentimentalism, nothing but
praise can be bestowed upon Professor
MacCunn's new volume, 'The Making of
Character' (Macmillan). Pedagogy, even
if it can be dignified by the name of
science, has suffered sadly at the hands
of its friends. Loose, unsystematic,
fallacious and frothy books abound;
screaming too often takes the place of
close reasoning, wishy-washy guessing
of sober investigation. A mere enumer-
ation of MacCunn's main divisions shows
how far he has advanced beyond this.
His treatment falls into four principal
parts, dealing with Congenital Endow
ment, its nature and treatment; Edu
cative Influences; Sound Judgment;
Self-development and Self-control. As ia
to be expected from one of British train
ing and associations, the social aspects of
the theme are reviewed most successful
ly. The English distaste for psychology
in its modern developments limits the
discussion of congenital endowment
somewhat obviously. But, take it for
all in all, a wiser handbook for parents
and teachers, or a more inspiring and
sensible vadc mecum for the general
reader would be hard to find. Inciden-
tally, the discussion throws some little
light on the old question as to the
relative educational value of the 'hu-
manities' and the 'sciences'; but only in-
cidentally.

330

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

We again direct attention to the bills
before Congress for the establishment of
the National Standardizing Bureau, the
functions of which shall consist in the
custody of the standards used in scien-
tific investigations, engineering and com-
merce; the construction, when neces-
sary, of such standards, their multiples
and submultiples; the testing and cali-
bration of such standards and standard
measuring apparatus; the solution of
problems arising in connection with
standards and the determination of
physical constants and the properties of
materials, when such data are of great
importance and are not to be obtained of
sufficient accuracy elsewhere. The estab-
lishment of a National Physical Labora-
tory has been under discussion in this
country for almost twenty years, and al-
though the urgent need of such an in-
stitution has been generally recognized,
the spasmodic efforts in that direction
have heretofore either lacked sufficient
support from those most vitally con-
cerned or have not taken into account
existing conditions. The bill submitted
last spring by the Secretary of the
Treasury was evidently framed after
most careful consideration of the ques-
tion from its legislative as well as from
its scientific and technical aspects. It is
believed that its scope is as broad as
could be reasonably expected at present,
even by the scientific interests, and
while the bureau is to be placed under
a director having, as is proper, full con-
trol of its administration, there is also
provided a board of visitors, consisting
of five members prominent in the vari-
ous interests involved, and not in the
employ of the Government, the board
serving thus in a supervisory capacity,
and at the same time eliminating by its
high standing, and by its close relation-
ship to the technical and scientific bodies

of the country, the effect of 'political
influence' in the administration of the
bureau.

The prospects for favorable action by
Congress seem most promising owing t*>
the hearty cooperation of all interested,
the measure having received the indorse-
ment of the National Academy of
Sciences, the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, the Ameri-
can Physical Society, the American
Chemical Society, the American Insti-
tute of Electrical Engineers, the Con
gress of American Physicians and Sur-
geons, the National Electric Light Asso
ciation and other prominent organiza-
tions. It has also been indorsed by the
scientific and technical bureaus of the
Government, by institutions of higher
learning through members of their scien-
tific and engineering faculties, and by
manufacturers of scientific apparatus,
and it has appealed especially to the
electrical fraternity. Although intro-
duced towards the close of the last ses-
sion, the bill was favorably reported to-
the House by the unanimous vote of the
Committee on Coinage, Weights and
Measures. The Senate bill is now before
the Committee on Commerce, which, K
is hoped, will repeat the action of the-
House Committee. The immediate pas-
sage of the measure cannot be too
strongly urged, even with due regard to
the great volume of other important
business awaiting action during the
present short session, especially as tha
bill could be disposed of in a very short
time, containing, as it does, nothing:
which could possibly provoke partisan
discussion.

The importance of the National Phys-
ical Laboratory is now universally rec-
ognized. Germany attributes its won-

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

33i

derful strides in the manufacture and
export of scientific apparatus principally
to the splendid work of the Imperial
Physico-Technical Institute. The recog-
nition of this fact on the part of Eng-
lish manufacturers was one of the most
potent influences which last year in-
duced Parliament to provide for the
establishment of a similar bureau. Rus-
sia, about to adopt the metric system,
has also established a Central Chamber
of Weights and Measures, with Profes-
sor Mendelejeff at its head. At the In-
ternational Congress of Physicists, held
at Paris last summer, Professor Pellat
read a paper on the National Physical
Laboratory as a factor in the industrial
development of a country, which created
such a strong impression that a motion
was unanimously passed in favor of the
establishment of such institutions in all
countries not already provided there-
with. The United States, far in the van
in so many respects, cannot afford to lag
behind in a matter of such vital and
universally recognized importance.

That the United States is now
ready to take a place beside Germany
in the production of scientific instru-
ments is demonstrated by what has al-
ready been accomplished in the case of
astronomy. In proof of this statement
we may refer to the recently-issued cata-
logue from the works of Messrs. Warner
& Swasey, at Cleveland, Ohio. This is
a tangible witness that the United
States is, in respect of the making of
astronomical instruments of all sorts,
quite out of the leading strings of the
Old World. The work here exhibited is
strictly of the first class. The instru-
ments are, in the first place, designed
so as to fit the uses to which they are
to be put, not only in their general
form, but also in their details. The
execution of the mechanical work is also
of the very highest quality. Lastly,
we note the very significant fact that
the designs of the instruments are, in
a high degree, elegant and artistic.
It is a far cry from the stone-adze
of the paleolithic man to the Ferrera

blade; and the evolution carries a les-
son with it. Weapons and tools must
first of all be fitted to their uses. Their
design must be appropriate to the de-
sired end. After the end is plainly
comprehended improvements are made
in the mechanical processes of manu-
facture. Last of all it is the desire
of the artisan to become an artist —
to make his work beautiful. The evolu-
tion of the weapon and of the tool fol-
lows laws which govern that of the
scientific instrument also. Long cen-
turies elapsed between the quadrants of
Alexandria, Samarkand and Uraniborg,
and the elegant designs of the instru-
ments of the great observatory of Pul-
kowa. It seemed that almost the last
word had been said when Struve and
Repsold installed their joint produc-
tions in the Imperial Observatory, lav-
ishly endowed by the Russian Emperor.
It is highly significant, then, to find
their work surpassed in a distant coun-
try, across the ocean — in the country
that hardly possessed an astronomical
establishment of any sort when Pul-
kowa was founded. And it is gratify-
ing and startling to note that two New
England mechanics without hereditary
training, advised by our own astrono-
mers, have excelled the work of the
famous house of Repsold, now in its
third generation, advised and counseled,
as it has been, by the most skilled
astronomers of Europe.

A study of the catalogue in ques-
tion will show that in all respects — in
general design, in detail and in artistic
beauty — instruments now made in this
country are superior to any made in the
world. The book referred to is entirely
composed of plates, showing equatorial
mountings, micrometers, chronographs,
transits, zenith telescopes, alt-azimuths,
meridian-circles and dividing-engines
made at Cleveland; and of views of ob-
servatories in various parts of the wrorld
furnished with instruments or domes
from the same works. The observations
made by some of the instruments re-
ferred to at the United States Naval

332

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Observatory, at the Lick, Yerkes,
Flower, Dudley and other establish-
ments, are the best evidence of success.
This book marks an epoch in the
history of practical astronomy in
America and has more than a passing
value. A country that has produced
the object-glasses of the Clarks and of
Brashear, the sextant of Godfray, the
zenith-telescope of Talcott, the chrono-
graph of the Bonds, the break-circuit
chronometer of Winlock, the diffraction-
gratings of Rutherfurd and of Rowland,
the mountings of Warner and Swasey — ■
to say nothing of many minor inven-
tions and devices — has already taken
the highest place in one important field.
Who can doubt that the next century
will see a corresponding progress in
other branches of astronomy? The old-
est science may yet find its chief center
in the youngest country.

The annual report of the Secretary
of Agriculture has come to be regarded
as of special interest to men of science,
inasmuch as it is devoted very largely
to a resume of the scientific investiga-
tion which is being carried on under
his direction. The high appreciation
which Secretary Wilson has of the
economic value of investigation along
lines related to agriculture is evi-
denced by his cordial support of such
work, and the spirit of inquiry which
he has inspired throughout the Depart-
ment. His practical experience as a
farmer and his active connection with
experiment-station work before coming
to the Department have made him quick
to see the application of a new discov-
ery and have enabled him in many in-
stances to suggest new lines of inquiry.
The result has been a wider appreciation
of the department as an institution for
research, and the securing of greatly in-
creased financial support from Congress
for its development along this line. It
is now recognized by those familiar with
it as being one of the largest and best
equipped institutions for organized re-
search in this country, and in the
special lines in which it is engaged it oc-

cupies a leading position. Some of the
newer features which Secretary Wilson
mentions are experiments in plant
breeding, directed toward the pro-
duction of hardier orange hybrids
for the Southern States and corn
of earlier maturity and more re
sistant to drought and smut; studies
of the true cause of the fermentation of
tobacco in curing, which have suggested
important modifications of the old
method of handling; experiments in
growing Sumatra tobacco in the Con-
necticut Valley, with the aid of shade,
and the Cuban types of cigar-filler in
Texas, the indications for the success of
both of which are now considered very
promising; the extensive preparation
and testing of serums for combating hog
cholera and tetanus or lockjaw, and of
vaccine for the disease known as black-
leg; field and laboratory studies of
plants supposed to be poisonous to sheep
on the Western ranges, to determine
the actual causes of the heavy losses of
stock, and to find remedies for poisoned
animals: and the investigation of a
number of the more troublesome plant
diseases, among them diseases of the
sugar beet, which are reported to have
caused a loss of over two million dol-
lars in California.

The Department's policy of send-
ing explorers to various parts of the
world to search out new plants or varie-
ties likely to prove valuable in this
country has already resulted in a long
list of promising introductions, includ-
ing especially the Kiushu rice from Ja-
pan, which, it is believed, will insure
the success of the rice industry in this
country, and varieties of wheat from
Russia, Hungary and Australia, which
are superior in milling qualities, resist-
ance to rust and yield. The successful
introduction into California of the in-
sect which fertilizes the flowers of the
Smyrna fig, resulting the past season in
the production of six tons of these figs
of the highest grade of excellence,
promises the development of another
important industry. Among the larger

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

333

operations in the field the studies of the
use and economy of irrigation waters
have attracted widespread attention
throughout the irrigated region, and
have indicated that there is great op-
portunity for improvement in the
methods and use of water. The result
has been a great desire for an accurate
and complete showing of facts, on which
permanent improvement alone can be
based; and whei'ever the investigations
have been undertaken, private individ-
uals and local authorities have lent
their hearty cooperation. The prepara-
tion of 'working plans' for forest own-
ers, to guide them in caring for and cut-
ting off their forests in a more system-
atic manner, has proved so popular that
the demands last year exceeded the re-
sources of the Division of Forestry. Re-
quests for these plans cover over fifty
million acres of forest, and come from
private owners, large consumers of tim-
ber for manufacturing purposes and
public custodians. The Secretary points
out the encouraging fact that public in-
terest in forestry is at present not only
keener and more widespread than at
any time heretofore^ but 'is growing
with a rapidity altogether without prec-
edent.' Quite large increases in ap-
propriation for these irrigation investi-
gations and lines of forestry work are
recommended, as well as for soil sur-
veys with reference to the distribution
of alkali in the West, location of to-
bacco soils and other questions. Co-
operation with the agricultural experi-
ment stations has now become a promi-
nent feature of the department work,
and is heartily endorsed. Congress has
recognized this in recent years by giv-
ing funds for special investigations to
be carried on in cooperation with the
stations. This has naturally brought
the Department into much closer rela-
tions with the stations, and has tended
to secure greater stability for the opera-
tions of the stations and an increased
measure of influence with their own con-
stituents. Not only is such cooperation
in the interests of economy, but it
strengthens the efficiency of both the

Department and the stations as organi-
zations for the improvement of agricul-
ture. As a result of the investigations
made the past year of the agricultural
conditions in Hawaii and Porto Rico,
the Secretary recommends the establish-
ment of experiment stations in these
islands.

The growing interest in the work of
the National Department of Agriculture
is evidenced by the rapidly increasing
demand for its publications. Last year
three hundred and twenty new publica-
tions were issued, and the number of
copies printed was considerably over
seven million. This was far in excess of
any previous year, both in number of
publications and total edition. Notwith-
standing this fact, the Department was
obliged to refuse many applicants for
its bulletins and reports, the number of
refusals being ten times more numer-
ous than six years ago, when the total
edition was only half that of the past
year. In addition to these more tech-
nical publications, one hundred and
eight farmers' bulletins, including re-
prints, were issued, aggregating two and
a third million copies. This furnishes
some idea of the enormous activity of
the Department in the diffusion of
knowledge. But with the growth of it3
investigations and the consequent in-
crease of material for publication, Sec-
retary Wilson shows that there has not
been a commensurate increase in the
appropriation for printing, which has
now become inadequate to the prompt
diffusion of the information acquired.
He accordingly requests a material in-
crease in the printing fund for another
year, but he questions whether, with-
out some change in the present system
of distributing publications, it will be
possible to maintain a supply equal to
the demand. The distribution has been
restricted in several ways within recent
years, and mailing lists have been kept
revised to prevent waste. In the inter-
est of the greatest usefulness of the De-
partment to applied science and to its
constituents, the policy should, if pos-

334

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

sible, remain sufficiently liberal to pi-o-
vide copies to such persons as are es-
pecially interested in the publications,
and make application for them. The
problem is undoubtedly a perplexing
one, and unless Congress makes liberal
additions to the printing fund, is likely
to prove more troublesome with suc-
ceeding years.

The present organization of the De-
partment of Agriculture is for the most
part one of divisions quite independent
of each other in their operations. These
are not generally grouped into bureaus,
as is the case in other departments of
the Government, but each is responsible
directly to the Secretary of Agriculture.
The lines of work of different divisions
very naturally overlap, and as new lines
are taken up, troublesome questions
arise as to their assignment. The con-
dition is one which calls for close co-
operation along the broadest lines pos-
sible, but the segregation which has re-
sulted from the multiplication of divis-
ions has not conduced to this. The
Secretary believes that the best interests
of the Department now demand aggrega-
tion, rather than segregation, and that
the time has come to bring together the
related lines of work. In accordance
with this policy he announces the af-
filiation of four divisions, closely allied
by the nature of their work, under the
title of Office of Plant Industry, with a
director in charge. How far anything
like a reorganization of the Department
will be carried is at present uncertain,
but it is felt that the movement is in the
direction of progress, and will almost
inevitably be extended sooner or later.
In point of location, furthermore, the
scientific divisions are widely separated,
the laboratories being for the most part
in separate rented buildings, removed
some distance from the executive of-
fices and the library. These buildings
are regarded as temporary makeshifts,
and are wholly inadequate to the pres-
ent needs, several of them being dwell-
ing houses, with small, poorly-lighted
rooms. The Secretary makes a strong
plea for a laboratory building, and sub-

mits plans for a fire-proof structure
costing approximately $200,000. He
points out that the items of rent and
other expenses connected with the pres-
ent laboratory quarters amount to
about $10,000 a year, and that the De-
partment is far behind many State in-
stitutions in its laboratory facilities.
The excellent equipment which is being
brought together in these laboratories,
the extensive collections and the valu-
able records of investigation, are jeop-
ardized by their present location. It
seems eminently fitting that the Na-
tional Department of Agriculture should
be provided with the very best facilities
for the important and far-reaching work
which it is conducting. .

The account of the extensive and
varied operations of the United States
Commission of Fish and Fisheries, as
contained in the annual report of the
Commissioner for 1900, shows a growth,
as remarkable as it was unforeseen, dur-
ing the three decades that have elapsed
since Professor Baird was appointed "to
prosecute investigations with a view of
ascertaining what diminution in the
number of food-fishes of the coast and
the lakes of the United States has taken
place, to what causes the same is due,
and what protective, prohibitory or pre-
cautionary measures should be adopted."
A summary by the Commissioner of the
work of the different divisions of the
service is followed by detailed accounts
of the propagation and distribution of
food-fishes, the biological investigations,
the collection of statistics of the com-
mercial fisheries, the study of the
methods of the fisheries, the inspection
of the fur-seal rookeries of the Pribilof
Islands, and the operations of the ves-
sels, including a narrative of the recent
South Sea expedition of the Albatross
under Mr. Agassiz. The scientific in-
vestigations conducted in the field, on
the vessels and in the laboratories per-
tain to almost every phase of aquatic
biology. Much of the biological work
is naturally and necessarily addressed
to practical questions connected with
the economic fisheries and fish-culture,

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

335

but facilities are freely afforded for the
prosecution of purely scientific studies;
and it may be noted that an unusually
large number of able investigators have
availed themselves of the advantages
which the laboratories of the Commis-
sion afford. Among the recent acts of
Congress pertaining to the scientific
work have been the appropriation of a
liberal sum for special experiments and
investigations regarding the clam and
lobster; the establishment of a new
marine laboratory at Beaufort, North
Carolina, and the creation of the posi-
tion of fish pathologist.

The results of the early investiga-
tions by the Commission soon led to the
institution of artificial propagation as
the most feasible and effective form of
aid that could be rendered by the Fed-
eral Government for the maintenance of
the food-fish supply ; and for many years
fish-culture has been the leading branch
of the Commission's work. Thirty-five
hatching stations in twenty-five States
were operated in 1900, and new hatch-
eries are established at nearly every ses-
sion of Congress. The output of young
and adult fishes reached the extraor-
dinary number of 1,164,000,000, which
represent practically all the important
food and game fishes of our rivers and
lakes, and several marine species, those
receiving most attention being the
shad, the salmons of both coasts, the
various trouts, the whitefish, the wall-
eyed pike, the black basses, the cod,
the winter flounder and the lobster.
The important feature of this work
is that a very large proportion of
the ova which are handled, being
taken from fish that have been caught
for market, would have been lost but for
the Commission's efforts; in the year
covered by the report, fully nine-tenths
of the output were from this source.
The Commission is one of the most pop-
ular of the Government bureaus, and its
popularity will undoubtedly increase as
the objects, methods, limitations and
results of its work become more gener-
ally known.

Students of economics are familiar
with the apparently far-fetched hy-
pothesis that periods of economic crises
or hard times may be related to the
fluctuations of the sun-spots. There is
now reason to believe that the hypoth-
esis is not a rash guess based on some
specious coincidences. Sir Norman Lock-
yer and Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer have in-
vestigated the connection between sun-
spots and the weather, and claim, in a
paper read before the Royal Society on
November 22, that increased and de-
creased areas of the spots on the sun
may be indicative of fluctuations in the
heat it gives out and that the solar con-
ditions they indicate are approximately
contemporaneous with pulses of greater
rainfall. The Lockyers found that when
the area of spots was greatest the un-
known lines of the spectra of the sun-
spots were widened; when the area was
least the known lines were widened.
From this they infer that a maximum
area of sun-spots goes with a great
increase of temperature. They thus find
periodic changes of solar temperature, a
maximum being followed by a mean
condition, and that by a minimum. The
years 1881, 1886-7 and 1892, for instance,
would be, according to these spectrum
records, years of mean temperature con-
dition. The fluctuations in rainfall in
India, Mauritius, Egypt and elsewhere
were then compared with the spectrum
records. Heavy rains generally occurred
in India in the year following the mean
condition, that is in dates near but
somewhat earlier than the maxima and
minima for sun-spots. The fall of snow
followed the same rule. Between these
pulses of great rainfall there are periods
of drought, which correspond to the in-
tervals between the maxima and mini-
ma of solar temperature indicated by
the fluctuations in the spots. All the
Indian famines since 1836 have occurred
in such intervals, if we assume that
maxima have appeared every eleven
years. The famines of 1836, 1847, 1860,
1868-69, 1880 and 1890-92 fit almost ex-
actly with the central points or mean
conditions between minima and maxima

336

POPULAR SCIEXCE MOXTHLY.

which occurred in 1836, 1847, 1858, 1869.
1880 and 1891. So also the mean condi-
tions between maxima and minima
which came in 1852-53, 1863-64, 1874-75
and 1885-86, are very close to the famine
years 1854, 1865-66, 1876-77 and 1884-85.
The possibility of predicting famines in
India is too obvious for comment. The
present famine is, according to the Lock-
yers, to be explained by abnormal solar
temperature. A mean temperature
would, acording to precedent, have been
reached in 1897 or 1898, but observa-
tions of the spectrum show that it has
not even yet been reached. To the ab-
sence of the minimum condition, which
should have obtained in 1899 and caused
rain from the southern ocean, the pres-
ent famine is due.

Among recent events of scientific in-
terest we note the following: Professor
W. W. Campbell has been elected direc-
tor of the Lick Observatory, in the room
of the late Professor James E. Keeler. —
Otto H. Tittman, assistant superintend-
ent of the United States Coast and Geo-
detic Survey, has been promoted to the
superintendency, vacant by the resigna-
tion of Dr. Henry S. Pritchett, to accept
the presidency of the Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology.— The vacancy
caused by the death of William Saun-
ders, for the past thirty-eight years su-
perintendent of Experimental Gardens
and Grounds, United States Department
of Agriculture, has been filled by the ap-
pointment of B. T. Galloway, who in
turn has been succeeded by Albert F.
Woods as chief of the Division of Vege-
table Physiology and Pathology. — Presi-
dent D. C. Gilman, of the Johns Hopkins
University, has privately intimated to
the trustees his intention of resigning
at the close of the present academic
year, which will complete twenty-five
years of service since the opening of the
university in 1876. — Sir William Hug-
gins, the eminent astronomer, has suc-

ceeded Lord Lister as president of the
Royal Society. The medals of the Soci-
ety have been presented as follows:
The Copley Medal to M. Berthelot, For.
Mem. R. S., for his services to chemical
science: the Rumford Medal to M. Bec-
querel, for his discoveries in radiation
proceeding from uranium; a Royal
medal to Major MacMahon, for his con-
tributions to mathematical science; a
Royal Medal to Prof. Alfred New-
ton, for his contributions to ornithol-
ogy; the Davy Medal to Prof. Gugli-
elmo Koerner, for his investigations on
the aromatic compounds; and the Dar-
win Medal to Prof. Ernst Haeckel,
for his work in zoology. — Lord Avebury
has given the first Huxley Memorial
Lecture, which the Anthropological In-
stitute of London has established to
commemorate Huxley's anthropological
work. — It is proposed to found two me-
morials in honor of the late Miss Mary
Kingsley, one a small hospital at Liver-
pool for the treatment of tropical
diseases and one a society for the study
of the natives of West Africa. — The
death is announced of Dr. John Gar-
diner, until recently professor of biology
in the University of Colorado, and of
Dr. Adolf Pichler, formerly professor of
geology at the University at Innsbruck,
and an eminent German poet and man
of letters. — Mr. D. O. Mills, of New
York, has promised the University of
California about $24,000, to defray the
expenses of a two years' astronomical
expedition from the Lick Observatory to
South America or Australia, the object
of which is to study the movement of
stars in the line of sight. — Surgeon Ma-
jor Reed and a board of experts
are continuing the investigation into
the propagation of yellow fever by
mosquitoes, and an experimental sta-
tion will be established outside Ha-
vana.— Tufts College will open at
South Harpswell, Me., next summer, a
small marine biological laboratory un-
der the direction of Prof, J. S. Kingsley.

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE

MONTHLY.

FEBRUARY, 1901.
HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WOEK.*

By the Right Honorable Lord AVEBURY, D. C. L., LL. D.

I ACCEPTED with pleasure the invitation of your Council to deliver
the first Huxley lecture, not only on account of my affection and
admiration for him and my long friendship, but it seemed also especially
appropriate as I was associated with him in the foundation of this
Society. He was President of the Ethnological Society, and when it was
fused with the Anthropological we, many of us, felt that Huxley ought
to be the first President of the new Institute. No one certainly did so
more strongly than your first President, and I only accepted the honor
when we found that it was impossible to secure him.

But the foundation of our Institute was only one of the occasions
on which we worked together.

Like him, but, of course, far less effectively, from the date of the
appearance of the 'Origin of Species/ I stood by Darwin and did my
best to fight the battle of truth against the torrent of ignorance and
abuse which was directed against him. Sir J. Hooker and I stood by
Huxley's side and spoke up for Natural Selection in the great Oxford
debate of 1860. In the same year we became co-editors of the 'Natural
History Review.'

Another small society in which I was closely associated with Huxley
for many years was the X Club. The other members were George Busk,
secretary of the Linnean Society; Edward Frankland, president of
the Chemical Society; T. A. Hirst, head of the Eoyal Naval College
at Greenwich; Sir Joseph Hooker, Herbert Spencer, W. Spottiswoode,

* The first 'Huxley Memorial Lecture' of the Anthropological Institute, delivered on Novem-
ber 13, 1900.

vol. lviil— 22

338 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

president of the Eoyal Society, and Tyndall. It was started in 1864,
and nearly nineteen years passed before we had a single loss — that of
Spottiswoode; and Hooker, Spencer and I are now, alas! the only re-
maining members. We used to dine together once a month, except in
July, August and September. There were no papers or formal discus-
sions, but the idea was to secure more frequent meetings of a few friends
who were bound together by common interests and aims, and strong
feelings of personal affection. It has never been formally dissolved, but
the last meeting was in 1893.

In 1869 the Metaphysical Society, of which I shall have something
more to say later on, was started.

From 1870 to 1875 I was sitting with Huxley on the late Duke of
Devonshire's Commission on Scientific Instruction; we had innumerable
meetings, and we made many recommendations which are being by
degrees adopted.

I had also the pleasure of spending some delightful holidays with
him in Switzerland, in Brittany and in various parts of England.
Lastly, I sat by his side in the Sheldonian Theater at the British Asso-
ciation meeting at Oxford, during Lord Salisbury's address, to which
I listened with all the more interest knowing that he was to second
the vote of thanks, and wondering how he would do it. At one passage
we looked at one another, and he whispered to me, "Oh, my dear Lub-
bock, how I wish we were going to discuss the address in Section D in-
stead of here!" Not, indeed, that he would have omitted any part of
his speech, but there were other portions of the address which he would
have been glad to have criticised. I was, therefore, for many years
in close and intimate association with him.

Huxley showed from early youth a determination, in the words of
Jean Paul Eichter, 'to make the most that was possible out of the stuff/
and this was a great deal, for the material was excellent. He took the
wise advice to consume more oil than wine, and, what is better even
than midnight oil, he made the most of the sweet morning air.

In his youth he was a voracious reader and devoured everything he
could lay his hand on, from the Bible to Hamilton's 'Essay on the Phi-
losophy of the Unconditioned.' He tells us of himself that when he
was a mere boy he had a perverse tendency to think when he ought to
have been playing.

Considering how preeminent he was as a naturalist, it is rather sur-
prising to hear, as he has himself told us, that his own desire was to be a
mechanical engineer. "The only part," he said, "of my professional
course which really and deeply interested me was physiology, which is
the mechanical engineering of living machines; and, notwithstanding
that natural science has been my proper business, I am afraid there is
very little of the genuine naturalist in me; I never collected anything,

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 339

and species work was a burden to me. What I cared for was the
architectural and engineering part of the business; the working out the
wonderful unity of plan in the thousands and thousands of diverse liv-
ing constructions, and the modifications of similar apparatus to serve
diverse ends."

In 1846 Huxley was appointed naturalist to the expedition which
was sent to the East under Captain Owen Stanley in the Rattlesnake,
and good use, indeed, he made of his opportunities. It is really wonder-
ful, as Sir M. Foster remarks in his excellent obituary notice in the
Eoyal Society's 'Proceedings,' how he could have accomplished so much
under such difficulties.

"Working," says Sir Michael Foster, "amid a host of difficulties, in
want of room, in want of light, seeking to unravel the intricacies of
minute structure with a microscope lashed to secure steadiness, cramped
within a tiny cabin, jostled by the tumult of a crowded ship's life, with
the scantiest supply of books of reference, with no one at hand of whom
he could take counsel on the problems opening up before him, he
gathered for himself during those four years a large mass of accurate,
important and, in most cases, novel observations, and illustrated them
with skilful, pertinent drawings."

The truth is that Huxley was one of those all-round men who would
have succeeded in almost any walk in life. In literature his wit, his
power of clear description and his admirable style would certainly have
placed him in the front rank.

He was as ready with his pencil as with his pen. Every one who
attended his lectures will remember how admirably they were illustrated
by his blackboard sketches, and how the diagrams seemed to grow line
by line almost of themselves. Drawing was, indeed, a joy to him, and
when I have been sitting with him at Eoyal Commissions or on commit-
tees, he was constantly making comical sketches on scraps of paper or on
blotting-books which, though admirable, never seemed to distract his
attention from the subject on hand.

Again, he was certainly one of the most effective speakers of the
day. Eloquence is a great gift, although I am not sure that the country
might not be better governed and more wisely led if the House of
Commons and the country were less swayed by it. There is no doubt,
however, that, to its fortunate possessor, eloquence is of great value,
and if circumstances had thrown Huxley into political life, no one can
doubt that he would have taken high rank among our statesmen. In-
deed, I believe his presence in the House of Commons would have been
of inestimable value to the country. Mr. Hutton, of the 'Spectator' —
no mean judge — has told us that, in his judgment, 'an abler and more
accomplished debater was not to be found even in the House of Com-
mons.' His speeches had the same quality, the same luminous style of

340 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

exposition, with which his printed books have made all readers in
America and England familiar. Yet it had more than that. You could
not listen to him without thinking more of the speaker than of his
science, more of the solid, beautiful nature than of the intellectual gifts,
more of his manly simplicity and sincerity than of all his knowledge
and his long services. His Friday evening lectures at the Royal Institu-
tion rivaled those of Tyndall in their interest and brilliance, and were
always keenly and justly popular. Yet, he has told us that at first he
had almost every fault a speaker could have. After his first Royal In-
stitution lecture he received an anonymous letter recommending him
never to try again, as whatever else he might be fit for, it was certainly
not for giving lectures. It is also said that after one of his first lectures,
'On the Relations of Animals and Plants/ at a suburban Athenaeum, a
general desire was expressed to the Council that they would never invite
that young man to lecture again. Quite late in life he told me, and
John Bright said the same thing, that he was always nervous when he
rose to speak, though it soon wore off when he warmed up to his sub-
ject.

No doubt easy listening on the part of the audience means hard
working and thinking on the part of the lecturer, and, whether for the
cultivated audience at the Royal Institution or for one to workingmen,
he spared himself no pains to make his lectures interesting and instruc-
tive. There used to be an impression that Science was something up in
the clouds, too remote from ordinary life, too abstruse and too difficult
to be interesting; or else, as Dickens ridiculed it in 'Pickwick/ too
trivial to be worthy of the time of an intellectual being.

Huxley was one of the foremost of those who brought our people to
realize that science is of vital importance in our life, that it is more
fascinating "than a fairy tale, more thrilling than a novel, and that any
one who neglects to follow the triumphant march of discovery, so start-
ling in its marvelous and unexpected surprises, so inspiring in its moral
influence and its revelations of the beauties and wonders of the world
in which we live and the universe of which we form an infinitesimal, but
to ourselves at any rate, an all-important part, is deliberately rejecting
one of the greatest comforts and interests of life, one of the greatest
gifts with which we have been endowed by Providence.

But there is a time for all things under the sun, and we cannot fully
realize the profound interest and serious responsibilities of life unless
we refresh the mind and allow the bow to unbend. Huxley was full of
humor, which burst out on most unexpected occasions. I remember
one instance during a paper on the habits of spiders. The female spider
appears to be one of the most unsociable, truculent and bloodthirsty of
her sex. Even under the influence of love she does but temporarily
suspend her general hatred of all living beings. The courtship varies in

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 341

character in different species, and is excessively quaint and curious; but
at the close the thirst for blood, which has been temporarily over-
mastered by an even stronger passion, bursts out with irresistible fury,
she attacks her lover and, if he be not on the watch and does not succeed
in making his escape, ends by destroying and sucking him dry. In
moving a vote of thanks to the author, Huxley ended some interesting
remarks by the observation that this closing scene was the most extraor-
dinary form of marriage settlements of which he had ever heard.

He seemed also to draw out the wit of others. At the York 'Jubilee'
meeting of the British Association, he and I strolled down in the after-
noon to the Minster. At the entrance we met Prof. H. J. Smith, who
made a mock movement of surprise. Huxley said: "You seem surprised
to see me here." "Well," said Smith hesitatingly, "not exactly, but it
would have been on one of the pinnacles, you know."

His letters were full of fun. Speaking of Siena in one of his letters,
contained in Mr. Leonard Huxley's excellent Life of his father, he says:
"The town is the quaintest place imaginable, built of narrow streets on
several hills to start with, and then apparently stirred up with a poker
to prevent monotony of effect."

And again, writing from Florence:

"We had a morning at the Uffizi the other day, and came back
minds enlarged and backs broken. To-morrow we contemplate attack-
ing the Pitti, and doubt not the result will be similar. By the end of
the week our minds will probably be so large, and the small of the back
so small, that we should probably break if we stayed any longer, so think
it prudent to be off to Venice."

By degrees public duties and honors accumulated on him more and
more. He was Secretary, and afterwards President, of the Eoyal
Society, President of the Geological and of the Ethnological Societies,
Hunterian Professor from 1863 to 1870, a Trustee of the British
Museum, Dean of the Eoyal College of Science, President of the British
Association, Inspector of Fisheries, Member of Senate of the University
of London, member of no less than ten Royal Commissions, in addition
to which he gave many lectures at the Eoyal Institution and elsewhere,
besides, of course, all those which formed a part of his official duties.

In 1892 he was made a member of the Privy Council, an unwonted
but generally welcome recognition of the services which science renders
to the community.

As already mentioned, he was elected a Fellow of the Eoyal Society
in 1851. He received a Eoyal Medal in 1852, the Copley in 1888, and
the Darwin Medal in 1894.

Apart from his professional and administrative duties, Huxley's
work falls into three principal divisions — Science, Education and Meta-
physics.

342 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

SCIENTIFIC WOBK.

Huxley's early papers do not appear to have in all cases at first re-
ceived the consideration they deserved. The only important one which
was published before his return was the one 'On the Anatomy and
Affinities of the Family of the Medusae.'

After his return, however, there was a rapid succession of valuable
Memoirs, the most important, probably, being those on Salpa and
Pyrosoma, on Appendicularia and Doliolum and on the Morphology of
the Cephalus Mollusca.

In recognition of the value of these Memoirs he was elected a Fellow
of the Eoyal Society in 1851, and received a Koyal Medal in 1852. Lord
Eosse, in presenting it, said: "In these papers you have for the first time
fully developed their (the Medusas) structure and laid the foundation
of a rational theory for their classification." "In your second paper,
'On the Anatomy of Salpa and Pyrosoma,' the phenomena, etc., have re-
ceived the most ingenious and elaborate elucidation, and have given rise
to a process of reasoning the results of which can scarcely yet be antici-
pated, but must bear, in a very important degree, upon some of the
most abstruse points of what may be called transcendental physiology."

A very interesting result of his work on the Hydrozoa was the gen-
eralization that the two layers in the bodies of Hydrozoa (Polyps and
Sea Anemones), the Ectoderm and the Entoderm correspond with the
two primary germ layers of the higher animals. Again, though he did
not discover or first define protoplasm, he took no small share in making
its importance known, and in bringing naturalists to recognize it as the
physical basis of life, and in demonstrating the unity of animal and
plant protoplasm.

Among other important memoirs may be mentioned those 'On the
Teeth and the Corpuscula Tactus,' 'On the Tegumentary Organs,' 'Re-
view of the Cell Theory,' 'On Aphis,' and many others.

His paleontological work, for which he has told us that at first lie
did not care,' began in 1855. That 'On the Anatomy and Affinities of
the Genus Pterygotus' is still a classic; in another, 'On the Structure of
the Shields of Pteraspis,' and in one 'On Cephalaspis,' in 1858, he for
the first time clearly established their vertebrate character; his work 'On
Devonian Fishes' in 1861 threw quite a new light on their affinities; and
amongst other later papers may be mentioned that 'On Hyperodapedon;'
'On the Characters of the Pelvis,' 'On the Crayfish,' and one botanical
memoir, 'On the Gentians,' the outcome of one of his Swiss trips.

One of the most striking results of his paleontological work was the
clear demonstration of the numerous and close affinities between reptiles
and birds, the result of which is that they are regarded by many as form-
ing together a separate group, the Sauropsida; while the Amphibia, long
regarded as reptiles, were separated from them and united with fishes

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 343

under the title of Ichthyopsida. At the same time he showed that the
Mammalia were not derived from the Sauropsida, but formed two
diverging lines springing from a common ancestor. And besides this
great generalization, says the Eoyal Society obituary notice, "the im-
portance of which, both from a classificatory and from an evolutional
point of view, needs no comment, there came out of the same researches
numerous lesser contributions to the advancement of morphological
knowledge, including, among others, an attempt, in many respects suc-
cessful, at a classification of birds."

In conjunction with Tyndall, he communicated to the 'Philosophical
Transactions' a memoir on glaciers, and his interest in philosophical
geography was also shown in his popular treatise on physiography.

But it would be impossible here to go through all his contributions to
science. The Royal Society Catalogue enumerates more than a hun-
dred, every one of which, in the words of Prof. S. Parker, "contains
some brilliant generalization, some new and fruitful way of looking at
the facts of science. The keenest morphological insight and inductive
power are everywhere apparent; but the imagination is always kept well
in hand, and there are none of those airy speculations — a liberal pound
of theory to a bare ounce of fact — by which so many reputations have
been made." Huxley never allowed his study of detail to prevent him
from taking a wide general view.

I now come to his special work on Man.

In the 'Origin of Species,' Darwin did not directly apply his views
to the case of Man. No doubt he assumed that the considerations which
applied to the rest of the animal kingdom must apply to Man also, and
I should have thought must have been clear to every one, had not Wal-
lace been in some respects, much to my surprise, of a different opinion.
At any rate, it required some courage to state this boldly, and much skill
and knowledge to state it clearly.

He put it in a manner which was most conclusive, and showed, in
Virchow's words, "that in respect of substance and structure Man and
the lower animals are one. The fundamental correspondence of human
organization with that of animals is at present universally accepted."

This, I think, is too sweeping a proposition. It may be true for Ger-
many, but it certainly is not true here. Many of our countrymen and
countrywomen not only do not accept, they do not even understand,
Darwin's theory. They seem to suppose him to have held that Man was
descended from one of the living Apes. This, of course, is not so. Man
is not descended from a Gorilla or an Orang-utang, but Man, the Gorilla,
the Orang-utang and other Anthropoid Apes are all descended from
some far-away ancestor.

"A Pliocene Homo skeleton," Huxley said, "might analogically be
expected to differ no more from that of modern men than the (Eningen

344 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

canis from modern Canes, or Pliocene horses from modern horses. If
so, he would most undoubtedly be a man — genus Homo — even if you
made him a distinct species. For my part, I should by no means be
astonished to find the genus Homo represented in the Miocene, say, the
Neanderthal man, with rather smaller brain capacity, longer arms and
more movable great toe, but at most specifically different."

In his work 'On Man's Place in Nature/ while referring to the other
higher Quadrumana, Huxley dwelt principally on the chimpanzee and
the gorilla, because, he said, "It is quite certain that the ape, which most
nearly approaches man in the totality of its organization, is either the
chimpanzee or the gorilla."

This is no doubt the case at present; but the gibbons (Hylobates),
while differing more in size, and modified in adaptation to their more
skilful power of climbing, must also be considered, and, to judge from
Professor Dubois' remarkable discovery in Java of Pithecanthropus,
which half the authorities have regarded as a small man, and half as a
large gibbon, it is rather down to Hylobates than either the chimpanzee
or the gorilla that we shall have to trace the point where the line of our
far-away ancestors will meet that of any existing genus of monkeys.

Huxley emphasized the fact that monkeys differ from one another
in bodily structure as much or more than they do from man.

We have Haeckel's authority for the statement that "after Darwin
had, in 1859, reconstructed this most important biological theory, and
by his epoch-making theory of natural selection placed it on an entirely
new foundation, Huxley was the first who extended it to man; and, in
1863, in his celebrated three lectures on 'Man's Place in Nature/ admir-
ably worked out its most important developments."

The work was so well and carefully done that it stood the test of
time, and, writing many years afterwards, Huxley was able to say, and to
say truly, that:

"I was looking through 'Man's Place in Nature' the other day; I do
not think there is a word I need delete, nor anything I need add except
in confirmation and extension of the doctrine there laid down. That is
great good fortune for a book thirty years old, and one that a very
shrewd friend of mine implored me not to publish, as it would certainly
ruin all my prospects" ('Life of Professor Huxley/ p. 344).

He has told us elsewhere ('Collected Essays/ vii., p. 11) that "it has
achieved the fate which is the Euthanasia of a scientific work, of being
inclosed among the rubble of the foundations of knowledge and forgot-
ten." He has, however, himself saved it from the tomb, and built it into
the walls of the temple of science, and it will still well repay the atten-
tion of the student.

For a poor man — I mean poor in money, as Huxley was all his life —

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 345

to publish such a book at that time was a bold step. But the prophecy
with which he concluded the work is coming true.

"After passion and prejudice have died away," he said, "the same
result will attend the teachings of the naturalist respecting that great
Alps and Andes of the living world — Man. Our reverence for the nobility
of manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that man is, in sub-
stance and in structure, one with the brutes; for he alone possesses the
marvelous endowments of intelligible and rational speech, whereby, in
the secular period of his existence, he has slowly accumulated and or-
ganized the experience which is almost wholly lost with the cessation of
every individual life in other animals; so that now he stands raised upon
it as on a mountain top — far above the level of his humble fellows, and
transfigured from his grosser nature by reflecting here and there a ray
from the infinite source of truth" ('Collected Essays,' vii., p. 155).

Another important research connected with the work of our Society
was his investigation of the structure of the vertebrate skull. Owen had
propounded a theory and worked it out most ingeniously that the skull
was a complicated elaboration of the anterior part of the back-bone; that
it was gradually developed from a preconceived idea or archetype; that
it was possible to make out a certain number of vertebrae, and even the
separate parts of which they were composed.

Huxley maintained that the archetypal theory was erroneous; and
that, instead of being a modification of the anterior part of the primitive
representative of the back-bone, the skull is rather an independent
growth around and in front of it. Subsequent investigations have
strenghtened this view, which is now generally accepted. This lecture
marked an epoch in vertebrate morphology, and the views he enunciated
still hold the field.

One of the most interesting parts of Huxley's work, and one specially
connected with our Society, was his study of the ethnology of the British
Isles. It has also an important practical and political application, because
the absurd idea that ethnologically the inhabitants of our islands form
three nations — the English, Scotch and Irish — has exercised a malig-
nant effect on some of our statesmen, and is still not without influence
on our politics. One of the strongest arguments put forward in favor
of Home Eule used to be that the Irish were a 'nation.' In 1887 I
attacked this view in some letters to the 'Times,' subsequently published
by Quaritch. Nothing is more certain than that there was not a Scot
in Scotland till the seventh century; that the east of our island from
John 0' Groat's House to Kent is Teutonic; that the most important
ethnological line, so far as there is one at all, is not the boundary be-
tween England and Scotland, but the north and south watershed which
separates the east and west. In Ireland, again, the population is far
from homogeneous. Huxley strongly supported the position I had

346 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

taken up. "We have," he said, "as good evidence as can possibly be ob-
tained on such subjects that the same elements have entered into the
composition of the population in England, Scotland and Ireland; and
that the ethnic differences between the three lie simply in the general
and local proportions of these elements in each region. . . . The
population of Cornwall and Devon has as much claim to the title of
Celtic as that of Tipperary. . . . Undoubtedly there are four geo-
graphical regions, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and the peo-
ple who live in them call themselves and are called by others the Eng-
lish, Scotch, Welsh and Irish nations. It is also true that the inhabi-
tants of the Isle of Man call themselves Manxmen, and are just as proud
of their nationality as any other 'nationalities.'

"But if we mean no more than this by 'nationality,' the term has no
practical significance" ('The Races of the British Isles,' pp. 44, 45).

Surely it would be very desirable, especially when political argu-
ments are based on the term, that we should come to some understand-
ing as to what is meant by the word 'nation.' The English, Scotch and
Irish live under one Flag, one Queen and one Parliament. If they are
not one nation, what are they? What term are we to use, and some term
is obviously required, to express and combine all three. For my part I
submit that the correct terminology is to speak of Celtic race or Teu-
tonic race, of the Irish people or the Scotch people; but that the people
of England, Scotland and Ireland, aye, and of the Colonies also, con-
stitute one great nation.

As regards the races which have combined to form the nation, Hux-
ley's view was that in Roman times the population of Britain comprised
people of two types, the one fair, the other dark. The dark people re-
sembled the Aquitani and the Iberians; the fair people were like the
Belgic Gauls ('Essays,' V., vii., p. 254). And he adds that "the only con-
stituent stocks of that population, now, or at any other period about
which we have evidence, are the dark whites, whom I have proposed to
call 'Melanochroi,' and the fair whites or 'Xanthochroi.' "

He concludes (1) "That the Melanochroi and the Xanthochroi are
two separate races in the biological sense of the word race; (2) that they
have had the same general distribution as at present from the earliest
times of which any record exists on the continent of Europe; (3) that
the population of the British Islands is derived from them, and from
them only."

It will, however, be observed that we have (1) a dark race and a fair
race; (2) a large race and a small race; and (3) a round-headed race and a
long-headed race. But some of the fair race were large, some small;
some have round heads, some long heads; some of the dark race again
had long heads, some round ones. In fact, the question seems to me

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 347

more complicated than Huxley supposed. The Mongoloid races extend
now from China to Lapland; but in Huxley's opinion they never pene-
trated much further west, and never reached our islands. "I am un-
able," he says, "to discover any ground for believing that a Lapp element
has ever entered into the population of these islands." It is true that we
have not, so far as I know, anything which amounts to proof. We
know, however, that all the other animals which are associated with the
Lapps once inhabited Great Britain. Was man the only exception? I
think not, more especially when we find, not only the animals of Lap-
land, but tools and weapons identical with those of the Lapps. I must
not enlarge on this, and perhaps I may have an opportunity of laying my
views on the subject more fully before the Society; but I may be allowed
to indicate my own conclusion, namely, that the races to which Huxley
refers are amongst the latest arrivals in our islands; that England was
peopled long before its separation from the mainland, and that after the
English Channel was formed, successive hordes of invaders made their
way across the sea, but as they brought no women, or but few, with
them, they exterminated the men, or reduced them to slavery, and
married the women. Thus through their mothers our countrymen re-
tain the strain of previous races, and hence, perhaps, we differ so much
from the populations across the silver streak.

Summing up this side of Huxley's work, Sir M. Foster has truly said
that "whatever bit of life he touched in his search, protozoan, polyp,
mollusc, crustacean, fish, reptile, beast and man — and there were few
living things he did not touch — he shed light on it, and left his mark.
There is not one, or hardly one, of the many things which lie has written
which may not be read again to-day with pleasure and with profit, and,
not once or twice only in such a reading, it will be felt that the progress
of science has given to words written long ago a. strength and meaning
even greater than that which they seemed to have when first they were
read."

In 1870 Huxley became a member of the first London School Board,
and though his health compelled him to resign early in 1872, it would
be difficult to exaggerate the value of the service he rendered to London
and, indeed, to the country generally.

The education and discipline which he recommended were:

(1) Physical training and drill.

(2) Household work or domestic economy, especially for girls.

(3) The elementary laws of conduct.

(4) Intellectual training, reading, writing and arithmetic, elemen-
tary science, music and drawing.

He maintained that 'no boy or girl should leave school without pos-
sessing a grasp of the general character of science, and without having
been disciplined more or less in the methods of all sciences.'

348 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

As regards the higher education, he was a strong advocate for science
and modern languages, though without wishing to drop the classics.

Some years ago, for an article on higher education, I consulted a
good many of the highest authorities on the number of hours per week
which, in their judgment, should be given to the principal subjects.
Huxley, amongst others, kindly gave me his views. He suggested ten
hours for ancient languages and literature, ten for modern languages
and literature, eight for arithmetic and mathematics, eight for science,
two for geography and two for religious instruction.

For my own part I am firmly convinced that the amount of time
devoted to classics has entirely failed in its object. The mind is like
the body — it requires change. Mutton is excellent food; but mutton for
breakfast, mutton for lunch, and mutton for dinner would soon make
any one hate the sight of mutton, and so, Latin grammar before break-
fast, Latin grammar before lunch, and Latin grammar before dinner is
enough to make almost any one hate the sight of a classical author.
Moreover, the classics, though an important part, are not the whole of
education, and a classical scholar, however profound, if he knows no
science, is but a half-educated man after all.

In fact, Huxley was no opponent of a classical education in the
proper sense of the term, but he did protest against it in the sense in
which it is usually employed, namely, as an education from which
science is excluded, or represented only by a few random lectures.

He considered that specialization should not begin till sixteen or
seventeen. At present we begin in our Public School system to spe-
cialize at the very beginning, and to devote an overwhelming time to
Latin and Greek, which, after all, the boys are not taught to speak.
Huxley advocated the system adopted by the founders of the University
of London, and maintained to the present day that no one should be
given a degree who did not show some acquaintance with science and
with at least one modern language.

"As for the so-called 'conflict of studies/ " he exclaims, "one might
as well inquire which of the terms of a Eule of Three sum one ought to
know in order to get a trustworthy result. Practical life is such a sum,
in which your duty multiplied into your capacity, and divided by your
circumstances, gives you the fourth term in the proportion, which is
your deserts, with great accuracy" ('Life of Professor Huxley,' p. 406).

"That man," he said, "I think, has had a liberal education, who
has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his
will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that, as a mechanism,
it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its
parts of equal strength and in smooth working order; ready, like a steam
engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin the gossamers as well
as forge the anchors of the mind; whose mind is stored with a knowledge

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 349

of the great and fundamental truths of nature and the laws of her opera-
tions; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose
passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a
tender conscience; who has learned to love all beauty, whether of nature
or of art, to hate all vileness and to respect others as himself."

He was also strongly of opinion that colleges should be places of re-
search as well as of teaching.

"The modern university looks forward, and is a factory of new
knowledge; its professors have to be at the top of the wave of progress.
Eesearch and criticism must be the breath of their nostrils; laboratory
work the main business of the scientific student; books his main
helpers."

Education has been advocated for many good reasons: by statesmen
because all have votes, by Chambers of Commerce because ignorance
makes bad workmen, by the clergy because it makes bad men, and all
these are excellent reasons; but they may all be summed up in Huxley's
words that "the masses should be educated because they are men and
women with unlimited capacities of being, doing and suffering, and that
it is as true now as ever it was that the people perish for lack of knowl-
edge."

Huxley once complained to Tyndall, in joke, that the clergy seemed
to let him say anything he liked, 'while they attack me for a word or a
phrase.' But it was not always so.

Tyndall and I went, in the spring of 1874, to Naples to see an erup-
tion of Vesuvius. At one side the edge of the crater shelved very gradu-
ally to the abyss, and, being anxious to obtain the best possible view, I
went a little over the ridge. In the autumn Tyndall delivered his cele-
brated address to the British Association at Belfast. This was much ad-
mired, much read, but also much criticised, and one of the papers had
an article on Huxley and Tyndall, praising Huxley very much at Tyn-
dall's expense, and ending with this delightful little bit of bathos: "In
conclusion, we do not know that we can better illustrate Professor
Tyndall's foolish recklessness, and the wise, practical character of Pro-
fessor Huxley, than by mentioning the simple fact that last spring, at
the very moment when Professor Tyndall foolishly entered the crater of
"Vesuvius during an eruption, Professor Huxley, on the contrary, took
a seat on the London School Board."

Tyndall, however, returned from Naples with fresh life and health,
while the strain of the School Board told considerably on Huxley's
health.

Huxley's attitude on the School Board with reference to Bible teach-
ing came as a surprise to those who did not know him well. He sup-
ported Mr. W. H. Smith's motion in its favor, which, indeed, was voted

350 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

for by all the members except six, three of whom were the Roman
Catholics, who did not vote either way.

"I have been," he said, "seriously perplexed to know by what practi-
cal measures the religious feeling, which is the essential basis of con-
duct, was to be kept up, in the present utterly chaotic state of opinion
on these matters, without the use of the Bible. Take the Bible as a
whole; make the severest deductions which fair criticism can dictate for
short-comings and positive errors; eliminate, as a sensible lay-teacher
would do if left to himself, all that it is not desirable for children to
occupy themselves with; and there still remains in this old literature a
vast residuum of moral beauty and grandeur. And then consider the
great historical fact that for three centuries this book has been woven
into the life of all that is best and noblest in English history; that it
has become the national epic of Britain, and is as familiar to noble and
simple, from John o' Groat's House to Land's End, as Dante and Tasso
were once to Italians; that it is written in the noblest and purest Eng-
lish, and abounds in exquisite beauties of mere literary form; and,
finally, that it forbids the veriest hind who never left his village to be
ignorant of the existence of other countries and other civilizations, and
of a great past, stretching back to the furthest limits of the oldest na-
tions in the world. By the study of what other book could children be
so much humanized and made to feel that each figure in that vast his-
torical procession fills, like themselves, but a momentary space in the
interval between two eternities, and earns the blessings or the curses of
all time, according to its effort to do good and hate evil, even as they
also are earning their payment for their work?"

Another remarkable side of Huxley's mind was his interest in
and study of metaphysics. When the Metaphysical Society was
started in 1869, there was some doubt among the promoters whether
Huxley and Tyndall should be invited to join or not. Mr. Knowles was
commissioned to come and consult me. I said at once that to draw the
line at the opinions which they were known to hold would, as it seemed
to me, limit the field of discussion, and there would always be doubts as
to when the forbidden region began; that I had understood there was
to be perfect freedom, and that though Huxley's and Tyndall's views
might be objectionable to others of our members, I would answer for it
that there could be nothing in the form of expression of which any just
complaint could be made.

The society consisted of about forty members, and when we consider
that they included Thompson, Archbishop of York, Ellicott, Bishop of
Gloucester and Bristol, Dean Stanley and Dean Alford as representa-
tives of the Church of England; Cardinal Manning, Father Dalgairns
and W. G. "Ward as Eoman Catholics; among statesmen, Gladstone, the
late Duke of Argyll, Lord Sherbrooke, Sir M. Grant Duff, John Morley,

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 351

as well as Martineau, Tennyson, Browning, K. H. Hutton, W. Bagehot,
Frederic Harrison, Leslie Stephen, Sir J. Stephen, Dr. Carpenter, Sir
W. Gull, W. R. Greg, James Hinton, Shadworth Hodgson, Lord Arthur
Russell, Sir Andrew Clark, Sir Alexander Grant, Mark Patteson and
W. K. Clifford, it will not be wondered that I looked forward to the
meetings with the greatest interest. I experienced also one of the
greatest surprises of my life. We all, I suppose, wondered who would
be the first President. No doubt what happened was that Roman
Catholics objected to Anglicans, Anglicans to Roman Catholics, both to
Nonconformists; and the different schools of metaphysics also presented
difficulties, so that finally, to my amazement, I found myself the first
President! The discussions were perfectly free, but perfectly friendly;
and I quite agree with Mr. H. Sidgwick, that Huxley was one of the
foremost, keenest and most interesting debaters, which, in such a com-
pany, is indeed no slight praise.

We dined together, then a paper was read, which had generally been
circulated beforehand, and then it was freely discussed, the author re-
sponding at the close. Huxley contributed several papers, but his main
contribution to the interest of the Society was his extraordinary ability
and clearness in debate.

His metaphysical studies led to his work on Hume and his memoirs
on the writings of Descartes.

One of his most interesting treatises is a criticism of Descartes'
theory of animal automatism. Descartes was not only a great philoso-
pher, but also a great naturalist, and we owe to him the definite alloca-
tion of all the phenomena of consciousness to the brain. This was a
great step in science, but, just because Descartes' views have been so
completely incorporated with everyday thought, few of us realize how
recently it was supposed that the passions were seated in the apparatuses
of organic life. Even now we speak of the heart rather than the brain
in describing character.

Descartes, as is known, was much puzzled as to the function of one
part of the brain — a small, pear-shaped body about the size of a nut,
and deeply seated. Known as the pineal gland, he suggested that it was
the seat of the soul; but it is now regarded, and apparently on solid
grounds, as the remains of the optic lobe of a central eye once possessed
by our far-away ancestors, and still found in some animals, as, for in-
stance, in certain lizards. Descartes was much impressed by the move-
ments which are independent of consciousness or volition, and known
as reflex actions — such, for instance, as the winking of the eye or the
movement of the leg if the sole of the foot is touched. This takes place
equally if, by any injury to the spinal marrow, the sensation in the legs
has been destroyed.

Such movements appear to be more frequent among lower animals,

352 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

and Descartes supposed that all their movements might be thus ac-
counted for — that they were, like the movements of sensitive plants,
absolutely detached from consciousness or sensation, and that, in fact,
animals were mere machines or automata, devoid not only of reason, but
of any kind of consciousness.

It must be admitted that Descartes' arguments are not easy to dis-
prove, and no doubt certain cases of disease or injury — as, for instance,
that of the soldier described by Dr. Mesnet, who, as a result of a
wound in the head, fell from time to time into a condition of uncon-
sciousness, during which, however, he ate, drank, smoked, dressed and un-
dressed, and even wrote — have supplied additional evidence in support
of his views. Huxley, while fully admitting this, came, and I think
rightly, to the conclusion that the consciousness of which we feel cer-
tain in ourselves must have been evolved very gradually, and must
therefore exist, though probably in a less degree, in other animals.

No one, indeed, I think, who has kept and studied pets, even if they
be only ants and bees, can bring himself to regard them as mere ma-
chines.

The foundation of the Metaphysical Society led to the invention of
the term 'Agnostic/

"When I reached intellectual maturity," Huxley tells us, "and began
to ask myself whether I was an atheist, a theist or a pantheist, a mate-
rialist or an idealist, a Christian or a freethinker, I found that the more
I learned and reflected, the less ready was the answer; until, at last, I
came to the conclusion that I had neither art nor part with any of these
denominations except the last. The one thing in which most of these
good people were agreed was the one thing in which I differed from
them. They were quite sure they had attained a certain 'gnosis' — had,
more or less successfully, solved the problem of existence; while I was
quite sure I had not, and had a pretty strong conviction that the prob-
lem was insoluble. . . ."

These considerations pressed forcibly on him when he joined the
Metaphysical Society.

"Every variety," he says, "of philosophical and theological opinion
was represented there, and expressed itself with entire openness; most
of my colleagues were 'ists' of one sort or another; and, however kind
and friendly they might be, I, the man without a rag of a habit to cover
himself with, could not fail to have some of the uneasy feelings which
must have beset the historical fox when, after leaving the trap, in which
his tail remained, he presented himself to his normally elongated com-
panions. So I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be the
appropriate title of agnostic. It came into my head as suggestively
antithetic to the gnostic of Church history, who professed to know so
much about the very things of which I was ignorant; and I took the

HUXLEY' 8 LIFE AND WORK. 353

earliest opportunity of parading it at our Society, to show that I, too,
had a tail like the other foxes."

Huxley denied that he was disposed to rank himself either as a
fatalist, a materialist or an atheist. "Not among fatalists, for I take
the conception of necessity to have a logical, and not a physical, founda-
tion; not among materialists, for I am utterly incapable of conceiving
the existence of matter if there is no mind in which to picture that
existence; not among atheists, for the problem of the ultimate cause of
existence is one which seems to me to be hopelessly out of reach of my
poor powers."

The late Duke of Argyll, in his interesting work on 'The Philosophy
of Belief,' makes a very curious attack on Huxley's consistency. He
observes that scientific writers use "forms of expression as well as in-
dividual words, all of which are literally charged with teleological mean-
ing. Men even who would rather avoid such language if they could,
but who are intent on giving the most complete and expressive descrip-
tion they can of the natural facts before them, find it wholly impossible
to discharge this duty by any other means. Let us take as an example
the work of describing organic structures in the science of biology.
The standard treatise of Huxley on the 'Elements of Comparative
Anatomy,' affords a remarkable example of this necessity, and of its re-
sults. . . .

"How unreasonable it is to set aside, or to explain away, the full
meaning of such words as 'apparatuses' and 'plans,' comes out strongly
when we analyze the preconceived assumptions which are supposed to
be incompatible with the admission of it. . . .

"To continue the use of words because we are conscious that we
cannot do without them, and then to regret or neglect any of their im-
plications, is the highest crime we can commit against the only faculties
which enable us to grasp the realities of the world." Is not this, how-
ever, to fall into the error of some Greek philosophers, and to regard
language, not only as a means of communication, but as an instrument
of research. We all speak of sunrise and sunset, but it is no proof
that the sun goes round the earth. The Duke himself says elsewhere:

"We speak of time as if it were an active agent in doing this, that
and the other. Yet we are quite conscious, when we choose to think
of it, that when we speak of time in this sense, we are really thinking
and speaking, not of time itself, but of the various physical forces which
operate slowly and continuously in, or during, time. Apart from these
forces, time does nothing."

This is, it seems to me, a complete reply to his own attack on Hux-
ley's supposed inconsistency.

Theologians often seem to speak as if it were possible to believe
something which one cannot understand, as if the belief were a matter

VOL. LVIII.— 23

354 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of will, that there was some merit in believing what you cannot prove,
and that if a statement of fact is put before you, you must either believe
it or disbelieve it. Huxley, on the other hand, like most men of science,
demanded clear proof, or what seemed to him clear proof, before he ac-
cepted any conclusion; he would, I believe, have admitted that you
might accept a statement which you could not explain, but would have
maintained that it was impossible to believe what you did not under-
stand; that in such a case the word 'belief was an unfortunate mis-
nomer; that it was wrong, and not right, to profess to believe anything
for which you knew that there was no sufficient evidence, and that if it
is proved you cannot help believing it; that as regards many matters the
true position was not one either of belief or of disbelief, but of suspense.

In science we know that though the edifice of fact is enormous, the
fundamental problems are still beyond our grasp, and we must be con-
tent to suspend our judgment, to adopt, in fact, the Scotch verdict of
'not proven/ so unfortunately ignored in our law as in our theology.

Faith is a matter more of deeds, not of words, as St. Paul shows in
the Epistle to the Hebrews. If you do not act on what you profess to
believe, you do not really and in truth believe it. May I give an in-
stance? The Fijians really believed in a future life; according to their
creed, you rose in the next world exactly as you died here — young if
you were young, old if you were old, strong if you were strong, deaf if
you were deaf, and so on. Consequently it was important to die in the
full possession of one's faculties; before the muscles had begun to lose
their strength, the eye to grow dim, or the ear to wax hard of hearing.
On this they acted. Every one had himself killed in the prime of life;
and Captain Wilkes mentions that in one large town there was not a
single person over forty years of age.

That I call faith. That is a real belief in a future life.

Huxley's views are indicated in the three touching lines by Mrs.
Huxley, which are inscribed on his tombstone:

Be not afraid, ye wailing hearts that weep,
For still He giveth His beloved sleep,
And if an endless sleep He wills — so best.

That may be called unbelief, or a suspension of judgment. Huxley
doubted.

But disbelief is that of those who, no matter what they say, act as
if there was no future life, as if this world was everything, and in the
words of Baxter in 'The Saints' Everlasting Eest,' profess to believe in
Heaven, and yet act as if it was to be 'tolerated indeed rather than the
flames of Hell, but not to be desired before the felicity of Earth/

Huxley was, indeed, by no means without definite beliefs. "I am,"
he said, "no optimist, but I have the firmest belief that the Divine Gov-
ernment (if we may use such a phrase to express the sum of the 'customs

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 355

of matter') is wholly just. The more I know intimately of the lives of
other men (to say nothing of my own), the more obvious it is to me that
the wicked does not flourish nor is the righteous punished."

One of the great problems of the future is to clear away the cobwebs
which the early and mediaeval ecclesiastics, unavoidably ignorant of
science, and with ideas of the world now known to be fundamentally
erroneous, have spun round the teachings of Christ; and in this
Huxley rendered good service. For instance, all over the world in early
days lunatics were supposed to be possessed by evil spirits. That was
the universal belief of the Jews, as of other nations, 2,000 years ago, and
one of Huxley's most remarkable controversies was with Mr. Gladstone
and Dr. Wace with reference to the 'man possessed with devils/ which,
we are told, were cast out and permitted to enter into a herd of swine.
Some people thought that these three distinguished men might have oc-
cupied their time better than, as was said at the time, 'in fighting over
the Gaderene swine.' But as Huxley observed:

"The real issue is whether the men of the nineteenth century are
to adopt the demonology of the men of the first century as divinely re-
vealed truth, or to reject it as degrading falsity."

And as the first duty of religion is to form the highest conception
possible to the human mind of the Divine Nature, Huxley naturally
considered that when a Prime Minister and Doctor of Divinity propound
views showing so much ignorance of medical science, and so low a view
of the Deity, it was time that a protest was made in the name, not only
of science, but of religion.

Theologians themselves, indeed, admit the mystery of existence.
"The wonderful world," says Canon Liddon, "in which we now pass this
stage of our existence, whether the higher world of faith be open to our
gaze or not, is a very temple of many and august mysteries. . . .
Everywhere around you are evidences of the existence and movement of
a mysterious power which you can neither see, nor touch, nor define, nor
measure, nor understand."

One of Huxley's difficulties he has stated in the following words:
"Infinite benevolence need not have invented pain and sorrow at all —
infinite malevolence would very easily have deprived us of the large
measure of content and happiness that falls to our lot."

This does not, I confess, strike one as conclusive. It seems an answer
— if not perhaps quite complete, that if we are to have any freedom and
responsibility, the possibility of evil follows necessarily. If two courses
are open to us, there are two alternatives; either the results are the same
in either case, and then it does not matter what we do; or the one course
must be wise and the other unwise. Huxley, indeed, said in another
place: "1 protest that if some great power could agree to make me
always think what is true, and do what is right, on condition of being

356 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

turned into a sort of a clock and wound up every morning before I got
out of bed, I should instantly close with the offer. The only freedom
I care about is the freedom to do right; the freedom to do wrong I am
ready to part with on the cheapest terms to any one who will take it of
me. But when the Materialists stray beyond the borders of their path,
and talk about there being nothing else in the world but Matter and
Forces and necessary laws, .... I decline to follow them."

Huxley was no enemy to the existence of an Established Church.

"I could conceive," he said, "the existence of an Established Church
which should be a blessing to the community. A church in which,
week by week, services should be devoted, not to the iteration of abstract
propositions in theology, but to the setting before men's minds of an
ideal of true, just and pure living; a place in which those who are weary
of the burden of daily cares should find a moment's rest in the contem-
plation of the higher life which is possible for all, though attained by
so few; a place in which the man of strife and of business should have
time to think how small, after all, are the rewards he covets compared
with peace and charity. Depend upon it, if such a Church existed, no
one would seek to disestablish it."

It seems to me that he has here very nearly described the Church
of Stanley, of Jowett, and of Kingsley.

Sir W. Flower justly observed that "if the term 'religious' be
limited to acceptance of the formularies of one of the current creeds of
the world, it cannot be applied to Huxley; but no one could be intimate
with him without feeling that he possessed a deep reverence for 'what-
soever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, what-
soever things are of good report,' and an abhorrence of all that is the re-
verse of these; and that, although he found difficulty in expressing it in
definite words, he had a pervading sense of adoration of the infinite,
very much akin to the highest religion."

Lord Shaftesbury records that "Professor Huxley has this definition
of morality and religion: 'Teach a child what is wise, that is morality.
Teach him what is wise and beautiful, that is religion!' Let no one
henceforth despair of making things clear and of giving explanations!"
('Life and Works,' iii., 282).

I doubt, indeed, whether the debt which Eeligion owes to Science
has yet been adequately acknowledged.

The real conflct — for conflict there has been and is — is not between
Science and Eeligion, but between Science and Superstition. A disbe-
lief in the goodness of God led to all the horrors of the Inquisition.
Throughout the Middle Ages and down almost to our own times, as
Lecky has so powerfully shown, the dread of witchcraft hung like a
black pall over Christianity. Even so great and good a man as Wesley

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 357

believed in it. It is Science which has cleared away these dark clouds,
and we can hardly fail to see that it is just in those countries where
Science is most backward that Religion is less well understood, and in
those where Science is most advanced that Eeligion is purest. The
services which Science has rendered to Religion have not as yet, I think,
received the recognition they deserve.

Many of us may think that Huxley carried his scepticism too far,
that some conclusions which he doubted, if not indeed proved, yet stand
on a securer basis than he supposed.

He approached the consideration of these awful problems, however,
in no scoffing spirit, but with an earnest desire to arrive at the truth,
and I am glad to acknowledge that this has been generously recognized
by his opponents.

From his own point of view, Huxley was no opponent of Religion,
however fundamentally he might differ from the majority of clergymen.
In Science we differ, but we are all seeking for truth, and we do not
dream that any one is an enemy to 'science.'

In Theology, however, unfortunately as we think, a different stand-
ard has been adopted. Theologians often, though no doubt there are
many exceptions, regard a difference from themselves as an attack on
religion, a suspension of judgment as an adverse verdict, and doubt as
infidelity.

It is, therefore, only just to them to say that their obituary notices of
Huxley were fair and even generous. When they treated him as a foe
they did so, as a rule, in a spirit as honorable to them as it was to
him.

The 'Christian World,' in a very interesting obituary notice, truly
observed that "if in Huxley's earlier years the average opinion of the
churches had been as ready as it is now to accept the evolution of the
Bible, it would not have been so startled by Darwin's theory of the evo-
lution of man; and Darwin's greatest disciple would have enjoyed thirty
years ago the respect and confidence and affection with which we came
to regard him before we lost him."

"Surely it is a striking and suggestive fact that both the retiring and
the incoming President of the Royal Society, by way of climax to their
eulogies, dwelt on the religious side of Huxley's character. "If religion
means strenuousness in doing right, and trying to do right, who," asked
Lord Kelvin, "has earned the title of a religious man better than Hux-
ley?" And similarly Sir J. Lister, in emphasizing Huxley's intellectual
honesty, "his perfect truthfulness, his whole-hearted benevolence," felt
impelled to adopt Lord Kelvin's word and celebrate "the religion that
consists in the strenuous endeavor to be and do what is right."

Huxley was not only a great man, but a good and a brave one. It
required much courage to profess his opinions, and if he had consulted

358 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

only his own interests he would not have done so, but we owe much to
him for the inestimable freedom which we now enjoy.

When he was moved to wrath it was when he thought wrong was
being done, the people were being misled, or truth was being unfairly
attacked, as, for instance, in the celebrated discussion at Oxford. The
statue in the Natural History Museum is very powerful and a very exact
likeness, but it is like him when he was moved to righteous indignation.
It is not Huxley as he was generally, as he was when he was teaching,
or when in the company of friends. He was one of the most warm-
hearted and genial of men. Mr. Hutton, who sat with him on the Vivi-
section Commission, has recorded that "considering he represented the
physiologists on this Commission, I was much struck with his evident
horror of anything like torture even for scientific ends." I do not, how-
ever, see why this should have surprised him, because the position of
physiologists is that it is the anti-vivisectionists who would enormously
increase the suffering in the world. To speak of inflicting pain 'for
scientific ends' is misleading. It is not for the mere acquisition of
useless knowledge, but for the diminution of suffering and because one
experiment may prevent thousands of mistakes and save hundreds of
lives. The medical profession may be mistaken in this, but it is obvious
that their conviction, whether it be right or whether it be wrong, is not
only compatible with, but is inspired by, a horror of unnecessary suffer-
ing.

The great object of his labors was, in his own words, "to promote
the increase of natural knowledge and to forward the application of
scientific methods of investigation to all the problems of life." His
family life was thoroughly happy. He was devoted to his children, and
they to him. "The love our children show us," he said in one of his
letters, "warms our old age better than the sun."

Nor can I conclude without saying a word about Mrs. Huxley, of
whom her son justly says that she was "his help and stay for forty years,
in his struggles ready to counsel, in adversity to comfort; the critic
whose judgment he valued above almost any, and whose praise he cared
most to win; his first care and latest thought, the other self, whose union
with him was a supreme example of mutual sincerity and devotion."

At a time of deep depression and when his prospects looked most
gloomy he mentions a letter from Miss Heathorn as having given him
"more comfort than anything for1 a long while. I wish to Heaven," he
says, "it had reached me six months ago. It would have saved me a
world of pain and error."

Huxley had two great objects in life as he has himself told us.
"There are," he said, "two things I really care about — one is the prog-
ress of scientific thought, and the other is the bettering of the condition
of the masses of the people by bettering them in the way of lifting them-

HUXLEY'S LIFE AND WORK. 359.

selves out of the misery which has hitherto been the lot of the majority
of them. Posthumous fame is not particularly attractive to me, but, if
I am to be remembered at all, I would rather it should be as 'a man who
did his best to help the people' than by any other title."

It is not only because we, many of us, loved him as a friend, not only
because we all of us recognize him as a great naturalist, but also because
he was a great example to us all, a man who did his best to benefit the
people, that we are here to do honor to his memory to-day.

360 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

MALAEIA.*

By GEO. M. STERNBERG, M.D., LL.D.,

SURGEON-GENERAL, V. 8. ARMY.

IN my address as president of the Biological Society, in 1896, the sub-
ject chosen was 'The Malarial Parasite and other Pathogenic Proto-
zoa.' This address was published in March, 1897, in the Popular
Science Montlht, and I must refer you to this illustrated paper for a
detailed account of the morphological characters of the malarial parasite.
It is my intention at the present time to speak of 'Malaria' in a more gen-
eral way and of the recent experimental evidence in support of Manson's
suggestion, first made in 1894, that the mosquito serves as an intermedi-
ate host for the parasite. The discovery of this parasite may justly be
considered one of the greatest achievements of scientific research during
the nineteenth century. Twenty-five years ago the best-informed physi-
cians entertained erroneous ideas with reference to the nature of
malari i and the etiology of the malarial fevers. Observation had taught
them that there was something in the air in the vicinity of marshes in
tropical regions, and during the summer and autumn in semi-tropical
and temperate regions, which gave rise to periodic fevers in those ex-
posed in such localities, and the usual inference was that this something
was of gaseous form — that it was a special kind of bad air generated in
swampy localities under favorable meteorological conditions. It was
recognized at the same time that there are other kinds of bad air, such as
the offensive emanations from sewers and the products of respiration of
man and animals, but the term malaria was reserved especially for the
kind of bad air which was supposed to give rise to the so-called malarial
fevers. In the light of our present knowledge it is evident that this
term is a misnomer. There is no good reason for believing that the air
of swamps is any more deleterious to those who breathe it than the air of
the sea coast or that in the vicinity of inland lakes and ponds. More-
over, the stagnant pools, which are covered with a 'green scum' and from
which bubbles of gas are given off, have lost all terrors for the well-
informed man, except in so far as they serve as breeding places for mos-
quitoes of the genus Anopheles. The green scum is made up of harmless
algae such as Spirogyra, Zygnema Protococcus, Euglena, etc.; and the
gas which is given off from the mud at the bottom of such stagnant pools
is for the most part a well-known and comparatively harmless compound

* Annual address of the president of the Philosophical Society of Washington. Delivered
under the auspices of the Washington Academy of Sciences, on December 8, 1900.

MALARIA. 361

of hydrogen and carbon — methane or 'marsh-gas.' In short, we now
know that the air in the vicinity of marshes is not deleterious because of
any special kind of bad air present in such localities, but because it con-
tains mosquitoes infected with a parasite known to be the specific cause
of the so-called malarial fevers. This parasite was discovered in the
blood of patients suffering from intermittent fevers by Laveran, a sur-
geon in the French army, whose investigations were conducted in Al-
giers. This famous discovery was made toward the end of the year
1880, but it was several years later before the profession generally began
to attach much importance to the alleged discovery. It was first con-
firmed by Eichard in 1882; then by the Italian investigators, Marchia-
fava, Celli, Golgi and Bignami; by Councilman, Osier and Thayer in
this country, and by many other competent observers in various parts
of the world. The Italian investigators named not only confirmed the
presence of the parasite discovered by Laveran in the blood of those
suffering from malarial fevers, but they demonstrated its etiological role
by inoculation experiments and added greatly to our knowledge of its
life history (1883-1898). The fact that the life history of the parasite
includes a period of existence in the body of the mosquito, as an inter-
mediate host, has recently been demonstrated by the English army sur-
geons Manson and Eoss, and confirmed by numerous observers, includ-
ing the famous German bacteriologist, Koch.

The discoveries referred to, as is usual, have had to withstand the
criticism of conservative physicians, who, having adopted the prevailing
theories with reference to the etiology of periodic fevers, were naturally
skeptical as to the reliability of the observations made by Laveran and
those who claimed to have confirmed his discovery. The first conten-
tion was that the bodies described as present in the blood were not para-
sites, but deformed blood corpuscles. This objection was soon set at
rest by the demonstration, repeatedly made, that the intra-corpuscular
forms underwent distinct amoeboid movements. No one witnessing
these movements could doubt that he was observing a living micro-
organism. The same was true of the extra-corpuscular flagellate bodies,
which may be seen to undergo very active movements, as a result of
which the red blood corpuscles are violently displaced and the flagellate
body itself dashes about in the field of view.

The first confirmation in this country of Laveran's discovery of
amoeboid parasites in the blood of malarial-fever patients was made by
myself in the pathological laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University
in March, 1886. In May, 1885, 1 had visited Eome as a delegate to the
International Sanitary Conference, convened in that city under the aus-
pices of the Italian Government, and while there I visited the Santo
Spirito Hospital for the purpose of witnessing a demonstration, by Drs.
Marchiafava and Celli, of that city, of the presence of the plasmodium

362 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

malaria in the blood of persons suffering from intermittent fever.
Blood was drawn from the finger during the febrile attack and from in-
dividuals to whom quinine had not been administered. The demonstra-
tion was entirely satisfactory, and no doubt was left in my mind that I
saw living parasitic micro-organisms in the interior of red blood cor-
puscles obtained from the circulation of malarial-fever patients. The
motions were quite slow and were manifested by a gradual change of
outline rather than by visible movement. After a period of amoeboid
activity of greater or less duration, the body again assumed an oval or
spherical form and remained quiescent for a time. While in this form
it was easily recognized, as the spherical shape caused the light passing
through it to be refracted and gave the impression of a body having a
dark contour and a central vacuole; but when it was flattened out and
undergoing amoeboid changes in form, it was necessary to focus very
carefully and to have a good illumination in order to see it. The objec-
tive used was a Zeiss's one-twelfth inch homogeneous oil immersion.

But, very properly, skepticism with reference to the causal relation
of these bodies to the disease with which they are associated was not re-
moved by the demonstration that they are in fact blood-parasites, that
they are present in considerable numbers during the febrile paroxysms
and that they disappear during the interval between these paroxysms.
These facts, however, give strong support to the inference that they are
indeed the cause of the disease. This inference is further supported by
the evident destruction of red blood corpuscles by the parasite, as shown
by the presence of grains of black pigment in the amceba-like micro-
organisms observed in these corpuscles and the accumulation of this in-
soluble blood pigment in the liver and spleen of those who have suffered
repeated attacks of intermittent fever. The enormous loss of red blood
corpuscles as a result of such attacks is shown by the ansemic condition
of the patient and also by actual enumeration. According to Kelsch, a
patient of vigorous constitution in the first four days of a quotidian in-
termittent fever, or a remittent of first invasion, may suffer a loss of
2,000,000 of red blood corpuscles per cubic millimeter of blood, and in
certain cases a loss of 1,000,000 has been verified at the end of twenty-
four hours. In cases of intermittent fever having a duration of twenty
to thirty days the number of red blood cells may be reduced from the
normal, which is about 5,000,000 per cubic millimeter to 1,000,000 or
even less. In view of this destruction of the red blood cells and the
demonstrated fact that a certain number, at least, are destroyed during
the febrile paroxysms by a blood parasite, which invades the cells and
grows at the expense of the continued haemoglobin, it may be thought
that the etiological role of the parasite should be conceded. But scien-
tific conservatism demands more than this, and the final proof has been
afforded by the experiments of Gerhardt and of Marchiafava and Celli —

MALARIA. 363

since confirmed by many others. This proof consists in the experimen-
tal inoculation of healthy individuals with blood containing the para-
site and the development of a typical attack of periodic fever as a result
of such inoculation. Marchiafava and Bignami, in their elaborate
article upon 'Malaria/ published in the 'Twentieth Century Practice of
Medicine/ say:

"The transmission of the disease occurs equally whether the blood
is taken during the apyretic period or during a febrile paroxysm,
whether it contains young parasites or those in process of development,
or whether it contains sporulation forms. Only the crescent forms,
when injected alone, do not transmit the infection, as has been demon-
strated by Bastianelli, Bignami and Thayer, and as can be readily un-
derstood when we remember the biological significance of these forms.

"In order that the disease be reproduced in the inoculated subject it
is not necessary to inject the malarial blood into a vein of the recipient,
as has been done in most of the experiments; a subcutaneous injection is
all-sufficient. Nor is it necessary to inject several cubic centimeters, as
was done especially in the earlier experiments; a fraction of a cubic cen-
timeter will suffice and even less than one drop, as Bignami has shown."

After the inoculation of a healthy individual with blood containing
the parasite a period varying from four to twenty-one days elapses be-
fore the occurrence of a febrile paroxysm. This is the so-called period of
incubation, during which, no doubt, the parasite is undergoing multipli-
cation in the blood of the inoculated individual. The duration of this
period depends to some extent upon the quantity of blood used for the
inoculation and its richness in parasites. It also depends upon the par-
ticular variety of the parasite present, for it has been ascertained that
there are at least three distinct varieties of the malarial parasite — one
which produces the quartan type of fever, in which there is a paroxysm
every third day and in which, in experimental inoculations made, the
period of incubation has varied from eleven to eighteen days; in the ter-
tian type, or second day fever, the period of incubation noted has been
from nine to twelve days; and in the aestivo-autumnal type the duration
has usually not exceeded five days. The parasite associated with each
of these types of fever may be recognized by an expert, and there is no
longer any doubt that the difference in type is due to the fact that dif-
ferent varieties or 'species' of the malarial parasite exist, each having a
different period of development. Blood drawn during a febrile
paroxysm shows the parasite in its different stages of intra-corpuscular
development. The final result of this development is a segmenting
body, having pigment granules at its center, which occupies the greater
part of the interior of the red corpuscle. The number of segments into
which this body divides differs in the different types of fever, and there
are other points of difference by which the several varieties may be dis-
tinguished one from the other, but which it is not necessary to mention

364 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

at the present time. The important point is that the result of the seg-
mentation of the adult parasites contained in the red corpuscles is the
formation of a large number of spore-like bodies, which are set free by
the disintegration of the remains of the blood corpuscles and which con-
stitute a new brood of reproductive elements, which in their turn invade
healthy blood corpuscles and effect their destruction. This cycle of de-
velopment, without doubt, accounts for the periodicity of the charac-
teristic febrile paroxysms; and, as stated, the different varieties complete
their cycle of development in different periods of time, thus accounting
for the recurrence of the paroxysms at intervals of forty-eight hours, in
one type of fever and of three days in another type. When a daily
paroxysm occurs, this is believed to be due to the alternate development
of two groups of parasites of the tertian variety, as it has not been pos-
sible to distinguish the parasite found in the blood of persons suffering
from a quotidian form of intermittent fever from that of the tertian
form. Very often, also, the daily paroxysm occurs on succeeding days
at a different hour, while the paroxysm every alternate day is at the
same hour, a fact which sustains the view that we have to deal, in such
cases, with two broods of the tertian parasite which mature on alternate
days. In other cases there may be two distinct paroxysms on the same
day, and none on the following day, indicating the presence of two
broods of tertian parasites maturing at different hours every second day.

Manson, in his work on tropical diseases, recently published, ac-
counts for the febrile paroxysm as follows:

"In all malarial attacks this periodicity tends to become, and in most
attacks actually is, quotidian, tertian, or quartan in type. If we study
the parasites associated with these various types we find that they, too,
as has been fully described already, have a corresponding periodicity. We
have also seen that the commencement of the fever in each case cor-
responds with the breaking up of the sporulating form of the parasite
concerned. This last is an important point; for, doubtless, when this
breaking up takes place, besides the pigment set free, other residual mat-
ters— not so striking optically, it is true, as the pigment, but none the
less real — probably are liberated; a haemoglobin solvent, for example, as
I have suggested. Whether it be this haemoglobin solvent, or whether
it be some other substance, which is the pyrogenetic agent, I believe that
some toxin, hitherto enclosed in the body of the parasite, or in the in-
fected corpuscle, escapes into the blood at the moment of sporulation.

"The periodicity of the clinical phenomena is accounted for by the
periodicity of the parasite. How are we to account for the periodicity
of the parasite? It is true that it has a life of twenty-four hours, or of
a multiple of twenty-four hours; but why should the individual parasites
of the countless swarm all conspire to mature at or about the same time?
That they do so — not perhaps exactly at the same moment, but within a
very short time of each other — is a fact, and it is one which can be easily
demonstrated. If we wish to see the sporulating forms of the Plas-
modium in a pure intermittent, it is practically useless to look for them
in the blood during the latter stages of fever, or during the interval, or

MALARIA. 365

during any time but just before, during, or soon after rigor. If we wish
to see the early and unpigmented forms, we must look for them during
the later stage of rigor or the earlier part of the stage of pyrexia. And
so with the other stages of the parasite; each has its appropriate rela-
tionship to the fever cycle."

There are numerous cases of malarial fever in which there is no dis-
tinct intermission and in which the course of the fever is either con-
tinued or remittent in character. Fevers of this type usually occur in
the late summer or in the autumn (sestivo-autumnal) and are believed to
be due to infection by two distinct varieties of the parasite; one, the
tertian sestivo-autumnal, causes a fever characterized by a marked rise in
the temperature every second day; the other, a fever in which there is a
daily elevation of temperature. There are certain peculiarities relating
to the intra-corpuscular development of these parasites which enable us
to differentiate them from the tertian and quartan parasites of intermit-
tent fever, but a more striking difference to be observed in their life
cycle of development in the blood of man is the presence of peculiar cres-
centic-shaped bodies, which play an important part in their further de-
velopment in the body of an intermediate host — the mosquito. Asso-
ciated with these 'crescents' fusiform and ovoid bodies are often seen
which are no doubt similar in their origin and function. The crescents
are a little longer than the diameter of a red blood corpuscle and are
about three times as long as broad. They contain in the central portion
grains of pigment (melanin) derived from the haemoglobin of the in-
fected corpuscle which has been changed into a crescentic body as a re-
sult of the development of the malarial parasite in its interior. When a
fresh preparation of malarial blood containing these crescents is ob-
served under the microscope, while a majority of them retain the cres-
centic form, others may be seen, after an interval of ten minutes or
more, to change in form, first becoming oval and then round; then, in
the interior of these round bodies an active movement of the pigment
granules occurs; this is followed by the thrusting forth from the peri-
phery of several filaments — usually four, which have flagella-like move-
ments. These, as a rule, become detached and continue to move rapidly
among the blood corpuscles. With reference to the function of these
motile filaments, Marchiafava says:

"In these later days there is increasing belief in the theory, which
we uphold, that the crescents and the flagellata are sexual forms of the
malarial parasite, and that a reproductive act (in which the flagellum
represents the male element and an adult crescent the female cell) gives
rise to the new being which begins its existence in the tissues of the mos-
quito.^

These crescentic bodies may be found in the blood of man long after
all febrile symptoms have disappeared, and it is generally recognized

366 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

that they are not directly concerned in th^ production of the phenomena
which constitute a malarial attack and that the administration of
quinine has no influence in causing them to disappear from the blood.
On the other hand, the febrile phenomena are directly associated with
the appearance of the amoeboid form of the parasite in the interior of
the red blood corpuscles and the administration of suitable doses of
quinine has a marked effect in causing these amceba-like micro-organ-
isms to disappear from the blood.

These crescentic bodies are not found in the benign tertian and quar-
tan intermittent fevers, but are characteristic of the malignant forms of
malarial infection, including the so-called asstivo-autumnal fever. In
these forms of fever they are not seen at the outset of the attack, and
they have no direct influence upon the course of the fever. A week
usually elapses between the first appearance of the amoeboid form of the
parasite and that of these crescentic bodies. They are often found in
the blood some time after all symptoms of fever have disappeared, and
are associated with the malarial cachexia which follows an attack of
aestivo-autumnal fever. When blood containing these crescents is in-
gested by a mosquito of the genus Anopheles the following very remark-
able transformations occur: Some of the crescents are transformed into
hyaline flagellate bodies having active movements; others are changed
into granular spheres. The flagella break away from the hyaline bodies
and, approaching the granular spheres, appear to seek energetically to
enter these bodies. A minute papilla is given off from the surface of
the sphere, seeming to be projected to meet the attacking flagellum. At
this point, one of the flagella succeeds in entering the sphere, causing an
active movement of its contents for a brief time, after which the flagella
disappear from view, and the contents become quiescent. This is no
doubt an act of impregnation. After a time the impregnated granular
sphere alters its shape, becoming oval, and later vermicular in form.
The pigment granules are now seen at the posterior part of this body,
which, after the changes mentioned, exhibits active movements. It is
believed that this motile vermicular body penetrates the wall of the mos-
quito's stomach. Here it grows rapidly and, after a few days, may be
seen projecting from the surface as a spherical mass. In the meantime
the contents are transformed into spindle-shaped bodies (sporozoites)
which are subsequently set free by the rupture of the capsule of the
mother cell. According to Manson, these spindle-shaped bodies pass
from the body cavity of the mosquito, probably by way of the blood, to
the three-lobed veneno-salivary glands, lying on each side of the fore
part of the thorax of the insect. "These glands communicate with the
base of the mosquito's proboscis by means of a long duct along the
radicles of which the clear, plump cells of the gland are arranged. The
sporozoites can be readily recognized in many, though not in all, of the

MALARIA. 367

cells, especially in those of the middle lobe, and also free in the ducts.
So numerous are they in some of the cells that the appearance they pre-
sent is suggestive of a bacillus-laden lepra-cell."

The hypothesis that malarial infection results from the bites of mos-
quitoes was advanced and ably supported by Dr. A. F. A. King, of Wash-
ington, D. C, in a paper read before the Philosophical Society on
February 10, 1883, and published in the Populae Science Monthly
in September of the same year. In 1894, Manson supported the same
hypothesis in a paper published in the 'British Medical Journal' (De-
cember 8), and the following year (1895) Ross made the important
discovery that when blood containing the crescentic bodies was ingested
by the mosquito, these crescents rapidly underwent changes similar to
those heretofore described, resulting in the formation of motile fila-
ments, which become detached from the parent body and continue to
exhibit active movements. In 1897, Ross ascertained, further, that
when blood containing crescents was fed to a particular species of mos-
quito, living pigmented parasites could be found in the stomach walls of
the insect. Continuing his researches with a parasite of the same class
which is found in birds, and in which the mosquito also serves as an
intermediate host, Ross found that this parasite enters the stomach wall
of the insect, and, as a result of its development in that locality, forms
reproductive bodies (sporozoites), which subsequently find their way to
the veneno-salivary glands of the insect which is now capable of infect-
ing other birds of the same species as that from which the blood was ob-
tained in the first instance. Ross further showed that the mosquito
which served as an intermediate host for this parasite could not trans-
mit the malarial parasite of man or another similar parasite of birds
(halteridium). These discoveries of Ross have been confirmed by
Grassi, Koch and others, and it has been shown that the mosquitoes
which serve as intermediate host for the malarial parasites of man be-
long to the genus Anopheles and especially to the species known as
Anopheles claviger.

The question whether mosquitoes infected with the malarial parasite
invariably become infected as a result of the ingestion of human blood
containing this parasite has not been settled in a definite manner, but
certain facts indicate that this is not the case. Thus there are localities
noted for being extremely dangerous on account of the malarial fevers
contracted by those who visit them, which on this very account are
rarely visited by man. Yet there must be a great abundance of infected
mosquitoes in these localities, and especially in low, swampy regions in
the tropics. If man and the mosquitoes are alone concerned in the prop-
agation of this parasite, how shall we account for the abundance of in-
fected mosquitoes in uninhabited marshes? It appears probable that
some other vertebrate animal serves in place of man to maintain the life

368 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

cycle of the parasite, or that it may be propagated through successive
generations of mosquitoes.

It is well known that persons engaged in digging canals, railroad
cuts, etc., in malarious regions are especially liable to be attacked with
one or the other of the forms of malarial fever. This may be due to the
fact that the digging operations result in the formation of little pools
suitable for the development of the eggs of Anopheles, but another ex-
planation has been offered. Eoss and others have found in infected
mosquitoes certain bodies, described by Ross as 'black spores/ which re-
sist decomposition and which may be resting spores capable of retaining
their vitality for a long time. The suggestion is that these 'black
spores' or other encysted reproductive bodies may have been deposited in
the soil by mosquitoes long since defunct 'and that in moving the soil
these dormant parasites are set at liberty and so in air, in water or other-
wise, gain access to the workmen engaged' (Manson). This hypothesis
is not supported by recent observations, which indicate that infection in
man occurs only as a result of inoculation through the bite of an in-
fected mosquito. The question is whether malarial fevers can be con-
tracted in marshy localities independently of the mosquito, which has
been demonstrated to be an intermediate host of the malarial parasite?
Is this parasite present in the air or water in such localities as well as in
the bodies of infected mosquitoes? Its presence has never been demon-
strated by the microscope; but this fact has little value in view of the
great variety of micro-organisms present in marsh water or suspended in
the air everywhere near the surface of the ground, and the difficulty of
recognizing the elementary reproductive bodies by which the various
species are maintained through successive generations. It would appear
that a crucial experiment for the determination of this question would
be to expose healthy individuals in a malarious region and to exclude the
mosquito by some appropriate means. This experiment has been made
during the past summer and the result, up to the present time, has been
reported by Manson in the London 'Lancet' of September 29. Five
healthy individuals have lived in a hut on the Roman Campagna since
early in the month of July. They have been protected against mosquito
bites by mosquito-netting screens in the doors and windows and by mos-
quito bars over the beds. They go about freely during the daytime,
but remain in their protected hut from sunset to sunrise. At the time
Manson made his report all these individuals remained in perfect health.
It has long been known that laborers could come from the villages in the
mountainous regions near the Roman Campagna and work during the
day, returning to their homes at night, without great danger of contract-
ing the fever, while those who remained on the Campagna at night ran
great risk of falling sick with fever, as a result of 'exposure to the night
air.' What has already been said makes it appear extremely probable

MALARIA. 369

that the 'night air,' per se, is no more dangerous than the day air, but
that the real danger consists in the presence of infected mosquitoes of a
species which seeks its food at night. As pointed out by King, in his
paper already referred to, it has repeatedly been claimed by travelers in
malarious regions that sleeping under a mosquito bar is an effectual
method of prophylaxis against intermittent fevers.

That malarial fevers may be transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus
Anopheles was first demonstrated by the Italian physician Bignami,
whose experiments were made in the Santo Spirito Hospital in Home.
The subjects of the experiment, with their full consent, were placed in
a suitable room and exposed to the bites of mosquitoes brought from
Maccarese, 'a, marshy place with an evil but deserved reputation for the
intensity of its fevers.' It has been objected to these experiments that
they were made in Eome, at a season of the year when malarial fevers
prevail to a greater or less extent in that city, but Marchiaf ava and Big-
nami say:

"It is well known to all physicians here that, although there are some
centers of malaria in certain portions of the suburbs, the city proper is
entirely free from malaria, as long experience has demonstrated, and at
no season of the year does one acquire the disease in Eome."

In view of the objection made, a crucial experiment has recently been
made in the city of London. The result is reported by Manson, as fol-
lows:

"Mosquitoes infected with the parasite of benign tertian malarial
fever were sent from Eome to England, and were allowed to feed upon
the blood of a perfectly healthy individual (Dr. Manson's son, who had
never had malarial disease). Forty mosquitoes, in all, were allowed to
bite him between August 29 and September 12. On September
14 he had a rise of temperature, with headache and slight chilliness,
but no organisms were found in his blood. A febrile paroxysm occurred
daily thereafter, but the parasites did not appear in the blood until Sep-
tember 17, when large numbers of typical tertian parasites were found.
They soon disappeared under the influence of quinine."*

We have still to consider the question of the transmission of malarial
fevers by the ingestion of water from malarious localities. Numerous
medical authors have recorded facts which they deemed convincing as
showing that malarial fevers may be contracted in this way. I have
long been of the opinion that while the observed facts may, for the most
part, be authentic, the inference is based upon a mistake in diagnosis.
That, in truth, the fevers which can justly be ascribed to the ingestion
of a contaminated water supply are not true malarial fevers — i. e., they
are not due to the presence of the malarial parasite in the blood. This
view was sustained by me in my work on 'Malaria and Malarial Diseases,'

* Quoted from an editorial in the 'New York Medical Journal' of October 20, 1900.]

370 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

published in 1883. The fevers supposed to have been contracted in this
way are, as a rule, continued or remittent in character and they are
known under a variety of names. Thus we have 'Roman fever/ 'Naples
fever/ 'Remittent fever/ 'Mountain fever/ 'Typho-malarial fever/ etc.
The leading physicians and pathologists, in regions where these fevers
prevail, are now convinced that they are not malarial fevers, but are
simply more or less typical varieties of typhoid fever — a disease due to a
specific bacillus and which is commonly contracted as a result of the in-
gestion of contaminated water or food. The error in diagnosis, upon
which the inference has been based that malarial fevers may be con-
tracted through drinking water, has been widespread, in this coun-
try, in Europe and in the British possessions in India. It vitiated our
medical statistics of the Civil War and of the recent war with Spain. In
my work already referred to, I say:

"Probably one of the most common mistakes in diagnosis, made in
all parts of the world where malarial and enteric fevers are endemic, is
that of calling an attack of fever, belonging to the last mentioned cate-
gory, malarial remittent. This arises from the difficulties attending a
differential diagnosis at the outset, and from the fact that having once
made a diagnosis of malarial fever, the physician, even if convinced later
that a mistake has been made, does not always feel willing to confess it.
The case, therefore, appears in the mortality returns, if it prove fatal, or
in the statistical reports of disease, if made by an army or navy surgeon,
as at first diagnosed."

I have already mentioned the fact that Marchiafava denies that ma-
larial fevers prevail in the city of Rome, yet every one knows how fre-
quently travelers contract the so-called 'Roman fever' as a result of a
temporary residence in that city. In our own cities numerous cases of
so-called 'remittent' or 'typho-malarial' fevers are reported in localities
where typical malarial fevers (intermittents) are unknown, and at sea-
sons of the year when these fevers do not prevail even in the marshy re-
gions where they are of annual occurrence — during the mosquito season.
Malarial fevers may, of course, occur in cities as a result of exposure
elsewhere to the bites of infected mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles,
either as primary attacks or as a relapse, or in urban localities in the
vicinity of marshy places or pools of water suitable as breeding places
for Anopheles. But when a previously healthy individual, living in a
well-paved city, in a locality remote from all swampy places is taken sick
with a 'remittent fever,' and especially when the attack occurs during
the winter months, it is pretty safe to say that he is not suffering from
malarial infection, and the chances are greatly in favor of the view that
he has typhoid fever. It must be remembered that a remittent or in-
termittent course is not peculiar to malarial fevers. Typhoid commonly
presents a more or less remittent character, especially at the outset of an
attack; the hectic fever of tuberculosis is intermittent in character.

MALARIA. 3; i

The formation of an abscess, an attack of tonsilitis, etc., are usually at-
tended by chills and fever, which may recur at more or less regular in-
tervals. Indeed, in certain cases of pyaemia the febrile phenomena are
so similar to those of a malarial attack that a mistake in diagnosis is no
unusual occurrence. Finally, I may say that it is the fashion with
many persons and with some physicians to ascribe a variety of symptoms,
due to various causes, to 'malaria' and to prescribe quinine as a general
panacea. Thus a gentleman who has been at the club until one or two
o'clock at night and has smoked half a dozen cigars — not to mention
beer and cheese sandwiches as possible factors — reports to his doctor the
next morning with a dull headache, a furred tongue and a loss of ap-
petite which he is unable to account for except upon the supposition that
he has 'malaria/ Again the symptoms arising from indigestion, from
crowd-poisoning, from sewer-gas-poisoning, from ptomaine-poisoning
(auto-infection), etc., are often ascribed to 'malaria' and quinine is pre-
scribed, frequently with more or less benefit, for the usefulness of this
drug is not limited to its specific action in the destruction of the malarial
parasite.

As stated at the outset, it is evident, in the present state of our
knowledge, that the term 'malaria' is a misnomer, either as applied to
the cause of the periodic fevers or as used to designate this class of
fevers. It would be more logical to use the name plasmodium fever and
to speak of a plasmodium intermittent or remittent, rather than of a
malarial intermittent. But it will, no doubt, be difficult to displace a
term which has been so long in use, which up to the present time has
had the sanction of the medical profession, and which expresses the
popular idea as to the origin of that class of fevers which we now know
to be due to a blood-parasite, introduced through the agency of mos-
quitoes of the genus Anopheles.

372 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

A STUDY OF BEITISH GENIUS. .

By HAVELOCK ELLIS.

1. INTRODUCTORY.

UNTIL now it has not been possible to obtain any comprehensive
view of the men and women who have chiefly built up English
civilization. It has not, therefore, been possible to study their personal
characteristics as a group. The sixty-three volumes of the 'Dictionary
of National Biography/ of which the last has been lately issued, have
for the first time enabled us to construct an authoritative and well-
balanced scheme of the persons of illustrious genius, in every depart-
ment, who have appeared in the British Isles from the beginning of
history down to the end of the nineteenth century; and, with a certain
amount of labor, it enables us to sum up their main traits. It has
seemed to me worth while — both for the sake of ascertaining the
composition of those elements of intellectual ability which Great
Britain has contributed to the world, and also as a study of the nature
of genius generally — to utilize the 'Dictionary' to work out these results.
I propose to present here some of the main conclusions which emerge
from such a study.

The 'Dictionary' contains some record — from a few lines to several
dozen pages — of some thirty thousand persons. Now, this is an imprac-
ticable and undesirable number to deal with — impracticable because,
regarding a large proportion of these persons, very little is here recorded
or is even known; undesirable because it must be admitted that the
majority, though persons of a certain note in their own day or their
own circle, cannot be said to have made any remarkable contribution
to civilization or to have displayed any very transcendent degree of
native ability. My first task, therefore, was to ascertain a principle
of selection in accordance with which the persons of relatively
less distinguished ability and achievement might be eliminated.
At the outset one class of individuals, it was fairly obvious, should
be omitted altogether in the construction of any group in which the
qualities of native intellectual ability are essential — I mean royalty,
and members of the royal family, as well as the hereditary nobility.
Those eminent persons, the sons of commoners, who have founded
noble families, are, of course, not excluded by this rule, according to
which any eminent person whose father, at the time of his birth, had
attained the rank of baronet or any higher rank, is necessarily excluded
from my list. Certainly the son of a king or a peer may possess a

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 373

high degree of native ability, but it is practically impossible to estimate
how far that ability would have carried him had he been the son of
an ordinary citizen; it might be maintained that a successful merchant,
ship-owner, schoolmaster or tradesman requires as much sagacity and
mental alertness as even the most successful sovereign; by eliminating
those individuals in whom the accident of birth counts for so much,
we put this insoluble question out of court. I am surprised to find how
few persons of obviously preeminent ability are excluded by this rule,
and how many whom, at first, one would imagine it excludes,
it really allows to pass, especially in the case of sons born before the
father was created a peer. In order to avoid any scandalous omissions,
I have thought it well to rule in all those sons of peers whose ability has
clearly been of a kind which could not be aided by position and
influence; thus I have included the third Earl of Shaftesbury, for it
cannot be held that the possession of an earldom tends to aid a man in
becoming a philosopher. It has, however, very rarely indeed been
necessary to accord this privilege; I have always refrained from accord-
ing it in the case of soldiers and statesmen.

Having eliminated those whose position in the world has clearly
been influenced by the accident of birth, it remained to eliminate
those whose place in the world, as well as in the 'Dictionary,' was
comparatively small. After some consideration I decided that, generally
speaking, those persons to whom less than three pages were allotted
were evidently not regarded by the editors, and could scarcely be
generally regarded, as of the first rank of eminence. Accordingly, I
excluded all those individuals to whom less than that amount of space
was devoted. When this was done, however, I found it necessary to
go through the 'Dictionary' again, treating this rule in a somewhat more
liberal manner. I had so far obtained some 700 names, but I had
excluded many persons of undoubtedly very eminent ability and
achievement; Hutton, the geologist, and Jane Austen, the novelist, for
instance, could scarcely be omitted from a study of British genius.
It was evident that persons with eventful lives had a better chance of
occupying much space than other persons of equal ability with
uneventful lives. Moreover, I found that a somewhat rigid adherence
to the rule I had laid down had sometimes resulted in groups that
were too small and too ill-balanced to be useful for study. In the
case of musical composers, for instance, while those of recent times,
of whom much is known, were dealt with at length, the earlier
musicians, of whom little is known, though their eminence is much
greater, were excluded from my list. On the other hand, a certain
number of persons had been included because, though of quite ordinary
ability (like Bradshaw, the regicide), they happened by accident to
have played a considerable part in history. In going through the

374 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

'Dictionary' a second time, therefore, 1 modified my list in accordance
with a new rule, to the effect that biographies occupying less than
three pages might he included if the writers seemed to consider that
their subjects had shown intellectual ability of a high order, and that
those occupying more space might be excluded if the writers considered
that their subjects displayed no high intellectual ability. At the same
time, I eliminated those persons who rank chiefly as villains (like
Titus Oates), and have little claim to the possession of any eminent
degree of intellectual ability. I have also felt compelled to exclude
women (like Lady Hamilton) whose fame is not due to intellectual
ability, but to beauty and to connection with eminent persons.

So far as possible, it will be seen, I have sought to subordinate
my own private judgment in making the selection. It has been my
object to place the list, so far as possible, on an objective basis. At
the same time, it is evident that, while I only reserved to myself a
casting vote on doubtful points, there is necessarily a certain proportion
of cases where this personal vote had to be given. A purely mechanical
method of making selections would necessarily lead to various absurd-
ities, and all that I can claim is that the principles of selection I have
adopted have involved a minimum of interference on my part. It is
certainly true that, even after much consideration and repeated
revision, I remain myself still in doubt regarding a certain proportion
of people included in my list and a certain proportion omitted. How-
ever often I went through the 'Dictionary/ I know that I should each
time make a few trifling readjustments, and any one else who took
the trouble to go over the ground I have traversed would likewise
wish to make readjustments. But I am convinced that if my principles
of selection are accepted, the margin for such readjustment is narrow.

I must here remark that a slightly lower standard of ability has
been demanded from the women selected than from the men. It was not
my desire that this should be so, and in the first list the same standard
was demanded from women as from men. But it soon became clear
that this was not practicable. On account of the greater rarity of
intellectual ability in women, they have often played a large part in
the world on the strength of achievements which would not have
allowed a man to play a similarly large part. It seemed, again, impos-
sible to exclude various women of powerful and influential personality,
though their achievements were not always considerable; I allude to
such persons as Hannah More and Mrs. Montague. Even Mrs. Somer-
ville, the only feminine representative of science in my list, could
scarcely be included were she not a woman, for she was little more
than the accomplished popularizer of scientific results. In one depart-
ment, and one only, the women seem to be little, if at all, inferior to
the men in ability; that is in acting.

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 375

Putting aside the women for the moment, we find that Great
Britain has produced no fewer than 859 men of a high degree of
intellectual eminence. These I classify, according to the direction of
their activities, as follows: Actors, 23; Artists (painters, sculptors,
architects), 69; Business Men, 3; Divines, 128; Doctors, 7; Lawyers,
35; Men of Letters, 150; Men of Science (and inventors), 94; Musical
Composers, 14; Philanthropists, 4; Philosophers, 27; Poets, 98; Poli-
ticians (statesmen, agitators, administrators, etc.), 113; Sailors, 29;
Scholars, 40; Schoolmasters, 4; Soldiers, 46; Travelers and Explorers, 9.

It is necessary to make certain remarks concerning this classifica-
tion. In the first place, there is some amount of duplication, owing
to one man having sometimes distinguished himself in more than
one field. This I have sought to minimize by placing a man only
in those departments in which he really reached a high degree of
eminence; thus many individuals belonging to the church or the law
appear in my lists only as Politicians, Philosophers or Men of Letters,
and not as Divines or Lawyers. It must be admitted, however, that, in
a large proportion of cases, the question of classification and of duplica-
tion remains difficult and doubtful. The longest and most miscellane-
ous group is that of Men of Letters. It would have been possible to
include the Poets also in this group, and in some cases (especially in
regard to some of the Elizabethan dramatists) it has been difficult
to decide into which group a writer should fall; but, on the whole, the
Poets were too large, important and homogeneous a group to be
merged into the miscellaneous body of Men of Letters. The smallness
of the group of Business Men will probably attract attention. It would,
indeed, be possible to enlarge the group somewhat, especially by
including various prosperous publishers and newspaper proprietors;
but it scarcely appeared that the biographers of these worthies regarded
them as persons of extraordinary intellectual ability, and it was also
notable that in many cases they owed much to birth and circumstances;
in any case, the group would still remain small. It may seem strange
that 'a nation of shopkeepers' should have produced so few merchant
princes entitled to figure brilliantly in this 'Dictionary.' The real reason
seems to be that a man of marked ability is not content to achieve
success in business only; he uses his business capacity merely as an
instrument for attaining further ends, to become free to devote himself
to literary or scientific aims, and especially to obtain an entry into
politics; business success is thus subordinated to success in other fields.
It must be added that, while many inventors have used their scientific
activity to build up large businesses, their claim to recognition in the
' Dictionary ' remains that of men of science. Another unexpectedly
small group is that of Doctors. Here, again, it would have been possible
to enlarge the group somewhat by including a certain number of

376 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

medical men, who are not, however, considered by their biographers
to have really attained a durable reputation. Just as a really able
business man is not satisfied with business success, so a really able doctor
is not satisfied with professional success, but seeks a higher success,
especially in science. A number of eminent men in science, letters and
philosophy have been doctors, but it has not been in medical practice
that their reputations have been made. I have no comments to make
on the other groups, which, in all cases, I believe, fairly correspond
to the real distribution of high ability. The group of Divines may
seem large, but it certainly appears that religion has offered, in the
past, if not in the present, a peculiarly favorable field for the develop-
ment of mental ability.

There are 43 eminent women, the proportion to eminent men being
only about 1 to 20, although, as I have already pointed out, a somewhat
lower standard of intellectual ability seems here to be demanded in
order to attain eminence. The eminent women fall into the following
groups: Actresses, 13; Women of Letters, 23; Women of Science, 1;
Philanthropists, 1; Poets, 5. It will be noticed that women have only
attained eminence in five out of the eighteen departments, although,
even allowing for legal and other disabilities, they have been free to
attain eminence in at least twelve departments.

Having now explained how these lists have been obtained, it may
be well at this stage to enumerate the individuals who thus appear
entitled to rank as the preeminent men and women of genius produced
by the British Isles. Names appearing in more than one group are
marked by an asterisk. It has not been thought necessary to distinguish
the very numerous cases in which individuals of the same name appear
in different groups, since no confusion should thus be caused.

Actors. — Betterton, Booth, Burbage, Cibber, Cooke, Elliston, Foote, Garrick,
Kean, Kemble, King, Lewis, Liston, Macklin, Macready, C. Mathews, C. J.
Mathews, Palmer, Phelps, Quin, Webster, Wilks, Woodward.

Artists. — Adam, Banks, C. Barry, J. Barry, Bewick, Blake,* Bonington,
Browne, Cattermole, Chantrey, Cockerell, Constable, Cooper, Copley, Cotman,
Cox, Cozens, Crome, Cruikshank, Danby, Dawson, Dobson, Doyle, Dyce, Eastlake,
Etty, Flaxman, Gainsborough, Gibson, Girtin, Gillray, Haydon, Hogarth, Holl,
Inigo Jones, Keene, Landseer, Lawrence, Lewis, Linnell, Leech, Maelise, Mbrland,
Mulready, Northcote, Opie, Phillip, Pugin, Raeburn, Reynolds, Romney, Rossetti,*
Rowlandson, Sandby, D. Scott, G. Scott, Stevens, Stothard, Street, Stubbs, Turner,
Vanbrugh,* Varley, Walker, Wilkie, Wilson, Woolner, Wren, Wright.

Business Men. — Gresham, Paterson, Whittington.

Divines. — Abbot, Adrian IV., Ainsworth, Alesius, Allen, Andrewes,* Atter-
bury, Bancroft, Barclay, Barrow,* Baxter, Bedell, St. Boniface, Bonner, Bradshaw,
Browne, Burges, Burnet,* Butler,* Campion, Candlish, St. Thomas de Cantelupe, Cart-
wright, Challoner, Chalmers, Chichele, Chillingworth, Clarke, Colenso, St. Colum-
ba, St. Columban, Cooke, Cosin, Coverdale, Cranmer, Cudworth, St. Cuthbert, Dol-
ben, Doddridge, Donne,* Duff, St. Dunstan, St. Edmund, Emlyn, Erskine, Faber,
I'errar, Fox, Foxe,* Fuller, Garnett, Henderson,* Heylin, Hoadley, Hook, Hooker,

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 377

Irving, Jewel, Keble, Ken, King, Knox,* Langton,* Lardner, Latimer, Laud, Law,
Leighton, Leslie, Liddon, Lightfoot, Lloyd, Loftus, Manning, Marsh, Marshall,
Maurice, Melville, Middleton, Milner, Moffat, Montague, Naylor, Newman,
Nowell, Owen, Paley,* Parker, Parsons, St. Patrick, Payne, Pearson,* Pecock,
Peirce, Penry, Perkins, Peters, Powell, Preston, Pusey, Ridley, Sancroft, Sharp,
Sheldon, Stanley,* Tait, Taylor, Tillotson, Tyndale,* Walsh, Warham, C. Wesley,
J. Wesley, Blanco White, Whitefield, Whitehead, Whitgift, Wilberforce, St. Wil-
frid, Willett, D. Williams, R. Williams, Wilson, Wiseman, Wishart, Wordsworth,
St. Wulfstan, Wycliffe.*

Doctors. — Caius,* Linacre,* Mead, Pott, Sydenham, Cheselden, Cullen.

Lawyers. — Abinger, Ashburton, Austin, Blackstone, Cairns, Camden, Campbell,
Clare, Cockburn, Coke, Curran, Denman, Eldon, Ellenborough, Fortescue, Had-
dington, Hale, Hardwicke, Kenyon, Littleton, Lyndhurst, Macclesfield, Maine,
More,* Noye, St. John, Selbourne, Selden, Somers, Stair, Stephen, Stowell, Thur-
low, Westbury, Williams.

Men of Letters. — Addison, Alcuin, Ascham, Bagehot, Banim, Barclay, Beck-
ford, Bede, Borrow, Boswell, Browne, Buchanan,* Buckle, Bunyan, Burton,
Calamy, Camden, Carleton, Carlile, Carlyle, Cibber,* Cobbett, Collier, Colman,
Congreve, Cotton, Cowley,* Croker, DAvenant, Day, Defoe, Dekker, Dempster,
De Quincey, D'Ewes, Dickens, Digby, Dugdale, Elyot, Etheridge, Fanshawe,
Farquhar, Fielding, Foxe, Francis, Gait, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gibbon, Gifford,
Giraldus, Goldsmith, Green, Grote, Hall, Hallam, Halliwell-Phillips, Hamilton,
Harrington, Hazlitt, Herbert, Holcroft, Hood, Hook, Howell, Hume,* Hunt, Jef-
frey, Jerrold, Johnson, Jonson, Kemble, Kennett, Killigrew, Kingsley, Knowles,
Lamb, Landor, Lee, Leland, L'Estrange, Lever, Lewes, Lillo, Lingard, Lockhart,
Lodge, Lover, Lyly, Lytton, Macaulay, Mackenzie, Maginn, Mai one, Marryatt, Map,
Milman, More,* Nash, Oliphant, Oldys, Paine, Paris, Perry, Pater, Pepys, Prynne,
Raleigh,* Reade, Richardson, Ritson, Robertson, Roscoe, Scott, Seeley, Sheil,
Sheridan,* Smollett, Southey, Sprat, Sidney Smith, Stanley,* Steele, Sterne,
Steevens, Stevenson, Stow, Swift, Symonds, H. Taylor, W. Taylor, Temple,*
Thackeray, Thirlwall, Trelawney, Trollope, Tyndale,* Udall, Urquhart, Van-
brugh,* Wakley,* Walton, Warburton, Warton, Whately, William of Malmesbury,
William of Newburgh, Williams, Wilson, Wolcot, Wright, Wycherley.

Hen of Science. — Arkwright, Babbage, R. Bacon,* Baily, Balfour, Banks, Bar-
row,* Baskerville, Bell, Bentham, Black, Boyle, Bradley, Brewster, Carpenter,
Carrington, Cavendish, Caxton, Clifford, Colby, Cotes, Dalton, C. Darwin, E. Dar-
win, Davy, Dee, De Morgan, Drummond, Falconer, Faraday, Ferguson, Flam-
steed, Flinders,* E. Forbes, J. D. Forbes, Gilbert , Glisson, Grew, Hales, Halley,
Hamilton, Harvey, Herschel, Hooker, Horrocks, Hunter, Hutton, Jenner, Jevons,
Joule, Knight, Lefroy, Lister, Lyell, Maclaurin, Mai thus, Maxwell, Milner, Mor-
land, Murchison, Murdoch, Napier, Newton, Oughtred, Owen, Parkes, Petty,
Priestley, Ray, Sabine,* Sadler, Sedgwick, Sinclair, A. Smith, H. J. Smith,
R. A. Smith, W. Smith, Stephenson, Sturgeon, Telford, Trevitheek, Tyndall,
Wallis, Ward, Watson, Wedgwood, Whewell, White, Whitworth, Wilkins, Wil-
liamson, Wollaston, A. Young, T. Young,

Musical Composers. — Arne, Balfe, Bennett, Blow, Boyce, Byrd, Dowland,
Gauntlett, Gibbons, Lawes, Macfarren, Purcell, Tallis, Tye.

Philanthropists.— Howard, Oglethorpe, Owen, Wakley.*

Philosophers. — Bacon, Roger Bacon,* Bentham, Berkeley, Bradwardine, But-
ler,* Duns, Erigena, Godwin, Hamilton, Hartley, Hinton, Hobbes, Hume,* Locke,
Mackintosh, J. Mill, J. S. Mill, Ockham, Paley, Price, Reid, Shaftesbury, Stewart,
Toland, Ward, Wycliffe.*

Poets. — Barbour, Barclay, Barham, Barnfield, Beaumont, Beddoes, Blake,* Bre-

378 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ton, Browne, Bruce, Burns, Butler, Byron, Caedmon, Campbell, Campion, Chap-
man, Chatterton, Chaucer, Churchill, Clare, Clough, S. T. Coleridge, H. Coleridge,
Collins, Cotton, Cowper, Crabbe, Crashaw, Daniel, Davies, Denham, Dibdin, Dobell,
Donne,* Douglas, Drayton, Drummond, Dryden, Dunbar, D'Urfey, Fletcher, Ford,
Fergusson, Fitzgerald, Gascoigne, Gay, Gower, Gray, Greene, Herbert, Herrick,
J. Heywood, T. Heywood, Hogg, Hood, Keats, Keble, Langland, Lindsay, Love-
lace, Lydgate, Marlowe, Marvell, Massinger, Middleton, Milton, Moore, Munday,
Norton, Otway, Peele, Pope, Prior, Quarles, Rogers, Rossetti,* Rowe, Savage,
Shakespeare, Shelley, Shirley, Sidney,* Skelton, Smart, Southwell, Spenser, Suck-
ling, Tennyson, Thomson, Vaughan, Waller, Watson, Wither, Wordsworth, Wot-
ton, Wyatt, Young.

Politicians. — Arthur, A. Bacon, N. Bacon, Bateman, Bradford, Brooke,
Brougham, Burke, Burghley, Burnet,* Cade, Canning, Earl Canning, Carstares,
Chatham, Chichester, Clarendon, Clive, Cobbett,* Cobden, Cork, Coutances, O.
Cromwell, T. Cromwell, Eliot, Ellenborough, Fawcett, Fletcher, Forster, Fox,
Foxe,* Frere, Gardener, Grattan, G. Grenville, W. Grenville, Hampden, Harring-
ton, Hastings, Henderson,* Horner, Hubert Walter, Huskisson, Ireton, Kemp,
Kirkcaldy, Knox,* S. Langton, W. Langton, Law, Lawrence, Leslie, Lewis, Lil-
burne, Lucas, Ludlow, Lytton, Macdonald, Macnaghten, Malcolm, Marten, Mel-
ville, Northumberland, O'Connell, Oldcastle, O'Leary, O'Neill, Paget, Parkes, Par-
nell, Peel, Penn, Pitt, Pownall, Pulteney, Pym, Raffles, Reid,* Roe, Rose, Sa-
cheverell, St. Leger, Shaftesbury, Sherbrooke, Sheil,* Sheridan,* T. Smith,* Strat-
ford de Redcliffe, Stirling, Temple,* Thurloe, Tone, Tooke, Tunstall, Vane, Wal-
lace,* Walpole, Walsingham, Warriston, Waynflete, Wentworth, Whitbread,
Whitelocke, Wilberforce, Wilkes, Williamson, Windham, Winthrop, Winwood,
Wolsey, Wotton, Wykeham, Wyse.

Sailors. — Anson, Blake, Brooke, Byng, Cavendish, Cook, Dampier, Deane,
Drake, Duncan, Exmouth, Flinders,* Franklin, Frobisher, Gilbert, Hawke,
Hawkins, Hood, Leake, Nelson, Penn, Popham, Raleigh,* Rodney, Smith, St. Vin-
cent, Trollope, Vernon, Willoughby.

Scholars. — Andrewes,* Adamson, Barrow,* Bentley, Bingham, Boece, Buchan-
an,* Caius,* Cheke, Colebrooke, Colet, Conington, Crichton, Dodwell, Grocyn,
Grosseteste, Hales, Hickes, John of Salisbury, Jones, Lane, Lightfoot, Linacre,*
Lowth, Montague, Morton, Palmer, Pattison, Pearson,* Pocock, Porson, Sales-
bury, Savile, T. Smith, W. R. Smith, Spelman, Thomas, Ussher, Whiston, Words-
worth.

Schoolmasters. — Arnold, Bell, Lancaster, Parr.

Soldiers. — Abercrombie, Cadogan, Campbell, Dundee, Edwardes, Gordon, Har-
dinge, Havelock, Hawkwood, Jones, Knollys, Lake, Lambert, H. Lawrence, S.
I^awrence, Leven, Mackay, Marlborough, Moore, Morgan, Munro, Napier, Neill,
Nicholson, Nott, Ochterlony, Oglethorpe,* Outram, Picton, Pollock, Raleigh,*
Reid, H. D. Ross, R. Ross, Sabine,* Sale, Sidney,* Smith, Tarleton, F. Vere, H.
Vere, Wallace,* Waller, Williams, Wilson, Wolfe.

Travelers. — Barrow, Bowring, Bruce, Chesney, Clapperton, Lander, Livingstone,
Park, Speke.

The women fall into the following groups:

Actresses. — Abington, Anne Barry, Elizabeth Barry, Bracegirdle, Gibber, Clive,
Jordan, Kelley, Oldfield, O'Neil, Siddons, Wofrington, Yates.
Phi Ian thropist. — Fry.

Poets. — Baillie, Browning, Hemans, Landon, Rossetti.
Women of Letters. — Austen, Barbauld Behn, Burney, C. Bronte, E. Bronte,

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS.

379

Centlivre, Cowley, Edgeworth, Eliot, Ferrier, Gaskell, Godwin, Inchbald, Jameson,
Martineau, Mitford, Montague, More, Morgan, Newcastle, Opie, Radcliffe.
Women of Science. — Somerville.

It may be asked how these 902 persons of preeminent intellectual
ability have been distributed through the course of English history. I
find that from the fourth to the eleventh centuries, inclusive, there
are only 14 men of sufficient distinction to appear in my lists. From
that date onwards (reckoning by the date of birth) we find that the
twelfth century yields 10, the thirteenth 9, the fourteenth 16, the fif-
teenth 31, the sixteenth 156, the seventeenth 182, the eighteenth 352,
the nineteenth 132. It is probable that the estimate most nearly corre-
sponds to the actual facts as regards the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Before that time our information is usually too scanty, so
that many men of notable ability have passed away without record. In
the nineteenth century, on the other hand, the material has been too
copious, and the national biographers have probably tended to become
unduly appreciative of every faint manifestation of intellectual ability.
The extraordinary productiveness of the eighteenth century is very
remarkable. In order to realize the significance of the facts, however,
a century is too long a period. Distributing our persons of genius
into half -century periods, I find that the following groups are formed:

1101-1150
4

1401-1450
6

1151-1200
6

1451-1500
25

1201-1250
2

1501-1550
49

1251-1300

1551-1600
107

1301-1350
6

1601-1650
107

1701-1750
129

1751-1800
223

1801-1850
131

1351-1400
10

1651-1700
75

Only one individual belongs to the second half of the nineteenth
century. It is scarcely necessary to remark that the record for the
first half of the nineteenth century is still incomplete. Taking the
experience of the previous century as a basis, it may be estimated that
some 40 per cent, at least of the eminent persons belonging to the first
half of the nineteenth century are still alive. This would raise that
half-century to the first place, but it may be pointed out that the
increase on the previous half -century would be small, and also that the
result must be discounted by the inevitable tendency to overestimate
the men of our own time. When we bear in mind that the activities
of the individuals in each of these groups really fall, on the whole,
into the succeeding group, certain interesting points are suggested.
We note how the waves of Humanism and Keformation, when striking
the shores of Britain, have stirred intellectual activity, and have been
prolonged and intensified in the delayed English Eenaissance. We see
how this fermentation has been continued in the political movements

380 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of the middle of the seventeenth century, and we note the influence of
the European upheaval at the end of the eighteenth century. The
extraordinary outburst of intellect in the second half of that century
is accentuated by the fact that, taking into account all entries in the
'Biographical Dictionary,' the gross number of eminent men of
the low standard required for inclusion shows little increase in
the eighteenth century (5,789, as against 5,674 in the preceding cen-
tury, is the editor's estimate); the increase of ability is thus in quality
rather than in quantity. It is curious to note that, throughout these
eight centuries, a marked rise in the level of intellectual ability has
very frequently, though not invariably, been preceded by a
marked fall. It is also noteworthy that in nearly every century the
majority of its great men have been born in the latter half; that is to
say, that the beginning of a century tends to be marked by an outburst
of genius, which declines through the century. This outburst is very
distinct at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and, as we have
seen reason to believe, it was probably succeeded by an arrest, if not
a decline, in the production of genius. If that is so, we may probably
expect a fresh outburst of intellectual ability at the beginning of the
twentieth century. It would seem that we are here in the presence
of two factors: a spontaneous rhythmical rise and fall in the produc-
tion of genius, so that a period of what is improperly called 'decadence'
is followed by one of expansive activity; and also, at the same time,
the stimulating influence of great historical events, calling out latent
intellectual energy. These considerations, however, are merely specula-
tive, and it is sufficient to accord them this brief passing notice.

Having thus explained the nature of the data with which we have
to deal, and the methods by which it has been obtained, we may now
proceed, without further explanations, to investigate it. We have to
study the chief characteristics — anthropological and psychological —
of the most eminent British men and women of genius (using that
word merely to signify high intellectual ability), in so far as these
characteristics are revealed by the 'Dictionary of National Biography.'*

* In a certain number of cases I have supplemented or corrected the information derived from
the 'Dictionary' by reference to other reliable sources, in many cases of more recent date.

THE WEATHER VS. THE NEWSPAPERS. 381

THE WEATHER VS. THE NEWSPAPERS.

By HARVEY MAITLAND WATTS.

THE PHILADELPHIA ' PRESS.'

U A PKIL 4, 1668. I did attend the Duke of York and he did
.XJL carry us to the King's lodgings; but he was asleep in his
closet; so we stayed in the green-room; where the Duke of York did
tell us what rule he had of knowing the weather; and did now tell us
we should have rain before to-morrow (it having been a dry season
for some time) and so it did rain all night almost; and pretty rules he
hath, and told Brouncker and me some of them, which were such as
no reason can readily be given for them." — Pepys' Diary.

In 1668 the inquisitive Pepys had warrant for his exclusion of
weather lore from the domain of reason, but with three centuries gone
all things have changed, save the ready disposition of men of a certain
literary bent to cry 'mystery' where there is none, and of all the popular
phrases in use to-day, when the weather is up for discussion in the
newspapers, none is so abused in the over-using as that which points
out that science has 'no reasonable explanation' to offer, and this of
phenomena explained in school books!

Indeed, though the secular newspaper is not otherwise given to
an observance of Biblical philosophy, no saying is more devoutly be-
lieved, no maxim more rigidly accepted as the guiding principle of
journalism in its treatment of the weather, than that of the famous
text: 'The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth.'

The indifference to weather facts is all the more extraordinary,
since the weather is not a casual matter, but one of necessitated daily
interest to the public, and, consequently, to the newspaper. That
the newspaper recognizes this interest, that it caters to it, that it
makes a special effort to meet a taste which it, in fact, partly creates,
is shown by the extreme industry evinced in the collection, classification
and presentation of storm news; in the constant appearance of the
'weather' assignment on the city editor's list, and in a zeal for a weather
'spread,' with a pomp of type and details; unfortunately, however, not
according to knowledge, and, so far as the public is concerned, too
often making 'confusion worse confounded.'

In view, therefore, of popular interest in the weather, and in view
of the great change that has come over the science of the weather in
the past twenty-five years, it is as amazing as it is deplorable that such

382 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

an indictment of the newspaper treatment of the weather can be made,
since; although in this matter the newspaper reflects public ignorance
and adds to it, in other lines of endeavor the average newspaper is quick
to reflect knowledge and expertness. But with the weather it is other-
wise. Instead of informing, most newspapers merely confirm popular
error. Although for a generation the main facts of weather drift have
been settled beyond dispute, they know nothing of it; they are still
in the swaddling clothes of belief, and still accept the concepts of their
grandfathers, who swore by the 'Shepherd of Banbury's Kules,' and
knew a wet moon when they saw it. As under normal circumstances
this profound ignorance would give way slowly to the new science, it
is regrettable that on the part of journalism there should be so gross
a dereliction, and that at this late day, instead of being the harbinger
of the new fact, it should still be the handmaiden of the old obscurant-
ism. If, believing the problem of meteorology to be too difficult to
understand, the newspaper would let the weather alone, things might
improve. But, unfortunately, the weather will not let the newspaper
alone, and so, through government forecast and actual incident and
accident, the newspaper must keep pegging away at it, editorially and
'reportorially/ until the present anomalous state of things is developed,
for which there is no excuse in the nature of science or in the intelli-
gence of those who 'get out' the modern newspaper. A daily journal
is not a technical publication. One does not expect to see worked out
in it problems in the differential calculus. One might forgive a casual
error in the statement of the formula? for hydrocarbon compounds,
since organic chemistry is not served up as a daily dish, but the per-
sistent indifference to meteorological explanations, within the capacity
of a boy of fifteen, is inexcusable, and, unfortunately, as the comments
on the Galveston horror show, there is no sign of a change for the
better. A few, a very few, newspapers — exceptions but prove the rule
— reflect expertness and evince common-sense accuracy, still at the same
time losing nothing in the way of presenting the subject in an interest-
ing and attractive manner; but, for the most part, the average news-
paper fails in its duty to the public, so far as the weather is concerned,
in the four following particulars:

1. By reason of a misapprehension and misrepresentation of the
simplest fimdamental facts of atmospheric circulation and weather
movement, effects being treated as causes, etc.

2. By reason of a constant confusion of terminology and a generally
slipshod use of weather terms and facts.

3. By reason of a persistent refusal to recognize much, if any,
difference between the scientist and the charlatan, between the expert
and the quack; and, in fact, by a disposition — marked in some quarters
— to give undue prominence to bogus weather prophets and wonder-

THE WEATHER VS. THE NEWSPAPERS. 383

mongers, at the expense of the equipped and reputable students of the
subject.

4. By reason of a hypercritical but uninformed attitude toward the
daily forecasts of the United States Weather Bureau, by which the
work of the Bureau is hampered and its value to the public materially
reduced.

Such is the situation. If the apprehension of the simple funda-
mental facts of the weather — taking the first count in the indictment
into consideration — were difficult, if the problems were beyond the
ability of the man in the street, one would excuse the newspaper and
quash the indictment, but the practical questions at issue are as clear
as crystal and as simple as A, B, C. There is no dispute among ob-
servers as to the fundamental facts, and the surface phenomena them-
selves are as regular as the progress of the sun from tropic to tropic.
The abstract and controversial discussion as to final causes which
occupies certain meteorologists is not germane, so far as the treatment
of the daily weather goes, and it is the newspaper, not the weather men,
who cannot tell a meteorological 'hawk from a hand-saw.'

Because a Dolbear, a Trowbridge and a Lodge may not agree on the
ultimate expression for electric energy does not prevent a citizen from
distinguishing between arc and incandescent lights, or between a trolley
car and a call bell. And so it is with the simple weather facts. The
synthesis of American weather, which can be given in two sentences,
is within the understanding of any one, for American weather is the
resultant of a west to east drift in the general circumpolar circulation
of the north temperate zone, which drift is broken up into two great
eddies, and only two, the cyclonic and the anti-cyclonic; the former,
the cyclonic, the center of general storm phenomena, and the condi-
tion and cause of local storm disturbances (tornadoes, squalls, thunder-
storms, etc., as local conditions and the seasons determine); the latter,
the anti-cyclonic, the center of clear weather phenomena. Into this
circumpolar system intrude the tropical anti-cyclone and the tropical
cyclone, and play their part in the proper season and region. That is all.

The great circumpolar drift moves in ceaseless round from the
Pacific to the Mississippi Valley, from the Mississippi Valley to the
Atlantic, from the Atlantic to Europe, to Asia, to the Pacific, and
back again. In it appear the two great atmospheric eddies, oftentimes
over a thousand miles in diameter, and covering 1,000,000 square
miles of the earth's surface. These two type eddies, the cyclonic and
the anti-cyclonic, are the real distributers of the weather, as we kDow
it. They can be seen to shift as a whole from west to east, not neces-
sarily along a straight line, however, for they have a way of bellying
down, or sidling from the northwest to the southeast, and from the
southwest to the northeast, or from all points in the west between

384 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

north and south to all points in the east between north and south,
making all sorts of combinations, accelerating in speed, slowing up,
sometimes standing still seemingly, but yet progressing surely, certainly,
inevitably to the east.

The anti-cyclone, judging it wholly from its invariable surface
effects, which can be seen day after day on the United States Weather
Bureau's daily maps, is essentially a down-draught eddy or center of
dispersion for the winds; an area where the barometric pressure is
above the normal (Chart No. 1). The cyclone, also invariably, so far
as the surface levels of the atmosphere go, is an up-draught eddy, a
center of wind concentration; an area where the barometric pressure
is below the normal (Chart No. 2). When it is remembered that the
winds circulate outward from the high pressure center of an anti-
cyclone spirally, from left to right, clockwise, while the winds move
into the low pressure of a cyclone spirally, from right to left, counter
clockwise, some idea of the simplicity of weather causation is gained.
Eemembering also that, by reason of the descent of relatively cool, dry
air and its dispersion, the polar anti-cyclone is the cause of clear and
cool weather phenomena, while by reason of the rushing in of warm,
moist air on one side, its expansion and cooling as it rises, and cool, dry
air on the other, the cyclone is the seat of storm phenomena, the first
primary lesson in American weather is over.

Through a failure to grasp the greater synthesis of the weather,
terminology and local storm differentiation have naturally become hope-
lessly muddled in the newspapers, though here the difficulty of grasp-
ing the facts is even less than in the first issue. The cyclone is the
center of rhetorical disturbance, and inky clouds of misuse and abuse
gather about it, since, as a parent of storms and as a weather-breeder
of no mean type, the cyclone plays the dramatic leading role in Ameri-
can meteorology. It is not only itself capable of great development of
storm energies in the winter, early spring and late autumn, but in its
milder summer moments is particularly likely to be the parent of
specific local disturbances. With one of these, the tornado, it is
identified popularly by the newspapers, which, in spite of all explana-
tion on the part of the Weather Bureau, have not yet seen the absurdity
of applying to a secondary phenomenon, insignificant in size compared
with -the primary eddy, the name of the general disturbance. The
cyclone, sweeping along with warm, moist weather in front, clear and
cool weather in its rear, attended by a general rain, and in its sphere
of influence covering a dozen States or more, surely may be separated
from the local tornadoes, which, though destructive and terrifying, are
but mere local incidents in the parent circulation. This is so
markedly shown in the weather map of March 27, 1890, that, once
seen, it is incomprehensible how error can so hold its own (Chart No. 3).

THE WEATHER VS. THE NEWSPAPERS. 385

The simplest study of the invariable facts shows that the tornado is
a small eddy, superinduced under favorable meteorological and topo-
graphical conditions in the outer circulation (southwest to southeast
quadrant) of a general low area disturbance (cyclone). It is of extreme
intensity, the rotary motion of its winds around the central core
(vortex) being inconceivably swift (100 to 500 and perhaps 1,000
miles an hour), but is limited as to duration — it lasts, at the longest,
but a few hours; limited as to the width of path, this may vary from
fifty to five hundred yards, one of a mile in width being exceptional,
and limited as to the length of track, which if it exceeds 100 miles is
unusual. Now, a cyclone is continental in magnitude, and may travel
for weeks, going two-thirds of the way around the globe. Just as the
cyclone's path is determined by interaction of barometric stresses in the
general drift of the whole atmosphere, so the path of tornadoes
is determined by the interaction of currents in the cyclonic drift.
Individual tornadoes do not cross the country intact, as so many weather
quacks prophesy, but the parent cyclone that conditions a number of
them in the Western States one day, having traveled further east the
next day, if local conditions allow, may superinduce similar local out-
bursts in the Middle States.

Thunder-storms, as a rule, are familiar enough and definite enough
to escape the general muddlement, but even they have not escaped the
tendency to 'cyclonize' every weather phenomenon. Hence the old-
fashioned thunder-gust, the familiar straight outrush of the thunder
squall, sometimes destructive, figures nowadays as a 'cyclone,' a
'tornado,' or mayhap a 'hurricane.' Not only this, but the thunder-
storms that occur along the line of change from the warm front of a
cyclone to the cooler rear — a cool anti-cyclone following — are accused
of causing the anti-cyclone when they are an effect of the advancing
anti-cyclone and not its cause, any more than the cow-catcher is the
cause of the approach of a train.

Above all, the most extraordinary pother and confusion prevail
over another storm type, the hurricane or tropical cyclone. Here the
newspapers are seconded in their obscurantism by writers of books on
the West Indies or the Philippines, all of whom should know better, or
could know better if they only so elected. The hurricane — the typhoon
is its Asian congener — though the smallest of cyclones, since its
diameter usually ranges from 100 to 500 miles, is easily differentiated
from the biggest tornado, since the latter^ diameter at the greatest
barely reaches one mile. As the tornado in its narrow swath kills tens
and hundreds, so the hurricane, with vast areas of sea and land
swept by the besom of its great winds and washed by its tremendous
storm wave, runs the death total up to the hundreds and thousands.
The hurricane does not originate in the circumpolar drift, but is a

386 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

cyclonic whirl developed on the periphery of the great North Atlantic
anti-cyclone. It is a tropical intruder, the only general storm dis-
turbance the tropical circulation gives us. It is no new type, but
simply one of the two great eddies known to the general atmospheric
circulation the world over. As it is a concentrated cyclone, the winds
blow in and about its central vortex with a velocity that may easily reach
100 miles an hour, while velocities of sixty and seventy miles an hour
are not uncommon at great distances — 500 miles or so — from the
center. It is the most violent tempest the newspapers are called upon
to chronicle, but its characteristics are so invariable, its paths so well
known — determined largely by the position of the North Atlantic anti-
cyclone in relation to the continental anti-cyclones — that it is surpris-
ing to witness the confusion that marks news and editorial comment
when one is at hand. Though every boy has seen a spinning top
meandering over the pavement, most newspapers find it difficult to
understand the slow forward progressive motion of the whole rotating
cyclonic mass on its track. And yet Franklin, over 100 years ago,
fathomed the secret of the apparent paradox that the storms that
condition our northeast gales actually have their center to the south-
west; and Eedfield, in 1830-50, taught the American public all about
these revolving storms of the Atlantic Ocean, while Piddington, a
Briton, in 1848, in his 'Sailor's Horn Book,' made the broad facts
plain to the simple-minded, unlearned, every-day navigator, and him-
self invented* the technical term 'cyclone' specifically to describe the
rotary storms, then believed to be peculiar to the tropical oceans.
(Chart No. 4).

Hand in hand with misunderstanding and misapprehension of
weather phenomena has gone the booming of the weather quack. In
some ways this is the most discreditable feature of the newspaper
treatment of the weather, since ignorance plus the quack represents a
recrudescence of medievalism which would seem incredible, were it
not a persistent factor in the 'popular5 weather article that is given
prominence by leading newspapers, while the waste of telegraphic tolls
in sending broadcast the views of some pseudo-scientific zany, whose
star for the moment is in the ascendant, is an extravagance which, if
spent in the right direction, might save the news-gathering organiza-
tion money and give it reputation. It is about time the newspapers
learned that there are only two classes of weather quacks and wonder-
mongers — those who are greater knaves than fools; those who are
greater fools than knaves.. The whole business belongs to the slimy
byways of astrology, or represents the fecklessness of those who peddle
a quack nostrum composed of one per cent, bogus science to ninety-

* 'The Sailor's Horn Book for the Law of Storms,' by Henry Piddington, London, 1848, page 8.

THE WEATHER VS. THE NEWSPAPERS. 387

nine per cent, of piety. And yet these creatures are quoted and ex-
ploited, their forecasts are printed in a conspicuous manner and they
are encouraged to fleece the ignorant by the authority and circulation
given them even by metropolitan journalism.

The spectacle is stultifying, and yet, in the face of this, in the face
of the fact that Weather Bureau stations in the great centers of popula-
tion have been compelled to phrase their forecasts in primer English,
because 'cyclone' and 'anti-cyclone' puzzled the newspapers and fright-
ened the people, whose idea had been formed on newspaper interpre-
tation of the forecasts; because Tiighs' and 'lows' were deemed too
mysterious for comprehension; in face of all this humiliating con-
fusion, the forecasts, if they err, are criticized in a way that not only
brings out all the old, but a new ignorance that is as invincible as it
is hypercritical, and raises a popular prejudice against the Weather
Bureau wholly unwarranted by the facts. Making no quack claims,
the Bureau officials are discredited as to short-range or long-range
forecasts, while the Wigginses and Devoes take the tripod and scatter
storms, floods and dooms, as the irresponsible bad boy splashes water,
and are acclaimed therefor. The essential fundamental difficulty of
the question of forecasts is — aside from the blank misunderstanding
of forecasts that are verified by results — that those who criticize fore-
casting not only exaggerate the percentage of error, but are wholly
oblivious to the fact that forecasting is an art rather than a science.
The art is based on science, and as the science improves so will the
art; but being an art, the personal equation — knowledge of facts being
equal — plays a very important part in results. If criticism were
directed to any real shortcomings in the Bureau's organization, the
Bureau's interests would be promoted; but here, as in other features
of weather discussion, the real issues not being apprehended, the
discussion is usually pointless and without result. Equipped as the
average first-class American newspaper is in plant and staff, alert,
keenly anxious to be up to date, impatient of humbug, a unique oppor-
tunity is given it by the first year of the new century — always a season
of repentance — for that about-face in its treatment of the weather that
its past lapses in this respect and the pressing importance of the subject
demand.

Chabt No. 1. — In this chart, and in all the succeeding ones, the heavy con-
tinuous lines are isobars, the lines connecting points that have the same baro-
metric pressures. They thus map out the area in which the barometer may be
above or below the normal. The dotted lines are isotherms connecting points that
have the same temperatures. On the morning of September 18, 1900, the weather
over the central and Atlantic Coast States was dominated by a typical anti-
cyclonic eddy, central over Wisconsin. This anti-cyclone moved into the United
States over Montana on the fifteenth, and its drift, being a little south of east,
its center passed out to sea off Cape Cod on the twentieth. It was accompanied

388

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

for the most part by clear, cool, crisp auaimn weather and was the first real
break in the reign of warm weather since the cool wave (anti-cyclone) of the
last three days of July. As can be seen on the chart, the winds disperse from
the center, where the barometer is the highest, and the character of the winds
and the local weather it distributes to any one place vary as the center of the
anti-cyclone passes north or south of the locality. Since anti-cyclones are the
seat and area of high atmospheric pressures, the barometric normal being thirty
inches, in the scientific slang of the Weather Bureau they are denominated 'high
areas,' or 'highs,' for short. In summer, when coming from the north, the 'highs'
are the cause of the cool, and, in the winter, of cold waves, lower or low tempera-
tures invariably accompanying the polar anti-cyclonic eddies. It must be remem-
bered that many anti-cyclones are not so regular in character as the one charted.
They are often vague in form and extent — this is also true of cyclonic eddies —

3q.( HO

30.?. 30.1 300 Z93 i9.a 22.?^£{.

• k&yWest=

Fig. 1.

and the center may be trough-shaped instead of circular, as was the case with this
one by the time it had reached the Atlantic Coast. Certain anti-cyclones that
move along the southern circuit or that intrude from the tropical 'high,' as they
tend to set up a vigorous circulation from the south to the north, are the predis-
posing cause of hot waves in summer, and warm waves in winter. The anti-
cyclone is the most important eddy in the general circulation, but it was neither
discovered nor named till long after the cyclonic circulation had been the subject
of an abundant literature.

Chart No. 2. — The cyclonic eddy is the most interesting weather phenomenon
the United States knows. Its sphere of influence is marked by extraordinary
contrasts, particularly in between seasons. This typical cyclone, of November 24,
1858, shows how the warm southerly winds, blowing in toward the cyclone in
front, push the isotherms to the north and create a warm wave (relatively)

THE WEATHER VS. THE NEWSPAPERS.

389

known as the 'sirocco front' (shaded on the chart), while at the same time the
cold northerly and westerly winds, blowing south in the rear, carry down the
isotherms and mark the extent of the cold wave that follows. Hence around
and about an intense early winter cyclone we may have warm, moist rains on
the southeast, cool rains, turning to snow, on the east and northeast, with bliz-
zard conditions on the northwestern flank and clear, cold weather on the extreme
southwestern, as was the case in this instance. In consequence of this, the possi-
ble contrasts through the center of the average early winter cyclone are such
as to jump any locality over which it passes from summer (60° to 70°) tempera-
tures to winter (40° to 20°) in a few hours, and it is the passage of a typical
cyclone over any given locality that gives the violent changes peculiar to
American weather. Wholly independent of its own circulation of winds about its

Fig. 2.

center, the cyclone moves forward in the circumpolar drift at the rate of from
fifteen to thirty-five miles and more an hour. If it passes north of a place, the
locality is affected by its southeasterly, southerly and southwesterly to westerly
winds and the weather that belongs to these quadrants. If it moves along a line
south of any given place, the locality is affected by its easterly and northeasterly
to northerly and northwesterly winds, which make up the coldest and stormiest
side of the cyclone. As the barometer at its center is always low, the cyclone is
called a 'low area,' or 'low,' for short, and as such appears in Weather Bureau
reports. Storm intensity in a cyclone is in due relation to the minima of its
own barometric pressures and to the maxima of the anti- cyclone nearest it. All
forecasting is based on an effort to balance the probable paths that the cyclones
and anti-cyclones will take with respect to the regions east of their point of origin.

590

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Chart No. 3. — The line of tornado frequency naturally moves north with
the sun, the tornadoes of winter and spring occurring in the south or border
States, while the maximum of tornado frequency for the northern States is in
June. Tornadoes are superinduced by unstable conditions of the atmosphere,
which are particularly likely to prevail to the southeast and south of a cyclonic
center, and the relation of these violent local storms to the great central dis-
turbances is strikingly shown on the United States weather map of March 27,
1890, the day of the Louisville tornado. The parent cyclone was of enormous,
though not abnormal, area. It had caused, and was causing, snow and rains from
the Rocky Mountain slope to the Hudson Valley, from Arkansas to Minnesota.
Its vortex, with a barometric pressure of 29.10 inches — as low as in some of our
most destructive tropical cyclones or hurricanes — covering a large part of Illinois,

Fig. 3.

was drawing to it winds from all over the United States, from the Rocky Moun-
tains to the Atlantic, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. In front
of the cyclone, pushed up by the warm southerly winds, the temperatures were
all above freezing and, in its southeastern quadrant, reached summer tempera-
tures of 70°. Several hundred miles through its center, in the rear, the tem-
peratures were below freezing in its northwestern quadrant and 30° cooler in
its southwestern quadrant than in its southeastern quadrant. Compared with
this tremendous storm disturbance, the tornadic outbursts it caused in Kentucky
were insignificant local eddies which, on this map, can only be indicated by
crosses, though their violence caused a loss of 113 lives and property losses of
over $3,000,000, 76 being killed, 200 injured, and property damaged to the extent
of $2,500,000 in Louisville alone.

THE WEATHER VS. THE NEWSPAPERS.

391

The only difference between the conditions that caused the Louisville and
near-by tornadoes and those that superinduced the St. Louis tornado and near-by
outbreaks, on May 27, 1896, was in degree, not in kind. The March cyclone of
1890 was extensive in area and of great intensity; the parent cyclone of May 27,
1896, was a vague low area of the mild summer type, with a pressure at the
center of only 29.70 inches, covering several States, St. Louis being in its southeast
quadrant in the afternoon. The tornadoes this vague, weak cyclone set up in
numerous localities were very destructive, the losses of life in and about St. Louis
reaching to over 300 killed, with property losses of $12,000,000. The parent
cyclone moved northeast and was central over the Lakes between Lake Huron
and Lake Ontario on the afternoon of the 28th, with an increase in intensity,
its center having a pressure of 29.40 inches, and, as local conditions allowed, it

avjf-M Q, ^-yiessf A I&93

Fig. 4.

caused a handful of small tornadoes in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey,
as well as a large number of thunderstorms.

Chakt No. 4. — This chart gives the track of four destructive tropical cyclones,
known colloquially as 'hurricanes.' The hurricane differs from the continental
cyclones of the North Temperate Zone in its surface effects in nothing but its
intensity. The wind circulation is true to the cyclonic type (the term 'cyclone'
was invented to describe the movement of the winds in the tropical tempest), but
reaches great velocities, and, whereas the barometer in an intense continental
cyclone may only fall to 29 inches in the tropical cyclone, its vortex may record
28 inches, and, in certain cases, the barometer has fallen to 27. In consequence
of this, the vortical velocity of the wind is very great, reaching in gusts a rate
of 80, 90, 100 and 125 miles an hour. As one of these tropical eddies advances
from the West Indies and moves up the Atlantic Coast, it gives all localities north
of its center, successively, gales from the northeast. These August-September,
northeast gales, erroneously called 'equinoctials,' are but a part of the hurricane's

392 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

whirl, but with the heavy rain and high tides are its most familiar attribute to
the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Seaboard peoples.

The violence of these northeast gales and of all the hurricane winds that blow
about the vortex has nothing to do with the storm's progressive motion, which
is often less than 10 miles an hour, since this is controlled by the general circula-
tion; the westward drift of the tropics, until it gets north of the parallel of 30°,
and later by the eastward-moving currents of the North Temperate Zone. When
the tropical cyclone gets into this more northerly system it behaves exactly as a
regular continental cyclone, and has to take its chances in the action and inter-
action of the polar cyclones and anti-cyclones that cover the continent. Hence
the variations in its path, a few of which are given here.

Track No. 1 is that of the cyclone that caused the disaster on the Sea Islands
near Savannah and Charleston, in September, 1893, causing a loss of over 400
Uves (some claim 1,000 in all), leaving 30,000 homeless and destitute. It also
proved destructive as far north as Long Island. Track No. 2 is that of the Porto
Rican cyclone of August 8, 1899, that caused a loss of 2,900 lives with 500,000
people more or less affected by its devastating effects. Track No. 4 is that of the
storm that caused a loss of nearly 2,000 lives along the coast and in the bayou dis-
trict of Louisiana, in October, 1893.

In the case of the great Galveston cyclone (track No. 3), an anti-cyclone lying
over the Middle States held it up as it was moving in toward Florida, and its path
was deflected westward. It moved about 10 miles an hour along its track from
September 6 to September 9, while the vortical winds were blowing toward and
about the center at a rate of from 50 to 100 miles an hour, as Galveston learned
on the 8th, the severest blow coming from the southeast after the center had
passed Galveston. From the 9th to the 11th it decreased in intensity, and, when
central over Oklahoma, on the 10th, had all the appearance of an ordinary rainy
'low area.' In jumping from Des Moines on the 11th to near Montreal on the 12th,
it increased in energy; the rate of progression was about 50 miles an hour, at
the same time its vortical winds over the Lakes reached a velocity of 72 miles. On
the 13th it was over Newfoundland, and caused great damage to shipping on the
'Banks,' and reached Iceland on the 20th, traveling from September 1, when it
originated south of Porto Rico, to September 20, over 7,000 miles, and at times
covering, in diameter, regions 1,000 miles across.

THE PHILIPPINES TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 393

THE PHILIPPINES TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

By Professoe E. E. SLOSSON,

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING.

t^T NOW and then, as occasion offers, undertake to plead the cause
A_ of the Indians in the Philippine Islands, as many more have for
those of America: This is tolerable because grounded on compassion,
mercy and the inclination of our kings and their supreme council of the
Indies, who love them as their children, and give repeated orders
every day for their good, advantage, quiet, satisfaction and ease. There
is no other fault to be found with those poor creatures but that which
S. Peter Chrisologus found in the holy innocents, whose only crime
was that they were born. There is no reason for all their sufferings but
their being in the world; and it is worth observing that tho' so many
pious, gracious, and merciful orders have passed in favor of them,
yet they have taken so little effect. ... So that these Wretches have
been several times redeemed, yet they remain in perpetual servitude. Sal-
vianus, lib. 6, de Provid. says thus, All captives when once redeemed
enjoy their liberty, we are always redeemed and never free. This sutes well
with what we speak of. To which we may add that of St. Paul, 2
Cor. 8. 13. It is a subject deserves to be considered, and much authority
and a high hand must make the remedy work a due effect."

These words, written by R. F. F. Dominick Fernandez Navarette,
Divinity Professor in the College and University of St. Thomas, at
Manila, are as applicable to-day as in 1656. The natives have been
delivered several times since then, but are still in bondage, and much
authority and a high hand are still needed to carry into effect the
good intentions of their distant rulers. The good father does not let
his piety blind him to the sins of his own brethren, but declares plainly
that the 'Christians of Manila are worse than the infidels of Japan."
On the other hand, he never omits an opportunity to praise the docility
and innocence of the Filipinos. "All those Indians are like our plain
countrymen, sincere and void of malice. They come to church very
devoutly; not a word was spoke to them but produced fruit; would to
God the seed were sown among them every day; but they have mass
there but once in two or three years. When they die, there's an end of
them; but great care is taken to make them pay their taxes, and the
curate's dues." "It were endless to descend to particulars. I know
that in my time a governor of Ilocos in two years made fourteen
thousand pieces of eight of his government; what a condition did he
leave the Indians and their couDtry in? It were well that those who
write from thence would speak plain, and point at persons and things,
and not do in general terms, leaving room to blame those that

394 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

are innocent, and clear the guilty. This must be either a design or
malice." Our newspaper correspondents at the present time would
do well to follow this advice.

The Filipinos at that time were not only oppressed by taxation and
corvees, but they were transported as slaves in such numbers as to
threaten to depopulate the islands. "There is not a ship sails from
Manila, whether it belong to Siam, Camboxa, or the Portugueses, &c,
but carries away Indians out of the islands."

A missionary who was in earnest had no easy time of it in those
days in the Philippines. Perils from wild beasts, earthquakes, storms,
disease and shipwrecks were frequent enough to abash the stoutest heart,
and, according to Navarette's naive account, it appears that his for-
titude was due more to the presence of courage than to the absence
of fear. He was badly frightened by thunder and the upsetting of his
canoe, but he managed to absolve his companions who were floating
in the water, although he was in great distress that there was no one
to absolve himself. Although all his personal possessions were lost in
this accident, he rejoices that the bottle of mass wine, being nearly
empty, floated and was washed ashore. His first experience with an
important earthquake is quaintly told. "Upon St. Philip and Jacob's
day I was in great trouble; I was hearing confessions in the chapel, and
observed that the cane chair on which I sat moved. I imagined a
dog got under it, and bid the Indian to turn him out. He answered,
Father, it is no dog, but an earthquake. It increased to such a degree,
that leaving the penitent, I kneeled down, to beg mercy of God. I
thought that the end of the world had been at hand."

One of his fellow priests was devoured by an alligator, a fate that
distressed Father Navarette exceedingly, since such a burial-place
could hardly be consecrated, but he consoled himself with the saying
of St. Augustine that "a good death is that which follows a good life,
be it of what sort it will. . . . The good F. Lewis Gutierrez having lived
so virtuously, said two masses that day, and being about to say the third,
who is there that can doubt of his good disposition?"

As if the natural dangers of the Philippines were not enough, he
was molested by enemies from the lower world. At Batam (Batan?)
he was much disturbed by witches or fairies, who made a great noise,
threw stones and hurled about chairs in a terrible manner. Evidently
the predilection of spirits for furniture moving is not purely American,
as has been supposed.

The reception given by the people of Manila to the Japanese Chris-
tians, who were driven out of their native land by the great 'cross-
trampling' persecutions, elicits the highest praise from one author;

"Many were sick and with the leprosy, yet charity was such, that they
carried them home to their houses to be cured; and they that had one of

THE PHILIPPINES TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 395

them fall to his share, thought themselves happy, they looked upon
them as saints, and valued them as relics of inestimable value. The
governor, counsellors, townsmen, religious persons and soldiers, went,
as it were to snatch a Japanese, either sound or sick. I don't ques-
tion but it much edified the Chinese infidels that looked on; for tho'
they observe and take notice of our faults, yet at that time they were
sensible of the wonderful efficacy of our holy law. The presence of so
many witnesses, and such as they are, ought to make our carriage and
deportment such, as may make them by it know and glorify our God;
a point S. Thomas proposes and treats of in his opusc. to the churches
of Brabant. I heard afterwards some Europeans behaved themselves not
so well towards the banished people of Ireland."

The date line gave trouble in those days, as it has since. On reaching
the Portuguese possessions in Macasar, he found that his Thursday was
their Friday, a circumstance that caused some affliction to his conscience,
for he had eaten flesh that day for dinner. With true professional inge-
nuity he overcame the difficulty by eating fish for supper and 'as to the
divine office, tho' I was not obliged to all that of Friday, yet having time
to spare, perform'd for both days.'

Volume IV. of this same collection of 'Voyages and Travels', which
generally goes by the name of its publisher, Churchill, contains the
'Voyage Around the World' by Dr. John Francis Gemilli Careri. This
author gives a longer and more detailed account of the Philippine
Islands, and it is especially valuable for its description of all the various
islands, their natural resources and the customs of the natives. He
mentions seven localities where gold is found, and states on the authority
of the governor of Manila that the annual production of gold gathered
without the help of fire or quicksilver amounted to 200,000 pieces of
eight. "As for Manila, the author of nature placed it so equally between
the wealthy kingdoms of the east and west, that it may be accounted one
of the greatest places of trade in the world. I am of the opinion that
there are no such plentiful islands in the world." The author fully
justifies his opinion by the statistics he gives of the cotton, tobacco,
hemp, amber, civet, wax, pearls, quicksilver, sulphur and rare woods
and medicinal herbs too numerous to mention here. The whole book
is worth publishing, as there are nearly one hundred pages of the produc-
tions, history, geography, ethnology and natural history of our new
possessions as they were in 1697. Most of it appears reliable, for Gemilli
is careful to distinguish what he sees from what he hears, and, although
he includes many incredible stories, it is not uu critically. For example,
he has an account of a leaf which when it ripens becomes an insect and
flies off. A diagram is given of this, showing how the stem becomes the
head, the mid-vein the body and the side fibers the legs of the insect,
and the statement is sworn to by the provincial of St. Gregory's, an
eye-witness of the metamorphosis, and attested by a bishop. Still the

396 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

author ventures a rationalistic interpretation, that the leaf conceals a
worm which hatches into a butterfly. A more probable explanation,
judging from the cut, is that it is a case of leaf mimicry by a moth.

On the Island of Panay, the Spaniards told him that when it
thunders there fall crosses of a greenish-black stone which have great
virtue. Here, too, the author is skeptical and suggests that 'it is pos-
sible they might make 'em of the stones that fell.' It is, however,
not uncommon for fulgurites, formed by the fusion of the sand by
lightning, to have a branching form like a rude cross.

It appears that a great many of those curious creatures of the class
described by Herodotus, Ptolemy, Pliny and Mandeville have taken
refuge from advancing civilization in the Philippines. Here were to be
found mermaids, not only of the common species, but its converse form.
Besides were-wolves, there were even Vere-crocodiles,' if such a word
can be used. The missing link was also a native of the Island of
Mindoro, with tails half a span long. The account of the same tribe
of Negrillos, four pages beyond, seems to have been written later, for
the tails had grown. "Some fathers of the society of great credit
told me, that these Mangihani have a tail a span long. In other
respects they are brave, and pay tribute, but have not as yet embraced
the Christian faith." The clause connecting the two sentences is more
logical than it sounds. Mention should also be made of the Amazons
which inhabited islands near the coast of Palapa; of the serpents which
magnetized their victims, and of the monkeys which caught oysters
weighing several pounds by fishing with their tails.

From a political point of view, it is important to note that not a
tenth of the inhabitants of the Philippines owned allegiance to the
King of Spain, and also that the Moluccas were formerly included as
a part of the Philippines.

From Manila Dr. Gemilli set sail for California, which he gives
evidence to prove was not an island, as had been commonly supposed,
but was a part of New Spain. The paragraph in which he gives his
opinion of the ocean, misnamed Pacific, is as stately and antiquated
in its architecture as a seventeenth century galleon and forms a suit-
able close to these extracts from the ancient history we have annexed;

"The voyage from the Philippine islands to America may be call'd
the longest, and most dreadful of any in the world; as well because
of the vast ocean to be cross'd, being almost the one-half of the terra-
quous globe, with the wind always a-head; as for the terrible tempests
that happen there, one upon the back of the other, and for the desperate
diseases that seize people, in seven or eight months living at sea, some-
times near the line, sometimes cold, sometimes temperate, sometimes
hot, which is enough to destroy a man of steel, much more flesh and
blood, which at sea had but indifferent food."

PREHISTORIC TOMBS OF EASTERN ALGERIA. 397

PKEHISTOEIC TOMBS OF EASTERN ALGERIA.

By Professor ALPHEUS S. PACKARD,

BROWN UNIVERSITY.

FROM the wonderful hot baths at Hamman-Meskoutine, which are
situated near the Tunisian border of Algeria, on the railroad
leading from Constantine to Tunis, one can visit the little-known
necropolis of Roknia.

On a delightful morning near the last of January, with a Moor-
ish guide, we set out for this locality. We had arrived at the baths only
the evening previous, having left Constantine a couple of days before.
In passing along the 'Tell/ or Algerian highland, the nights had been
cool and we saw the hoar frost along the railroad at Setif ; the pools
of standing water were frozen over and the distant low mountains were
capped with snow. But at this early hour flocks of thick-wooled sheep, and
long-haired goats and herds of undersized whitish-gray cattle, with long,
downy, thick hair, such as one sees on the highlands and elevated plains
of Asia Minor, were grazing in the fields, while among them were scat-
tered a few camels bending their tortuous necks over the herbage.
Although in some winters an inch of snow may fall in the streets of
Constantine, yet the winter climate of Algeria is most delightful. On
sunny days the morning soon grows warmer, and by noon the heat is
almost summer-like.

We had not heard of Roknia and its dolmens until the evening we
arrived at Hamman-Meskoutine, when we at once made arrangements
for a horse and guide to the tombs, and for an early start the next
morning.

Meanwhile, we found the springs wonderfully interesting. They
lie about half a mile from the railroad station, on the edge of a plateau.
The water carries lime in solution, is of a temperature of about 220°
Fahr., and has deposited on the hillside an elevated platform of cal-
careous sinter and travertine, with several imposing crater or tower-like
cones, six and ten feet high, from which formerly poured streams of
hot water and steam. The water of the stream overflows the tanks
and natural basins, and passes in cataracts down the declivity to enter
the little river, the Oued Chedakra, draining the valley, while clouds of
steam hover over the scene. These baths were used by the Romans,
and the grounds of the hotel are adorned with the remains of bathtubs,
statues and broken columns of marble.

Our way to Roknia lay for six miles through a hilly country, with

398 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Kabyle farms and houses near the point of departure; but beyond it
stretched along narrow paths, winding around the brow of hills, up
towards the mountains, which form an extended amphitheater. The
horse furnished me by the proprietor of the hotel was a phenomenally
wretched steed, by no means boasting of Arab blood.

After a couple of hours' march, we passed a <rdouar' or Berber vil-
lage on our left, a little off the path, partially hidden among the
scrubby mastic trees. The little houses were built of stone and mud,
with thatched roofs. Three villagers came out to meet us, one of them
armed with a gun, and the question arose in my mind whether these
good people were honest or had no reputation to lose; but soon the
gunner left us, perhaps on the quest for partridges, while our betur-
baned Moors in their ragged burnooses spent the rest of the day with
us and seemed mild and inoffensive, receiving our parting salutations
and backsheesh with kindly glances.

In another half-hour we reached the site of the necropolis. The
vast cemetery is finely situated on the brow of a hill, or range of hills,
facing west and overlooking the village of Eoknia at its foot. This
hillside or plateau itself is a spur of the Diebel-Debar range, some-
what elevated, being about 2,000 feet above the Mediterranean, and
surrounded to the west, northwest and north by an amphitheater of
distant mountains. The tombs themselves mostly occur in openings
among the low trees or shrubs, which are scattered over the plains, or
form dense thickets concealing the ruins of the dolmens. Scattered
about the vicinity of this once sacred ground are the farms of the little
hill villages, or 'douars' of the natives.

The material for the rock structures crops out here and there, the
soil being thin — a pale gray, moderately hard limestone of cretaceous
age, not containing any fossils and evidently weathering somewhat rap-
idly, as it is naturally somewhat porous and cavernous. The rock was
not jointed, and evidently was not easily quarried; hence the blocks
are very irregular and were never hammered.

The guide led us to the best preserved and most typical dolmen,
which was smaller than we expected, being much less than half as
large as those we had some years previously visited in Brittany. It
is built of three rude slabs of limestone, one on each side, and a shorter
stone at the end, the opposite end of the enclosure being open and
facing the east. The enclosure thus walled in was covered by a single
large slab, about six feet long, irregularly triangular in shape, the ends
of which projected beyond the enclosure. Another less perfect tomb
was built of two side-stones and an oblong slab on top, about five feet
long and two feet wide. The space thus enclosed averaged about four
by two feet. A still larger dolmen consisted of two side-slabs and one
at the end, covered by an irregular slab, about six feet long and four

PREHISTORIC TOMBS OF EASTERN ALGERIA. 399

feet wide. The largest dolmen observed was covered by a quite regu-
larly oblong slab about nine and a half feet long and four or five feet
wide. There were but two side stones, but several at the end. It was
only about a foot above the level of the ground, and the interior was
about four feet deep and three and a half feet wide. In another the
lateral stones were nine feet long and over five feet high, with eight or
nine stones at each end. Others had a slab at each end. These may
have been modified at a later period, for the Komans had occupied this
valley, this region being a portion of the Numidia of Latin authors.

The average measurements of the dolmens given by Bourguignat
are from one meter to 1.25 in length, 0.50 to 0.75 in breadth, and 0.60
to 0.80 meter in height.

The dolmen-field, so far as time allowed us to observe it, was from
about eight hundred to a thousand yards long, and in width about
five hundred feet. The dolmens themselves were arranged irregularly
in lines about fifty feet apart, and the lines extended in an easterly and
westerly direction. Bourguignat states that the general orientation is
southwest and northwest, the four angles of the dolmens corresponding
to the four cardinal points.

The rows of dolmens extend down to near the bottom of the valley,
to a point near the little hamlet of Boknia, which is built of stones, with
the pitched roofs thatched, and the rough walls not whitewashed,
though they often are in the well-to-do cdouars.'

The interior or floor of the dolmen consisted of a soft black loam,
and I set one of the Moors, whom we will call Mahmoud, digging up the
soil with his stick. He soon unearthed a human radius, some vertebrae
and a portion of a human skull, besides several specimens of the com-
mon European snail (Helix aspersa), of which more anon.

It will be readily seen that the bodies of the dead in dolmens of the
dimensions of those of Algeria must have been bent or doubled up in
order to be buried. The dolmens of the land of Moab, east of the
Dead Sea, are also said to be small. On the other hand, those of France
and Holland are often twelve feet in length and in some of them a per-
son could stand upright.

There were no traces of tunnels (allees couvertes) to be seen by us,
nor any indications that earth had been heaped over the dolmens, as
is frequently the case in Brittany. Bourguignat, however, states that
the dolmenic chamber was covered with a tumulus. On the other hand,
no tumuli are known to exist in Tunisia.

In the time at our command it was not possible to examine the
whole cemetery, as the greater part of it was in ruins or overgrown
with the mastic or lentisk shrubs (Pistacia lentiscus) which yield the
gum-mastic.

Moreover, many of the dolmens had evidently been destroyed, as we

4oo POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

found but few perfect ones, and it is slated that some French officers
had wantonly destroyed them.

In 1867 Dr. Bourguignat, the well-known conchologist and archeol-
ogist of Paris, visited this necropolis, camped on it, and his account is
the only complete one. He put the number of dolmens remaining in
his time at fifteen hundred, and estimated the total number formerly
existing at several thousand. He regarded this vast assemblage of
megalithic sepulchers as a colossal cemetery.

In the following year General Faidherbe, in a paper published in
the 'Annales de l'Academie de Bone,' attributed these sepulchers to the
troglodyte Libyans, whose actual descendants were, he states, the
Kabyles and Berbers.

The people living in this vicinity, and, presumably, the builders of
these sepulchers, were of a later date than the neolithic or later stone
epoch, for the art-objects excavated by Bourguignat from the interior
were bronze rings or bracelets, amulets and rings of silver gilded with
gold; and earthern vases. According to the well-known anthropologist,
Pruner-Bey, the human skeletons contained in the tombs were those
of Aryans, of negroes, Egyptians and Kabyles, with hybrids between
the negro and Kabyle women. The Aryans occupied the large
sepulchers; their cranial type resembled that of ancient Italy.

The dominant race, according to French statements, had imposed
on the other peoples its mode of burial and its religious beliefs, since the
eastward orientation of the sepulchers of Eoknia is identical with the
traditional position made sacred by Aryan customs.

The remains of the men were distinguished by an earthen vase
placed near the head, but the women were not considered worthy of
the honor of a funeral vase.

The question arises as to the exact age of these dolmens and their
builders. Were they contemporaneous with the early Egyptians, and
was the bronze age of northern Africa of the same or of an earlier date
than the bronze epoch in Egypt?

Dr. Collignon has, more recently, thrown much light on the affinities
of the builders of these dolmens, who, he suggests, were Berbers, and
perhaps of the same race as the dolmen-builders of France and the
Cromagnon family whose remains were found at Les Eyzies, in Dor-
dogne, France. Of the races of the sedentary population now living
in Tunisia, where also occur numerous dolmens, especially at Ellez
(which is situated about 100 miles east of Eoknia), there are five types
of Berbers. "One of these types reaches its greatest purity in the
neighborhood of Ellez and its area of distribution almost exactly covers
the area of distribution of dolmens. Moreover, this race presents
plainly the special anatomical characters of the bones found in the dol-
mens of France, notably at Sordes and at Homme-Mort, i. e., a feeble

PREHISTORIC TOMBS OF EASTERN ALGERIA. 401

. jBf^Bj^BI

5S5

%^Cr

^ww^L*

^CvT

^!» '

^h| ■

L.^HMto* i ^S|

Fig. 1. The Dolmens at Rocknia, Algeria.

VOL. LVIII.— 26

402 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

size (lm , 63), dolichocephaly of 74 and especially a short face, broad and
disharmonic, of a character absolutely analogous to the conformation of
the crania of Cromagnon. They are not blonds.

"Another race of large size (lm, 69, about), very dolichocephalic,
mesorhine to 75, etc., were probably the descendants of the men who
worked the silver in this region, and they represent the most ancient
ethnic layer existing in the country." He adds that in Tunisia, as in
Europe, there was a gradual transition from the Chellean to the Mous-
terian epoch, and also down through the Magdalenian epoch to the
Neolithic. Flint implements were still used during the Eoman occu-
pation, though the nomadic Getulse or Numidians used metal pur-
chased of the Phoenicians and Eomans.

It is now tolerably well settled that at the time of the paleolithic or
old stone epoch in Egypt and Nubia, the Nile was much larger and
wider than now, as the paleolithic axes and scrapers, precisely like
those of France, have been found on the river gravels out on the
desert as high as 400 feet above the present level of the Nile. On the
other hand, the polished axes or celts, the arrow-heads and flint knives
and scrapers of the neolithic epoch found under the temples and in the
sand about the towns built within historic times, though extending back
2,500 to 4,000 years, preceded the bronze period, which may have begun
about 1,500 years b. c. Since the opening of the neolithic epoch in
Egypt, the Nile has assumed its present size, the country having be-
come dry and rainless. There are everywhere, as we ascend the Nile to
the first cataract, evident traces in the eroded hills on either bank of
the Nile of a rainy and cooler climate during paleolithic times.

And everywhere in Morocco, Algeria and Tunis, and on the edge of
the Sahara Desert, we saw evidences of an originally moist, rainy, cooler
climate. Old lake-bottoms, on the Tell, where the rivers, now dry,
had widened into lakes; conical hills, outstanding pinnacles and ancient
water-worn courses extending down the sides of the now dry and barren
cliffs or slopes, told the story of a climate more favorable than now for
the sustenance of a comparatively large population; one fond of uplands,
forest clad, cool and shady in the summer, and whose farms suffered less
from the parching heats of summer. During the tertiary period, at
least until the pliocene, the Sahara was a Mediterranean sea; northern
Africa belonged then more to Europe than to central and southern
Africa.

Eabourdin asserts that the desert of the central Sahara was formerly
a fertile and inhabited country, and afforded pasturage for cattle.
Herodotus states that the cattle had larger and thicker hides. There
are rock pictures representing cattle with large horns.

Weisgerber states that according to local traditions the Sahara was
formerly not a desert; that there were springs, streams and a luxuriant

PREHISTORIC TOMBS OF EASTERN ALGERIA. 403

vegetation, and that it supported a race, not numerous, however, which
cultivated the soil. (Monuments archeologiques du Sahara, 1881, Bull.
Soc. d'Anthropologie, Paris.)

Strong confirmation of the view that decided climatic changes have
taken place in eastern Algeria since the time when the Roknia necrop-
olis was built, is afforded by the excavations of Dr. Borguignat in
these dolmens. He found in the dolmens numerous shells of Helix
aspersa, a large snail common in the gardens and fields of Europe.
These shells were similar to those living in the damp and cool climate of
Europe, while those actually living at Roknia offer features produced
by the dry and hot climate of the present day. This sufficiently indi-
cates a decided change of climate, which must have occurred certainly
more than a thousand years before the time of Homer, or of the founding
of Rome. We dug up some of these semi-fossil shells, and also found
plenty of the recent ones on top of the soil within the dolmens.

Many authors attribute the dryness and sterile nature of the eastern
lands to the removal of forests by man within historic periods, but this
is a decided mistake. There has been a slow secular process of elevation,
■desiccation and consequent deforestation of the regions around the
Mediterranean, which began to take place thousands of years before
the founding of the ancient civilization of Egypt, Babylon and Assyria,
at, if not before a time when neolithic culture gradually supplanted
that of the race which used only rough, unpolished, unmounted flint im-
plements, scrapers and spear-heads. But for several thousand years, at
least from 5,000 to 10,000 years b. c, if not throughout the neolithic
•epoch, the scenic features and climate of Egypt, Libya and Algeria have
remained unchanged.

Bourguignat claims that the climate indicated by the snails of the
Roknia dolmens nearly corresponds to that of Paris, whose mean tem-
perature at our time is 10°. 1 C. (about 52° F.), while that of Roknia is
17°.5, being a difference of 7°.4.

Reasoning from these data and certain astronomical calculations,
this author decides that the mean annual temperature of Roknia, at a
period 2,200 years b. c, was 10 °C. Moreover, as the snail shells show-
ing the influence of this cool, rainy climate were found in the lower
beds of the sepulchral chambers, in the strata in contact with the
human bones, he concludes that the megalithic monuments of Roknia
•extend back to that date. They are thus not less than about 4,000
years old, and thus it would appear that the bronze age of ancient
Libya goes back that length of time.

This once decided, Dr. Bourguignat explained the presence of orna-
ments of bronze and gilded silver, which he supposed the inhabitants
■were unable to make themselves, to commercial exchange with the
Egyptians and what he calls the people of Nigritia. The Kabyle in-

404 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

dustry, he thought, was confined to the manufacture of large coarse
pottery, evincing an incipient stage in the ceramic art, and indicating
a pastoral people, with ahundant flocks and herds, the hillsides and
nlains there being covered with magnificent forests and affording abun-
dant pasturage, there being perhaps 150 rainy days instead of
50 in the year, as at present.

But the noonday hour had passed, and we ate our frugal lunch,
provided by the landlady at the hotel, with a bottle of native Algerian
wine. We were forced to eat it alone, for in vain did we press on our
guide and the two Moors a bit of bread and butter and a drink of the
mild beverage. They steadfastly refused, for it was the month of the
Eamadan. They were strict, consistent Mohammedans, and could not
be tempted.

On our return, not far from the necropolis we passed by Moorish
farmers stirring the light soil with their primitive wooden ploughs,
shares and all, the yoke being bound around the neck of a cow or steer
by cords behind the horns. The cattle were all gray and dirty white,
no red or parti-colored ones being observed. Half way back we paused
to examine the Eoman ruins, portions of basement stones strewn about
the ground. The warmth of the afternoon sun was like that of a June
day. We left the native 'douars' behind, and after two or three hours7
descent from the hills behind us, forded the little river and entered
the village of Hamman-Meskoutine.

THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM. 405

THE NEW YOEK AQUAKIUM.

By Professor CHARLES L. BRISTOL,

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY.

WHEN the municipality of New York transformed Castle Garden
from an immigrant station to a public Aquarium, its location
alone solved two problems incident to the usefulness and maintenance
of such an institution. Its position, at the end of the Island of Man-
hattan, at the confluence of two great rivers and the harbor, in close
proximity to all the lines of communication with all the boroughs,
makes it equally accessible to all portions of the population, and pro-
vides for an abundant supply of salt water.

The Aquarium has well repaid the labors of those who conceived
and wrought out the idea, and has justified the care and personal
interest bestowed upon it by President George C. Clausen, of the Park
Commission, if one may judge by the delight expressed by the great
number of people, young and old, rich and poor alike, who daily enjoy
the marvelous exhibition of fishes and other aquatic animals there set
before them. Col. James E. Jones — the director — takes great pride,
and justly, too, in the unbroken record of an 'open house,' and the
general well-being and contentment of his finny charges.

The doors of the Aquarium are open free to all comers every day
between the hours of nine and four, and, at this writing, the average
daily attendance is more than fifty-one hundred people, while on
Sunday this number rises to eleven thousand.

A word about the building before we enter it. It was built just
before the Avar of 1812, and named Castle Clinton. It was then two
hundred feet away from the shore, and was connected with it by a
bridge; later the shore line was extended to its present location so as to
include the building within it. Never very useful, the Federal Govern-
ment gave it to the city in 1822. As a public hall the city welcomed
in it many prominent persons, among whom were La Fayette, whose
landing was commemorated in the blue and white pottery of those
days; Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, and the present Prince of Wales.
Jenny Lind made her debut there under the management of Phineas
T. Barnum, at that time a youth unknown to fame. Then its halcyon
days passed, and it became the reception hall for the vast numbers of
immigrants who yearly passed through it into the life of the republic.
In 1896, it was restored to the people as a place of amusement, and
entered upon its second and, let us hope, its permanent career as an

406

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Aquarium. As we approach, before passing into the dim light of the
Aquarium, it is well to linger for a moment in the park, and gaze
upon the wonderful scene spread out before our eyes — the commodious-
harbor, alive with the craft of all nations, the hills of Staten Island
and the Narrows beyond.

Its circular fort form is admirably adapted to its present use, as
the plans and illustrations show, and but few changes were necessary
to make it available. Upon entering, the visitor's attention is attracted
to the seven great pools on the floor. A second glance reveals the
wall tanks, arranged in two tiers. These have glass fronts, and, at a

Fig. 1. The New York Aquarium.

distance, look like beautiful pictures in great frames. They are lighted
from behind and above, and the spaces immediately in front of the
main and gallery tiers are thrown into deep shade by the gallery floor
and the ceiling. The light coming through the tanks being the only
source of illumination, the colors and markings of the fishes are
brilliantly displayed to the spectator, who might easily imagine him-
self wandering in some submarine gallery.

In the great central pool there is, ordinarily, a collection of sharks
and the common fishes of the coast, but when a whale or other large
specimen is secured it occupies this place of honor. The three pools

THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM.

407

on the nortli side of the floor contain, respectively, salmon raised from
the fry, harbor seals and sturgeon. The harbor seals are always sur-
rounded by an admiring throng, who watch the graceful manoeuvres
of 'Nelly' and her companion, the 'Babe.' 'Nelly' has occupied her quar-
ters since the Aquarium was opened, and is a great pet with her keepers.
The pools on the south side contain striped bass, the West Indian seal
and sea turtles. The specimen of the West Indian seal — Monachus
iropicalis (Gray) — is unique among zoological collections. It was
captured at the Triangles, off the coast of Yucatan, in 1897, and has
thriven in captivity at the Aquarium. It has developed into a humorist,
and a favorite trick is to sit upright in the pool and look innocently

Fig. 2. Plan of the Main Floor.

around until someone attracts its attention. Then, without a gesture
of warning, it spurts a mouthful of water at him and dives away to
swim for some time as fast as it can about the pool.

These pools, and the wall tanks to the left of the entrance, are
devoted to salt-water animals, while the wall tanks on the other side
are stocked with fresh water animals, as shown in the plan of the floor
(Fig. 2).

In the display of fresh-water fishes, the trout family holds first
place, occupying more tank room than any other family, and comprising
eleven species. This is largely due to the interest taken by the fishing
fraternity in this family and to the generous contributions of the Fish
Commissioners of several States.

408 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

The sunfishes make a brilliant display, as do the pearl roaches
caught in Harlem Mere at Central Park. For downright homeliness
the great eighty-pound channel catfish from the Mississippi takes the
first place. The bow fin (Amia) and the gar (Lepidosteus) always
attract attention, together with the carp and the whitefish that come
from the Great Lakes.

Along with the fresh-water fishes are three groups of amphibians:
great bullfrogs from New York State, the mud puppy (Necturus) from
the great lakes, and the hellbender (Cryptobranchiis) from the Ohio
Paver. There is always a group of visitors in front of the tanks of the
l wo latter animals, watching the beautiful gills of the mud puppy and
commenting on the loose suit of clothes worn by the hellbender.

On the salt-water side, the tropical fishes furnish by far the greatest
beauty and attraction. Their gaudy colors and strange forms are in
strong contrast to the somewhat monotonous hues of most of our coast-
wise fishes, but both are harmonious with their surroundings. In the
clear, limpid waters of Bermuda and the West Indies, under a tropic
sun, the 'sea gardens' flourish, and great purple sea-fans, bright saffron
sea-rods, large clumps of bright red and vivid green sea-weeds make a
brilliant setting for the higher forms of life.

The world below the brine.

Forests at the bottom of the sea — the branches and leaves,

Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds — the thick tangle, the openings

and the pink turf,
Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white and gold — the play of light

through the water,
Dumb swimmers there among the rocks — coral, gluten, grass, rushes — and the

aliment of the swimmers,
Sluggish existence grazing there, suspended, or slowly crawling close to the

bottom.

In such environment the beautiful Angel-fish, with its long, stream-
ing, yellow fins and sky-blue body, is no longer conspicuous as in the
tanks. The ruddy Hind conceals itself easily at the bottom, while the
little Four-eyed-fish (so called), brilliant in golden livery with jet-
black markings, vanishes from sight by merely shifting its position.
On the other hand, the Parrot fishes — which range in color from bright
grass green through blues and browns — are boldly conspicuous in
their warning colors, for their flesh is poisonous to other animals,
including man. The Squirrel-fish, in his brilliant scarlet coat, is
equally conspicuous; for woe to the unwary captor that attempts to
swallow him! His strong, sharp spine and rough scales would lacerate
the maw of the hardiest carnivore, and he swims about among them free
from any fear.

These tropical fishes exhibit the function of changing their color
in a high degree. The great Groupers are worth watching as they move

THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM. 409

a I Hint in the tanks. Now they are a dirty brown, now they change
to alternating blotches of black and white, and presto, they are pure
white. The Eed-snappers and Yellow-tails change in the twinkling
of an eye so as to be almost unrecognizable. Nearly all these fishes
may emit flashes of light apparently at will.

The Cow-fish and its relative the Trunk-fish always excite the
interest of the visitors, who are amused at their triangular, box-like
bodies and odd manoeuvres. Equally attractive are the Morays, of
which two varieties are shown; the beautiful Speckled Moray and the
great Green Moray. The specimens of the latter now in the Aquarium
measure, respectively, seven and one-half feet and six feet long.

The collection of coastwise fishes is excellent, and it contains many
rare and little-known varieties, such as the weird Moon-fish, the Spade-
fish, the Crevalle, the Orange file-fish and the Barracuda, as well as
the common food fishes of the markets.

The first requisite of an Aquarium is water, and, while very small
aquaria may be, and are, successfully maintained without changing
the water, by the use of plants to supply oxygen, this system would
not answer at all for large tanks. In England and on the Continent
many of the large aquaria store great quantities of water, both fresh
and salt, in dark reservoirs, and use it over and over again, filtering
and aerating it each time.

In the New York Aquarium this system is not used. Fresh and
salt water are supplied to the tanks but once and carried away to the
sewer. The fresh water is furnished from the city water mains. The
salt-water supply was originally taken direct from the harbor, but,
while digging in the cellar to lay a foundation, the workmen pierced
a layer of hardpan clay, and water rushed into the excavation. Pump-
ing did not lower it, and tasting proved it to be salt. It was at once
utilized as a source of supply and proves to be excellent. The layer of
tsand underneath the clay is an immense filter bed that removes all sus-
pended matter and furnishes clear, limpid water in unlimited quantity.

Both kinds of water are pumped into large reservoirs and flow
thence by gravity to the tanks. Some of the piping is gutta-percha,
but practice has demonstrated that first-quality galvanized iron pipe
is entirely satisfactory, and it is largely used. Between the reservoirs
and the tanks are devices for regulating the temperature, and these
are necessitated by the extreme diversity of the collection.

In the summer, the fresh water supplied to the salmon family must
be kept down to 55° F., while in winter the tropical salt-water fishes
demand 70° F. The former is maintained by an ordinary refrigerating
machine, the latter by utilizing the waste steam from the radiators
;and the pumps.

The exhibition tank, like much of the plant, is the outgrowth of

4io

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

experience and failure. The front is made of plate glass nearly an
inch thick, and this is fastened into a strong frame of iron, which, in
turn, is firmly secured to the building. The joint between the glass
and the iron must be water-tight, of course, but it must also be some-
what flexible, to accommodate the changes due to temperature and
the bulging due to pressure. It is made by wedging the glass into a
rebate with strips of dry basswood as firmly as possible; when these-
become water-soaked they swell, so as to make the joint perfect, and.
yet to allow the necessary play. To the rear side of the iron frame is
bolted a wooden tank, narrower at the bottom than the top, and when
this is in place it is given a coat of Portland cement for a lining. This
lining gives a pleasing neutral tint for a background, is very clean, and,.

Fig. 3. Pools and Wall Tanks.

should occasion demand, it may be readily replaced. The largest
glass used is ninety by forty-eight inches for a single tank, but in-
some cases two tanks are thrown into one by cutting the partition
walls, as shown in the shark tank (Fig. 3).

Between the exhibition tanks and the outer wall of the building is-
an annular corridor devoted to the purposes of administration, and to
this the public is not admitted. Here the keepers and their helpers
are occupied almost constantly in the multifarious duties that the con-
ditions of maintenance impose; here the pumping machinery and the
temperature-regulating apparatus are located, and here are the tanks
that hold the reserve stock and those used for hospital purposes.

Cleanliness equal to that found on a private yacht is maintained,
as a matter of course, and lies at the foundation of the uninterrupted

THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM.

411

success of the institution. Subdivision of the work makes possible
a routine of duties that proceeds as regularly and orderly as on board
a man-of-war, and this is necessary, for now and then the sinuous eel
plays his pranks and stops some outlet, threatening the institution
with flooding.

No less important is an intimate knowledge of the fishes them-
selves. When fishes of different kinds are put together in a tank,,
they often war with each other until one kind is exterminated, and
sometimes fishes of the same kind will not tolerate certain individuals.
In one of the gallery tanks may be seen a single angel-fish brought
from Bermuda four years ago. It is of surpassing beauty, but it kills
everv other angel that is put in the tank with it. No matter how

Fig. 4. The Corridor Behind the Tanks.

many of the curious, triangular, hard-bodied trunk-fishes are put
together, one is always made the butt of the rest, and wor-
ried by them until it dies, and then another is pestered,
until but one is left. In many of the tanks where the fishes
dwell in harmony together, there will be one that dominates all
the others. It seems to demand a certain deportment and procedure
from the others, and is always on the alert to exact compliance. The
familiar story of the Mexican shepherds who know each individual in
their vast flocks finds its parallel in the intimate knowledge of their
charges possessed by the men who care for the tanks at the Aquarium,
and this enables them to keep a delicate touch on the daily life in the
tanks that contributes largely to the success recognized by the public.
For instance, a slight uneasiness in one of the fishes in a certain

412 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tank was noticed one day; it continued, and the next day the fish was
removed and carefully examined. It was found to have a few parasites
upon it, and these were killed. Every fish in that tank was then
examined and cleaned, the tank was thoroughly cleansed, and finally
the reserve tank from which it came was similarly treated, with the
result that no deaths resulted from that cause.

Besides animal parasites, they are always on the lookout for fungus
growths, for some of these would decimate the tanks in short order if
they were not destroyed. Fortunately, most of these yield readily to
the treatment of a change of water. The salt-water fish is put for a
short time in hrackish or fresh water, or vice versa, and the plant is
killed before the fish is injured. Sometimes one eye or both will bulge
out of its socket, giving rise to what the Aquarium people graphically
call 'bung-eye.' This is regularly treated in the hospital tanks and
usually with success. Wounds and abrasions, mopishness and other
troubles are recognized and treated in aquatic animals quite successfully.

Fully as exacting as questions of disease are the conditions sur-
rounding the matter of feeding. The food must be fresh, much of it
needs preparation, and it must be fed at proper intervals. Some fishes
require feeding every day, others take it at intervals of three or four
•days or a week. The small fishes take their tiny meals of chopped
clam every da}r, the larger fishes at varying intervals.

The dietary is varied, as the following list of some of the foods will
show: Quahaugs or hard clams, soft clams, live shrimps, sand fleas,
killifish (salt-water minnows), minnows, earthworms, sandworms (both
white and red), fresh dead fish from which the bones are removed,
salted codfish and beef's liver. Some of these are staples, some are
tid-bits to tempt the appetite of moping or sick fishes, and of this latter
sort salted codfish is far and away the most tempting.

Tbe death rate among the inhabitants is surprisingly low; some
forms will not endure captivity for any considerable time, as might
be expected, but among those kinds that will live and thrive in confine-
ment, there are many individuals that were put into the tanks when the
Aquarium was opened in 1896.

The area from which the supply for exhibition is drawn is very
large, exceeding, probably, that of any other aquarium in the world, and
in this respect the collection in the New York Aquarium differs widely
from those of the great aquariums of Europe, which rely upon the
fauna of the immediately adjacent waters. The Gulf of St. Lawrence
furnishes white whale; the Gulf of Mexico the West Indian seal. The
cold streams of Maine supply the salmon, while from Bermuda come
the tropical fishes of the West Indies. The great lakes contribute the
whitefish and others, while the Mississippi Valley sends the catfish.
Tn'sides these, the fishes of the neighboring waters are well represented.

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 413,

CHAPTEES OK THE STARS.

By Professor SIMON NEWCOMB, U. S. N.
THE CLUSTERING OF THE STARS.

A STUDY of Sehiaparelli's planispheres, which we gave in the
-^*- last chapter, shows that some regions of the heavens are
especially rich in lucid stars and others especially poor.

Neither telescope nor planisphere is necessary to show that many of
those stars are collected in clusters. That the Pleiades form a group
of stars by itself is clear from the consideration that six stars so bright
would not fall so close together by accident. This conclusion is confirmed
by their common proper motion, different from that of the stars around
them. The singular collection of bright stars which form Orion, the
most brilliant constellation in the heavens, and the little group called
Coma Berenices — the Hair of Berenice — also suggest the problem of the
possible connection of the stars which form them.

The question we now propose to consider is whether these clusters
include within their limits an important number of the small stars seen
in the same direction. If they and all the small stars which they con-
tain were within their actual limits removed from the sky, would im-
portant gaps be left? The significance of this question will be readily
seen. If important gaps would be left, it would follow that a large
proportion of the stars which we see in the direction of the clusters
really belong to the latter, and that, therefore, most of the stars would
be contained within a limited region. The clusters which we shall espe-
cially study from this point of view are the Pleiades, Coma Berenices,.
Praesepe and Orion.

The Pleiades. — In the case of this cluster the question was investi-
gated by Professor Bailey, by means of a Harvard photograph 2° square,
having Alcyone near its center. It was divided into 144 squares, each
10' on a side. The brighter stars of the cluster were included within
42 of these squares. The count of stars gave the results:

Within cluster: 1,012 stars, or 24 per square.
Without cluster: 2,960 stars, or 29 per square.

It, therefore, seems that the portion of the heavens covered by the
cluster is actually poorer in stars than the region around it.

Two opposite conclusions might be drawn from this fact. Assuming
that the difference is due to the presence of the cluster, we might sup-
pose that the latter was formed of material that otherwise would have

414

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

gone into numerous smaller stars. Accepting this view, it would fol-
low that the material in question was a sheet so thin that the thickness
of the space filled by the cluster was an appreciable fraction of that oc-

Fii;. 1. Photograph showing Structure of the Milky Way, by' Barnard.

cupied by the stars. In other words, one-fifth of the stars of the region
would be contained in a thin sheet. This result seems too improbable
to be accepted.

The other and more likely conclusion is that the number of very

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS.

415

minute stars included in the cluster is no greater than that in the sur-
rounding regions, and that the lesser number in the region is to be re-
garded as accidental.

Fig. 2. Rifts in the Milky Way, Photographed' by Baknard.

Coma Berenices. — This cluster, which may be seen east, south or
west of the zenith on a spring or summer evening, contains seven stars
visible to the naked eye, each of the fifth magnitude. It may be con-
sidered as comprised within the limits 12h. 13m. and 12h. 25m. of E. A.,

416 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

and 25° to 29° of declination, an area of 10°. 5. This existence of
seven lucid stars within so small an area suggests that they belong to-
gether, and may have smaller stars belonging to the group, and making
the star-density of this area greater than that of the sky in general.

The question whether there is any corresponding excess of richness
in the fainter stars will be decided by a count of those contained in
Graham's section of the A. G. Catalogue, which extends to the ninth
magnitude. With the area above defined this catalogue gives seventy-
one stars. Subtracting the seven lucid stars, we have sixty-four small
stars left within the area. To the same belt of declination 33G stars
are listed in the twelfth hour of E. A., giving an average of sixty-seven
stars to an area equal to that of the cluster. The small stars are, there-
fore, no thicker within the area of the cluster than around it. It may
be added that the seven lucid stars do not seem to have any common
proper motion, so that their proximity is probably an accident.

Prcesepe. — This object, situate in the constellation Cancer, appears
to the naked eye as a patch of nebulous light. It is actually a con-
densed group of stars, of which the brightest are of the seventh magni-
tude. The stars of the ninth magnitude included within the area of
the group probably belong, for the most part, to it, but they are too
few to serve as the base for any positive conclusion.

Orion. — I find by measurement and count that a circle 20° in
diameter, comprising the brightest stars of this constellation, contains
eighty stars to magnitude (3.3. Of these six are of the first or second^
leaving seventy-four from the third to the sixth. The resulting rich-
ness is 24 to 100 square degrees, about the average richness along the
borders of the galaxy. It follows that this remarkable collection of
bright stars has no unusual collection of faint stars associated with it.

A very natural inquiry is whether the bright stars in Orion have any
common proper motion, indicating that they form a system by them-
selves. The answer is shown in the following statement of the proper
j not ions in a century:

Proper Motions.
Star. Mag. K. A. Dec.

Eigel 1 +0.1 0.0 .

?; Orionis 3 -f 0.1 —0.3

y Orionis 2 —0.6 —1.7

S Orionis 2 0.0 —0.2

€ Orionis 2 0.0 +0.1

(? Orionis 2 0.0 —1.4

a: Orionis 2 +0.1 -0.3

a Orionis 1 +30 +0.9

For the most part these motions are too small to be placed beyond
doubt, even by all the observations hitherto made. In the case of

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 417

o'Orionis the motion is established; in those of y and 2, it is more or less
probable, but not at all certain; in all the other cases it is too small to be
measured.

This minuteness of the motion makes it probable that these stars are
very distant from us, an inference which is confirmed by the smallness
of their parallaxes. The careful and long-continued measures of Gill
show no parallax to Eigel, while Elkin finds one of only 0".02 to
oc Orionis.

The general conclusion from our examination is this: The ag-
glomeration of the lucid stars into clusters does not, in the cases where it
is noticeable to the eye, extend to the fainter stars.

Let us now study the question on the opposite side. The plani-
spheres show regions of great paucity in lucid stars; is there here any
paucity of telescopic stars?

The two regions of greatest paucity are near the equator; one ex-
tends through the hour of 0 of E. A.; the other from 12h. 20m. to 12h.
40m. The richness of these and of the adjoining regions may be in-
ferred from Boss's zone of the A. GL Catalogue, including a belt from 1°
to 5° of declination. The number of stars in each hour from 23h. to
3h. is as follows:

In 23h. : 271 stars.

In Oh. : 293 stars.

In lh. : 299 stars.

In 2h. : 295 stars.

These numbers show no paucity in the hour 0, and no excess in the
hour 2, which is much richer in lucid stars than the hour 0.

In the strip from 12h. 20m. to 12h. 40m. the catalogue contains sev-
enty-eight stars, a richness of 234 to the hour. In the hour preceding
there are 211 stars; in that following, 225. There is, therefore, no pau-
city in the strip in question.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE MILKY WAY.

The most salient problems suggested by the appearance of the Milky
Way are to be approached on lines quite similar to those followed in
the last chapter. We begin with a description of this wonderful object
as it appears to the observer. We recall that it can be seen through
some part of its course on any clear night of the year, and in the eve-
ning of any season except that of early summer. We begin with the
portion which will be visible in the late summer or early autumn. We
can then trace its course southward from Cassiopeia in the northwest.
It passes a little east of the zenith down to Sagittarius, near the south
horizon. This portion of the belt is remarkable for its diversity of
structure and the intensity of the brighter regions.

In Cassiopeia it shows nothing remarkable, but above this constella-

VOL. LVIII.— 2 7

418 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tion, in Cepheus, we notice in the micLt of the brighter region a nearly-
circular patch several degrees in diameter, in which little light is
seen. A little farther along we notice a similar elongated patch in
Oygnus lying across the course of the belt. In this region the brighter
portions are of great breadth, more than 20°.

In Cygnus begins the most remarkable feature of the Milky Way,
the great bifurcation. Faintly visible near the zenith, as we trace it
towards the south, we see it grow more and more distinct, until we
reach the constellation Aquila, near the equator. Between Cygnus and
Aquila the western branch seems to be the brighter and better marked of
the two, and might, therefore, be taken for the main branch. About
Aquila the two appear equal, but south of this constellation we see the
western branch diverge yet farther toward the west, leaving the gap be-
tween it and the eastern yet broader and more distinct than before.
This branch finally terminates in the constellation Ophiuchus, while the
eastern branch, growing narrower, can still be followed toward the
south.

Between the equator and the southern horizon we have the brightest
and most irregular regions of all. Several round, bright patches of
greater or less intensity are projected on a background sometimes
moderately bright and sometimes quite dark. If the night is quite
clear and moonless we shall see that, after a vacant stretch, the western
branch seems to recommence just about the constellation Scorpius. In
this constellation we have again a bifurcation, a dark region between
two bright ones.

This is. about as far as the object can be well traced in our middle
latitudes. From a point of view nearer to the equator it can be traced
through its whole extent. South of Scorpius and Sagittarius it becomes
broad, faint and diffused through the constellations of Norma and
Circinus. It reaches its farthest southern limit in the Southern Cross,
where it becomes narrower and better defined. The most remarkable
feature here is the 'coal sack/ a dark opening of elliptical shape in the
central line of the stream. West and north of this, in the constellation
Argo, is the broadest and most diffused part of the whole stream, the
breadth reaching fully 30°. Here we again reach the portion which
rises above our horizon.

Eeturning now to our starting point, we shall notice that, as we
make our observations later and later in the autumn, the southern
part, which we have been mostly studying, is seen night by night
lower down in the west, while new regions are coming into view in the
northeast and east. These regions rise earlier every evening, and, if
we continue our observations to a later hour, we shall see more and
more of them above the eastern or southeastern horizon. By mid-
winter Cassiopeia will be seen in the northwest, and we can readily trace

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 419

the course of the galaxy from that constellation in the opposite direc-
tion from that which we have been following. South of Cassiopeia we
see, near the central line, the well-known cluster forming the sword-
handle of Perseus. Farther south the belt grows narrower and fainter;
although the irregularities of structure continue, they are far less strik-
ing than on the other side. On a moonlight evening it will scarcely be
visible at all. If the moon is absent and the air clear we shall see
that it grows slightly brighter toward the southern horizon, near which
will be the narrowest part of its entire course. Below is the broad and
diffused region in Argo.

One conclusion from the inequalities of structure which we have
described will be quite obvious. The Milky Way is something more
than the result of the general tendency of the stars to increase in
number as we approach its central line. There must be large local
aggregations of stars, because, as we have already pointed out, there
cannot be such diversity of structure shown in a view of a very widely
stretched stratum of stars. When, instead of a naked eye view of the
belt, we study the photographs of the Milky Way, we find this evidence
of clustering to grow still stronger. It is shown very strikingly in the
photograph by Barnard, showing the singular rifts in the Milky Way
in the constellation Ophiuchus. Yet more singular are three-minute
openings in the constellation Aquila, the positions of which are:

(1). R. A. = 19h. 35.0m.

" = 19h. 36.5m.

= 19h. 37.2m.

Dec. = + 10° 17'
" = + 10° 37'
" = + 11° 2'

The fundamental question which we meet in our farther study of
this subject is: At what magnitude do these agglomerations of stars
begin? Admitting, as we must, that they are local, are they composed
altogether of stars so distant as to be faint, or do they include stars of
considerable brightness? We consider this question in a way quite
similar to that in which we discussed the clustering of the stars in the
last chapter. We mark out on a map of the Milky Way the brightest
regions — that is, those which include the densest agglomeration of very
faint stars. We also mark out the darkest regions, including the coal
sack. For this purpose I have taken the maps found in Heis's Atlas
Ccelestis for the northern portion of the Milky Way and the Atlas of
Gould's Uranometria Argentina for the southern portion. In order
to enable any one to repeat and verify the work I give the position of
the central part of each patch or region studied. This serves simply
for the purpose of identification. The outlines can be drawn by any
one when the patch is identified. The third column of the table is
given, approximately, the number of square degrees in the patch as
outlined. Then follows the number of stars as found on the map.
Here are included stars somewhat fainter than those regarded as lucid.

420

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Heis maps all stars down to about magnitude 6.2 or 6.3. Gould gives
the places of all stars to the seventh magnitude.

A.-
Way.

-Number of lucid stars in certain bright regions or patches of the Milky

I. — Northern portion, from Heis.

Position of

patch.

R. A.

Dec.

19h. 10m.

+35°

20h. Om.

+37°

20h. 20m.

+47°

21h. 5m.

+45°

Oh. 20m.

+00°

2h. 20m.

+55°

3h. 30m.

+36°

3h. 40m.

+44°

Square

Number

degrees.

of stars.

Sums 277

II. — Southern portion, from Gould:

Area.
10

9
12
10

7
25

8
16

Sums 97

Position.

8h. 4m.

— 47°

2h. 24m.

— 44°

lOh. 35m.

— 58°

llh. 40m.

— 62°

16h. 10m.

— 53°

18h. 0m.

— 28°

18h. 10m.

— 18°

18h. 42m.

— 8°

Stars.
14

19
11

B. — Number of lucid stars in the darker regions or patches of the Milky Way.
I. — Northern part, from Heis.

Position.

Area.

H. A.

Dec.

Sq. Deg.

Stars

21h. 0m.

+ 50

22h. 0m.

+ 67

22h. 25m.

+ 60

Oh. 0m.

+ 69

4h. 0m.

+ 55

4h. 20m.

+ 35

6h. 15m.

+ 18

6h. 12m.

+ 4

Sums.

475

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 421

II. — Southern part.

, from Gould.

Position.

7h.

22m.

— 38°

7h.

28m.

— 38°

8h.

Om.

— 22°

8h.

40m.

— 50°

9h.

Om.

— 45°

lOh.

Om.

— 52°

12h.

40m.

— 63°

15h.

10m.

— 56°

17h.

30m.

— 27°

18h.

10m.

— 35°

18h.

Om.

— 22° |

— 8° )

18h.

30m.

18h.

50m.

— 5°

Sums. 219 74

To derive the best conclusions from these numbers we must com-
pare them with the mean star-density for the sky in general, and for
the regions near the galactic plane. Heis has 3,903 stars north of the
equator; Gould, 6,755 south of it. The area of each hemisphere is
20,626 square degrees. It will be convenient to express the various star-
densities in terms of 100 square degrees as the unit of area. Thus we
have the following star-densities according to the two authorities:

Heis. Gould.

Star-density of the entire hemisphere 19.0 32.7

Star-density of the darker galactic regions 20.4 33.8

Star-density of the bright-galactic regions 32.9 79.4

The first two pairs of numbers lead to the remarkable and unexpect-
ed conclusion that the darker regions of the Milky Way are but slightly
richer in lucid stars than the average of the whole sky; certainly no
richer than is due to the general tendency of all the stars to crowd
toward the galactic plane. On the other hand, the bright areas are

60 per cent, richer according to Heis, and more than 100 per cent,
richer according to Gould, than the darker areas seen among and
around them. The conclusion is that an important fraction of the lucid
stars which we see in the same areas with the agglomerations of the
Milky Way is really in those agglomerations and form part of them.

A study quite similar to this has been made by Easton for the por-
tions of the Milky Way between Cygnus and Aquila, where the diversi-
ties of brightness are greatest. His count of the stars in the bright and
dark regions differs from that made above, principally by including all
the stars of the Durchmusterung, which we may suppose to extend to
about the ninth magnitude.!

* A long narrow region between these limits.

t Easton's work is given in detail in the 'Astronomische Nachrichten,' Vol. 137, and the
Astrophysical Journal/ Vol. I, No. 3.

422 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

He divides the regions studied into six degrees of brightness. For
our present purpose it is only necessary to consider three regions, the
brightest, the faintest and those intermediate between the two. Besides
the count from the Durchmusterung he made a count of the same sort
from Dr. Wolf's photographs and from Herschel's gauges of the
heavens. In the following table I have reduced all his results, so as to
express the number of stars in a square degree in the three separate
regions. At the top of each column is given the authority, whether
Argelander, Wolf or Herschel. Wolf had two sets of photographs, one
supposed to include all the stars to the eleventh, the other to the twelfth
magnitude. The magnitudes included are given in the second line.
That Herschel's count extends to the fifteenth magnitude is by no
means certain; but we can judge from the great number of his stars that
it goes considerably beyond Wolf's in the faintness of the stars included.
Below this we give, in the regions A, B and C, which are, respectively,
those of least, of medium and of greatest brightness, the number of
stars per square degree according to each of the authorities:

Authority Arg. Wolf (A). Wolf (B). Hersch.

Magnitude 1—9 1—11 1—12 1—15 (?)

Region A 23 72 224 405

Region B 33 134 764 4114

Region C 48 217 1,266 6,920

0— A 25 145 1,042 6,425

RatioC:A 2.1 3.0 5-7 14.0

The vastly greater number of individual stars per square degree in
the brighter regions is what we should expect from the studies we
have made of the lucid stars. But what is of most interest in the table
is the continual increase in the proportion of faint stars in the separate
regions. We notice that, when we consider only the stars of the ninth
magnitude, there are twice as many in the brightest as in the darkest
portions. When we go to the eleventh magnitude, as shown by Wolf's
photograph A, we find the number of stars in the brighter regions to
be threefold. When the twelfth magnitude is included we find that
there are between five and six times as many stars in the bright regions
as in the dark ones. Finally, when we come to stars from Herschel's
gauges there are fourteen times as many stars per square degree in the
brighter regions as in the dark.

At first sight this result seems to show a great difference between
the clusters of stars described in the last chapter, and the collections
of the Milky Way, in that the former include few or no faint stars, while
the latter include a greater and greater number as we ascend in the
scale of magnitude. This difference is important as showing a vastly
greater range of actual brightness among the galactic stars than among
those which form the scattered clusters. Allowing for this difference,

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 423

the results from the two classes of objects can be brought to converge
harmoniously toward the same conclusion.

We have collected abundant evidence that, separate from the accumu-
lations of stars in the Milky Way, perhaps extending beyond them, there
is a vast collection of scattered stars, spread out in the direction of
the galactic plane, as already described, which fill the celestial spaces
in every direction. We have shown that when, from any one area of the
sky, we abstract the stars contained in clusters, this great mass is not
seriously diminished. We have also collected abundant evidence that
the distances of this great mass are very unequal; in other words, there
is no great accumulation, in a superficial layer, at some one distance.
The question which now arises is whether the darker areas which we
see in the Milky Way are vacancies in this mass. Although some of the
counts seem to show that they are, yet a general comparison leads to the
contrary conclusion. In the darkest areas of the Milky Way, when of
great extent, the stars are as numerous as on each side of the galactic
zone. Our general conclusion is this:

If we should remove from the sky all the local aggregations of stars, and
also the entire collection which forms the Milky Way, we should have left a
scattered collection, constantly increasing in density toward the galactic
belt.

THE INCREASING NUMBER OF STARS WITH DIMINISHING BRIGHTNESS.

We mentioned in an earlier chapter that, when we compare the num-
ber of stars of each successive order of magnitude with the number of
the order next lower, we find it to be, in a general way, between three
and four times as great. The ratio in question is so important that a
special name must be devised for it. For want of a better term, we
shall call it the star ratio. It may easily be shown that there must be
some limit of magnitude at which the ratio falls off. For, a remarkable
conclusion from the observed ratio for the stars of the lower order of
magnitude is, that the totality of light received from each successive
order goes on increasing. Photometric measures show, as we have seen,
that a star of magnitude m gives very nearly 2.5 times as much light as
one of magnitude m+1. The number of stars of magnitude m+1 being,
approximately, from 3 to 3.75 times as great as those of magnitude m, it
follows that the total amount of light which they give us is some 40 or
50 per cent, greater than that received from magnitude m. Using only
rough approximations, the amount of light will be about doubled by a
change of two units of magnitude; thus the totality of stars of the sixth
magnitude gives twice as much light as that of the fourth; that of the
eighth twice as much light as that of the sixth; that of the tenth twice as
mu2h again as of the eighth, and so on as far as accurate observations
and count have been made.

424 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

To give numerical precision to this result, let us take as unity the

total amount of light received from the stars of the first magnitude.

The sum total for this and the other magnitudes, up to the tenth, will

then be:

Mag. 1 Light = 1.0

" 2 " =1.4

" 3 " =2.0

" 4 " =2.8

" 5 " =4.0

" 6 " =5.7

" 7 " =8.0

" 8 " =11.3

" 9 "' — 16.0

" 10 " =22.6

Total 74 8

That is, from all the stars to the tenth magnitude combined, we
have more than seventy times as much light as from those of the first
magnitude.

There must, evidently, be an end to this series, for, were this not the
case, the result would be that which we have shown to follow if the
universe were infinite; the whole heavens would shine with a blaze of
light like the sun. At what point does the rate of increase begin to
fall off?

We are as yet unable to answer this question, because we have noth-
ing like an accurate count of stars above the ninth, or at most, the tenth
magnitude. All we can do is to examine the data which we have and
see what evidence can be found from them of a diminution of the ratio.

It must be pointed out, at the outset, that the ratio must be greater
in the galactic region than it is in other regions. This follows from
the fact that the proportion of small stars increases at a more rapid rate
in the galaxy than elsewhere. This is shown by the comparisons we
have already made of the Herschelian gauges with the counts of the
brighter stars. While the galactic region is less than twice as dense as
the remaining regions for the brighter stars, it seems to be ten times as
dense for the Herschelian stars. If we knew the limiting magnitude of
the latter, we could at once draw some numerical conclusion. But un-
fortunately, this is quite unknown. All we know is that they were the
smallest stars that Herschel could see with his telescope.

The ratio in various regions of the heavens has been very exhaust-
ively investigated by Seeliger, in the work already quoted. The bases
of his investigations are the counts of stars in the Durchmusterung.
Instead of taking the ratio for stars differing by units of magnitude, aa
we have done, Seeliger divides them according to half magnitudes.
The reproduction of his numbers in detail would take more space than
we can here devote to the subject and would not be of special interest

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 425

to our readers. I have, therefore, derived their general mean results for
different parts of the sky with reference to the Milky Way and for stars
of the various orders of magnitude. The following table shows the con-
clusions:

Ratio of

Concluded

sne.

increase.

result.

D. M.

S. D.

Diff.

2.99

—

3.24

II.

3.00

3.49

0.49

3.25

III.

3.07

3.72

0.65

3.37

IV.

3.32

3.85

0.53

3.58

3.55

4.15

0.60

3.85

VI.

3.28

3.68

0.40

3.48

VII.

3.23

3.55

0.32

3.37

VIII.

3.44

3.56

0.12

3.40

IX.

—

3.49

—

3.24

In the first column we have the designation of the zone or region
of the sky, as already given.

In the second and third columns we have the mean ratio of increase
for whole magnitudes as derived from the Durchmusterung and the
southern Durchmusterung, respectively. It will be recalled that region
I., around the north galactic pole, is entirely wanting in the S. D., while
the adjoining regions, II. and III., are only partially found, and that, in
like manner, the D. M. includes none of region IX. around the south
galactic pole, and but little of the adjoining region.

It will be seen that there is a very remarkable systematic difference
between the two lists, the ratio of the number of faint to that of bright
stars being much greater in the S. D. This difference is shown in the
fourth column. I have assumed that the two systems are equally good,
and there diminished all the ratios of the S. D. by 0.25, and increased
those of the D. M. by the same amount. The mean of the two corrected
results was then taken, giving the principal weight to the one or the
other, according to the number of stars on which they depend.

It will be seen that the increase of the ratio from either galactic pole
to the Milky Way itself is as well marked as in the case of the richness
of the respective regions in stars. We may condense the results in this
way:

In the galactic zone, ratio = 3.85

In zones IV. and VI., " = 3.53

In polar zones I., II., VIII. and IX., " = 3.28

It will be recalled that zone V. is a central belt 20° broad, including
the Milky Way in its limits. But the latter, as seen by the eye, espe-
cially its brightest portions, does not fill this zone. These portions, as
we know, comprise the irregular collection of cloud-like masses de-
scribed in the last chapter. Seeliger has investigated the ratio within

426 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

these masses, and compared it with, the stellar density, or the number
of stars per square degree. The mean results are:

In that portion of the galaxy extending from Cassiopeia to the equa-
tor near 6" of E. A., ratio = 4.02.

In that portion from Cassiopeia in the opposite direction to near 19"
of E. A. in Aquila, ratio = 3.70.

These remarkable results are derived from the D. M., and will be yet
more striking if corrected by half the difference between it and the
S. D., as we have done for the sky generally. They will then be 4.27
and 3.95, respectively.

As might be expected, the regions of greater star density have gen-
erally, though not always, the higher ratio. The highest of all is in a
patch south of Gemini, between 6" and 7h of E. A., and about 5° of
declination. Here it amounts to 5.94, showing that there are eighty-
six stars of magnitude 9.0 to every one of magnitude 6.5.

The D. M. does not stop at magnitude 9, as the above numbers do,
but extends to 9.5, while the S. D. extends to magnitude 10. For these
magnitudes Seeliger finds a yet higher ratio. This is, however, to be
attributed to the personal equation of the observers, and need not be
further considered.

The only available material for finding the ratio of increase above
the ninth magnitude is found in the Potsdam photographs for the in-
ternational chart of the heavens, which extend to magnitude 11.
These are published only for a few special regions. Five of the pub-
lished plates fall in regions not far from the galactic pole. I have made
a count by magnitudes of the 312 stars contained in these plates. An
adjustment is, however, necessary from the fact that the minuter frac-
tions of a magnitude could not be precisely determined from the photo-
graphed images. The results are practically given to fourths of a mag-
nitude, although expressed in tenths. But it is found that the num-
bers corresponding to round magnitudes and their halves are dispropor-
tionately more frequent than those corresponding to the intermediate
fourths. For example, there are only nineteen stars of magnitude 10.7
and 10.8 taken together; while there are forty-nine of 10.5. Under
these circumstances I have made an adjustment to half magnitudes by
taking the stars of quarter magnitudes, and dividing them between
half magnitudes next higher and next lower. The result is as follows:

Mag. Stars.
6.5 2

7.0 2

7.5 4

8.0 11

8.5 15

9.0 29

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 427

Mag. Stars-

9.5 33

10.0 39

10.5 64

11.0 115

It is difficult to derive a precise value of the star ratio from this
table, owing to the small number of stars of the brighter magnitudes
which are insufficient to form the first term of the ratio. Assuming,
however, that the ratio is otherwise satisfactorily determined up to the
ninth magnitude, we find that there is but a slight increase from the
ninth up to the tenth. The number of the eleventh magnitude is, how-
ever, nearly three times that of the tenth and nearly double that of 10.5.

Another way to consider the subject is to compare the total number
of stars of the fainter magnitude with the number of lucid stars cor-
responding, which, in the general average, will be found in the same
space. We may assume that near the poles of the galaxy there is about
one lucid star to every ten square degrees. The five belts included in
the above statement cover about thirteen square degrees. The region
is, therefore, that which would contain about one star of the sixth mag-
nitude. An increase of this number by somewhat more than 100 times
in the five steps from the sixth magnitude to the eleventh, would indi-
cate a ratio somewhat less than 3; about 2.5. But the comparison of
the photographic and visual magnitudes renders this estimate some-
what doubtful. Besides this, it is questionable whether we should not
reckon among stars of the eleventh magnitude those up to 11.5, which
would greatly increase the number. It is a little uncertain whether we
should regard the limit of magnitude on the Potsdam plates as 11.0 or
11 plus some fraction near to one-half.

Altogether, our general conclusion must be that up to the eleventh
magnitude there is no marked falling off in the ratio of increase, even
near the poles of the galaxy.

I have not made a corresponding count for the galactic region, but
the great number of stars given on the plate show, as we might expect,
that there is no diminution in the ratio of increase.

The question where the series begins to fall away is, therefore, still
an undecided one, and must remain so until a very exact count is made
of the photographs taken by the international photographic chart of
the heavens, or of the Harvard photographs.

There is also a possibility of applying a photometric study of the sky
to the question. From what has already been shown of the total
amount of light received from stars of the smaller magnitudes, it would
seem certain that a considerable fraction of the apparently smooth and
uniform light of the nightly sky may come from these countless tele-
scopic stars, even perhaps from those which are not found on the most

428 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

delicate photographs. It is certain that the background of the sky it-
self is by no means black. The only question is, whether the light from
this background is mostly reflected by our atmosphere from the stars.
It may seem questionable whether such is the case, because the fraction
reflected in a clear atmosphere is not supposed to exceed one-tenth the
total amount of light of the stars themselves. On the other hand, the
seemingly blue color of the sky might seem to militate against this view,
since the average color of all the stars is white rather than blue. The
subject is an extremely interesting one and requires further investiga-
tion before a definitive conclusion can be reached.

THE STUDY OF METEORITES. 429

A CENTURY OF THE STUDY OF METEORITES.

By Dr. OLIVER C. FARRINGTON,

CURATOR OF GEOLOGY, FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM.

THE close of the nineteenth century will mark the end of the first
century of the study of meteorites. Up to the beginning of this
century the attitude of scientific men toward the accounts of stones re-
ported to have fallen from the sky was in general one of scorn and in-
credulity. Thus an account prepared with great care by the municipal-
ity of Juillac, France, telling of a stone shower which occurred there
in July, 1790, was characterized by Berth elon at the time as "a recital,
evidently false, of a phenomenon physically impossible" and "calcu-
lated to excite the pity not only of physicists but of all reasonable peo-
ple." Bonn, in his Lithophylacium Bonnianum, refers to the Tabor,
Bohemia, meteorite which fell in 1753, as "e coelo pluvisse creduliores
quidam asseverant." Chladni, writing in the early part of the century,
speaks of many meteorites which were thrown away in his day because
the directors of museums were ashamed to exhibit stones reported to
have fallen from the sky. President Jefferson when told that Pro-
fessors Silliman and Kingsley had described a shower of stones as hav-
ing taken place at Weston, Conn., in 1807, said: "It is easier to believe
that two Yankee professors will lie than to believe that stones will fall
from heaven."

The change of opinion on the part of intelligent and especially
scientific men, which took place at the beginning of this century, was
due largely to the investigation by the French Academy of the shower
of stones which fell at L'Aigle in 1803. This investigation established
so absolutely the fact of the fall to the earth at L'Aigle of stones from
outer space that scientific men were logically compelled to give credence
to the reports of similar occurrences elsewhere. Further, the papers of
Chladni and Howard published about the same time, strenuously urging
that other masses reported to have fallen upon the earth could not, be-
cause of their structure and composition, be of terrestrial origin, had
much to do with fixing the growing faith that solid cosmic matter not
of terrestrial origin does at intervals come to the earth. Since this be-
ginning the study of meteorites has been one of constantly widening
interest and purport.

The essentially distinguishing features of meteorites were early
made out. Howard in 1802, from a chemical investigation of various
"stony and metallic substances which at different times are said to have

430 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

fallen on the earth, also of various kinds of native iron," drew the con-
clusion that a content of nickel characterized most such bodies. He
also found that the meteoric stones were made up chiefly of silica and
magnesia and that the iron sulphide of meteorites was distinct from the
terrestrial mineral pyrite. He further noted the chondritic structure
as characteristic of many of the meteoric stones. The correctness of his
observations was soon confirmed by analyses made by Fourcroy, John,
Klaproth and others. In 1808 Alois von Widmanstatten, by heating a
section of the Agram iron, brought out the figures which have since
proved so characteristic of meteoric irons in general and which are now
known by his name. Thus the data were early at hand for distinguish-
ing meteorites from terrestrial bodies and it soon became possible to
collect the 'sky stones' even when they had not been seen to fall. Sys-
tematic efforts for the collection of these bodies were not put forth,
however, for many years. Up to 1835 there were only fifty-six different
meteorite falls represented in the Vienna collection, and in 1856
only one hundred and thirty-six. Up to 1860 those of the British
Museum collection numbered only sixty-eight and those of the Paris
collection only sixty-four. The studies of these bodies during the first
half of the century were made, therefore, upon a relatively limited num-
ber. The earlier investigations were chiefly chemical in character, vari-
ous elements being discovered in succession. Manganese was discovered
in the stone of Siena by Klaproth in 1803, chromium in the stone of
Vago by Laugier in 1806, carbon in that of Alais by Thenard in 1808,
chlorine in that of Stannern by Scheerer in the same year and cobalt
by John in the Pallas iron in 1817. The number of elements discov-
ered since has brought the total up to twenty-nine, none being found,
however, which are not already known upon the earth. Many of the
chemical compounds of meteorites were early isolated and their
identity with terrestrial minerals established. Count Bournon showed
in 1802 that the transparent green mineral accompanying the iron of
Krasnoyarsk was olivine. The same mineral was found in other
meteorites by later observers, and Eose was able in 1825 to make angu-
lar measurements of the crystals which showed them to be identical
with those of terrestrial olivine. Laugier separated chromite from the
stones of Ensisheim and L'Aigle in 1806. Augite was recognized by
Mohs in the stone of Stannern in 1824 and by Eose in that of Juvinas
in 1825. Haiiy recognized a feldspar which he thought to be ortho-
clase in the stone of Juvinas in 1822, but three years later Eose showed
it to be plagioclase; and the existence of orthoclase in meteorites has
yet to be proved. Continued investigations of the compounds found
in meteorites up to the present time have resulted in the detection of
at least twenty-one whose composition is certain, besides several of a
somewhat problematic nature. Of these compounds seven have been

THE STUDY OF METEORITES. 431

found to differ in composition from any known terrestrial substances.
The character of these indicates the complete absence of water and of
oxygen in any large amount from that portion of nature's laboratory
where meteorites are formed. Important investigations as to the gases
occluded by meteorites were begun by Boussingault in 1861 and have
been continued by Wright, Ansdell, Dewar and others. It has been
proved that large quantities of hydrogen, as well as carbonic acid gas,
are contained in these bodies, under pressure greater than that of
the earth's atmosphere. These investigations led further to the spec-
troscopic study of meteorites by Vogel, Wright and Lockyer. The
spectra thus obtained when compared with those exhibited by comets
showed striking resemblances, which have led to a growing belief
among scientific men in the identity of origin of comets and meteorites.
Lockyer has indeed pushed this conclusion to the point of believing that
"all self-luminous bodies in the celestial spaces are composed either of
swarms of meteorites or of masses of meteoritic vapor produced by
heat," and he draws from this many important deductions relating to
the origin of the stars, comets and nebula?, and the physical condi-
tions prevailing in them. It will remain for the twentieth century to
test the correctness of such conclusions, but the facts already brought
out have considerably shaken the confidence hitherto placed in the
nebular hypothesis. Another interesting result of the century
has been the establishment of a general similarity between shooting
stars and meteorites. This idea was first suggested by Chladni in
1798, but it has remained for Newton, Adams and Schiaparelli to give
it shape and proof. The general verdict of science is now in accord
with the belief of Newton, "that from the faintest shooting star to the
largest stone meteor we pass by such small gradations that no clear
dividing lines can separate them into classes." Moreover, the long-
existing belief in le vide planetaire, space filled only with a mysterious
fluid called ether, has been shown to be untenable. Careful records and
estimates have shown that 20,000,000 cosmic bodies large enough to
produce the phenomena of shooting stars are encountered by the earth
daily. The number of these bodies existing in space must be, therefore,
beyond all calculation, and their existence implies that of smaller par-
ticles in sufficient number to form a widely pervasive cosmic dust. Many
remarkable meteorite falls have occurred during the century. Beginning
with the stone shower of L'Aigle in 1803, when 2,000 to 3,000 stones
fell, no less than eleven such showers have been recorded. In the shower
of Pultusk, Poland, which occurred in 1868, 100,000 stones are estimated
to have fallen, their total weight reaching over 400 pounds. In the
shower at Mocs, Germany, in 1882, more than 3,000 stones fell. In our
own country about 750 pounds of meteoric matter fell at Estherville,
Iowa, in 1879, and several thousand stones fell over an area nine miles in

432 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

length and one mile wide near Forest City. Iowa, in 1890. Many oi
these falls have been marked by extraordinary phenomena of light and
sound, making them events never to be forgotten by those who wit-
nessed them and worthy to be reckoned among the most remarkable
natural occurrences of the century. About two hundred and eighty-five
actually observed meteoric falls is the total recorded during the century.
It is a remarkable fact regarding the nature of the material fallen that
only five of these have been of meteoric irons. One of these irons fell
at Mazapil, Mexico, during the star shower of November, 1885, at the
time when the return of Biela's comet was looked for, and was thus con-
sidered an occurrence corroborative of the already suspected relationship
among comets, shooting stars and meteorites.

The indifference to the collecting of meteorites which characterized
the early part of the century has given place in its latter days to an
extraordinary diligence in the search for these bodies. One meteorite
has of late acquired a value equal to four times its weight in gold and
several can be sold for two and three times their weight by the gold
standard. The meteorite collection of the Natural History Museum in
Vienna has for many years been the leading one. What it has cost to
build it up may be known from the fact that it is considered the most
valuable of any single collection in that great treasure house. Repre-
sentatives of over five hundred meteoric falls are exhibited in this col-
lection, and the meteoric matter has a total weight of seven tons. The
collection of the British Museum of Natural History is nearly as large,
while at Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg and Calcutta, together with Wash-
ington, Chicago, Cambridge and New Haven, in our own country, are
gathered extensive and important collections. The establishment of
such large collections has for the first time put the study of meteorites
on a satisfactory basis and given lively hope that important truths will
be discovered by researches thus made possible. The general similar-
ity of the stony meteorites to the basic volcanic rocks of the earth has
been established, and similarity of many physical structures such as
brecciation, slicken-sided surfaces and veins has been proved. The
chondritic structure and the crystalline structure represented by the
Widmanstatten figures are, however, so far as is yet known, peculiar to
meteorites, and it will remain for the twentieth century to discover what
these structures mean. Classifications of meteorites based on their
mineralogical and structural characters have been established, and
important differences among meteorites shown, in spite of their family
resemblances. It would be idle perhaps to recount, as might be done,
many theories regarding the nature and origin of meteorites which have
been found untenable as a result of the century's study. The theory
of the lunar origin of meteorites had at times such able supporters as
Laplace and J. Lawrence Smith. Other able observers have believed

TEE STUDY OF METEORITES. 433

meteorites to be material ejected at some past period from the earth's
volcanoes; some have regarded them of solar origin and still others as
fragments of a shattered planet. All of these theories may be said to
have been proved fallacious. The discovery reported by Hahn in 1880
of remains of sponges, corals and plants in meteorites excited for a time
eager inquiries into the possibilities of proving by the study of meteor-
ites the existence of life outside our own globe. No satisfactory evidence
of the existence of extra-terrestrial life has, however, as yet been obtained
from meteorites. The most positive and enduring results of the century's
study may, therefore, perhaps be summed up as the establishment of the
fact of the fall of solid cosmic matter to the earth and a sufficient knowl-
edge of its nature to distinguish it from matter of terrestrial origin.
Satisfactory conclusions as to the origin of this matter and its relations
to the visible bodies of the great outlying universe remain yet to be
drawn.

VOL. LVIII.— 28

434

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

A DEFENSE OF CHRISTIAN SCI-
ENCE.
To the Editor: You informed me in nry
recent interview with you that discus-
sions of a religious nature did not come
within the scope of the purpose of your
magazine. I am convinced by your
fair, frank and kindly manner that you
are unaware of the injustice done a
large class of thinking people and many
readers of your magazine by the arti-
cle in question between us written by
Professor Jastrow and published in the
September number of the Popular Sci-
ence Monthly. Nevertheless a great
injustice has been done in that you
have, even inadvertently, allowed a
religious movement to be attacked
through the press, while the rules of
your publication allow no redress. This
seems neither in consonance with jus-
tice, free speech nor a free press; and
now accepting the situation as no mo-
tive or act of yours, and inasmuch
as you must refuse to publish an
article defending Christian Science, un-
less the said article be written wholly
from a scientific viewpoint, excluding
scriptural basis and argument; and
inasmuch as Christian Science is not
merely a philosophy but a science, hav-
ing for its principle God, for its text-
book the Scriptures and for its proof
the moral, spiritual and physical bet-
terment of thousands of its adherents;
and inasmuch as the philosophy, works
and phenomena of Christian Science can
only be discussed or understood from
a Christianly scientific standpoint based
on the Scriptures, and not from
the standpoint of so-called material
science or from any hypothesis of a uni-
verse without a creator, who is om-
niscience (all science), and who, there-
fore, governs His creation with spiri-
tually scientific, not material, law; and

inasmuch as that compilation which
our race and nation call the Bible, and
believe to be a revelation from God as
well as ancient history; inasmuch as
this book with its key alone unlocks
and reveals the consistent beauty,
grandeur, might and majesty of spir-
itual law or science which the world
cannot see, does not understand, and
the 'wise' call foolish and inconsist-
ent.— Considering all these points and
conceding them — because you cannot
deny from an opposite premise what
I find true — and now, my dear sir,
I will ask you to publish this, my letter
to you, and a few remarks on Professor
Jastrow's article, 'The Occult.'

To begin with, let it be understood
that in very fact Professor Jastrow did
not attack Christian Science at all. He
thought he did, and was no doubt per-
fectly honest in decrying a thing em
occult and wrong as what he believed
Christian Science to be; and were it
such a thing I would join issue with
our critic against it — but behold the
fact: Christian Science is as far above
what Professor Jastrow attacked in the
'occult' as the science of astronomy is
above 'tiddledewinks.'

Professor Jastrow says: "Logic is
the language of science. Christian Sci-
ence and what sane men call science
cannot communicate, because they do
not speak the same language." Here
the Professor, a material scientist, con-
fesses profound ignorance of our spiri-
tual premises, yet sits in judgment oh
mentally scientific and metaphysical
statements in Science and Health, vili-
fies the science and calls its votaries in-
sane. Such a position makes our crit-
ic's logic lame. Surely, Professor Jas-
trow must be cognizant of the fact
that very many, as erudite as he, swell
the ever-increasing ranks of scientific

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

435

Christianity; and in face of these facts
his position, to say the least, seems un-
fair and unkind.

The statement that Dr. Quimby
practised Christian Science or that his
mental method contained some of the
essentials of Christian Science accounts
for the further assertion that Christian
Science is not Christian. Professor
Jastrow deserves credit for discerning
that Dr. Quimby's methods were ad-
verse to Christ's teachings, but just
how the good Professor determines the
finality of what has defied eighteen cen-
turies of time and scholastic theology
is a mystery; to wit: the Doctrine of
Christ. Why, ages have wrangled and
fought over this subject until history
points with scarlet finger to unchristly
deeds and impotent creeds, all in His
name; and even yet the lack of unity
among Christian denominations and the
utter want of that power and glory
which characterized the founder of
Christianity and the early Christians
puts to shame the theological labor of
the centuries.

Professor Jastrow is not an authority
on Christianity, yet he pronounces
Christian Science unchristian. Let me
quote some authority on this subject:
Rev. Edward T. Hiscox, D. D., of Brook-
lyn, in the Christian Enquirer, a Bap-
tist organ, says: "The modern Church
would be elevated to a much higher
plane of Christian living than it now
occupies if it were to follow them. I
am profoundly convinced that the great
need of all our churches is more of the
religion I have seen in the lives of the
Christian Scientists whom I know."
Rev. Dr. E. C. Bowls, of New York City,
President of the State Convention of
Universalist Ministers, in speaking of
Christian Science, says: "There is cer-
tainly a perception here of the true
foundation of Christianity." I might
quote from Phillips Brooks and many
theologians of like note, but quantum
sufficit. Who will venture to assert in
face of the evidence given that Pro-
fessor Jastrow's argument on this point
has any force at all?

Professor Jastrow also says Chris-
tian Science is not a science, and
that Materia Medica is a science. This
first assertion is most wanting in rea-
son or proof, for if Christianity is not
scientific it is not true. Anything
which has a demonstrable principle is
said to be science. If Christianity lacks
a principle, it is nothing but theory or
belief; on the other hand, if the
Christian religion has a principle, it is
a scientific religion or a Christian sci-
ence. The second assertion that Ma-
teria Medica is a science challenges the
wisdom of experienced men who are
authority on this subject, while Pro-
fessor Jastrow is not. The 'Standard
Dictionary' says of Materia Medica:
'It is the most empirical and tenta-
tive of all sciences.' Many eminent
medical teachers and practitioners do
not agree with Professor Jastrow's
views on Materia Medica. Of these I
will mention Dr. Rush, the famous Phil-
adelphia teacher of medical practise;
Dr. Waterhouse, Professor in Harvard
University; Dr. Mason Good, a learned
professor in London ; Dr. Chapman, Pro-
fessor of the Institutes and Practise of
Physics in the University of Pennsyl-
vania. Sir John Forbes, M. D., F. R. S.,
Fellow of the Royal College of Physi-
cians of London, says : "No systematic or
theoretical classification of diseases that
therapeutic science has ever promul-
gated is true or anything like the
truth, and none can be adopted as a safe
guidance to the practise."

The above is to show the weakness
of Professor Jastrow's argument, and
not to depreciate the philanthropic ef-
forts and labor of the noble multitude
of M.D.'s who have alleviated much
suffering and done much good in the
world. We honor them for the noble
lives and the good they have done and
are still doing.

Professor Jastrow is no doubt a very
clever and very learned man, but he
has not proved himself capable of classi-
fying the sciences nor of sitting in judg-
ment on Christianity.

Mr. Jastrow acknowledged 'the pop-

436

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ular preeminence of Christian Science'
and advises reading Science and Health.
Truth courts investigation, and when
Science and Health is universally read,
its abstract and metaphysical state-
ments will be found simple compared
with the tangled verbosity of human
reason and human logic.

Logic is, indeed, the language of sci-
ence, but scientific fact is based on prin-
ciple, and principle — call it what you
will, but I call it God.

J. Edward Smith.

[Professor Jastrow's article on 'The
Modern Occult,' published in the Sep-
tember number of the Popular Sci-
ence Monthly, has not unnaturally
called forth a number of replies. As
there seems to be some fairness in the
claim of the 'Christian Scientists' that
a sect counting its adherents by hun-
dreds of thousands should be heard in
its defense, and as Mr. Smith appears
to have been delegated to make an of-
ficial reply and has consented to do so
briefly, we have pleasure in publishing
Ms letter. It will be read with interest
by many, and will undoubtedly confirm
Professor Jastrow's statement that ar-
gument is impossible when people do
not speak the same language. From
the remote past men have worshiped
strange gods in strange ways, and that
there should be survivals and avatisms
is in nowise surprising. We are not
concerned with these, but when a re-
ligious sect trespasses on the domain
of science it must be treated in accord-
ance with due process of law. The
Christian Scientists in their claims to
treat all manner of disease have laid
themselves open, not only to the charge
of folly, but also of charlatanism. The
writer of the above letter offered to pro-
duce before the editor of this journal
a number of persons who had been cured
of snake bites by Christian Science
treatment. As people almost never die
from bites of American snakes, and as
there is no reason in this case why the
Christian Science treatment should kill
them, the production of the survivors

was not a matter of scientific interest.
It was, however, suggested to the gen-
tleman that he permit himself to be
a subject for inoculation experiments
with snake venom, as his assurance that
he could not be poisoned would in no-
wise interfere with the scientific results.
To this proposal, however, he did not
take kindly. It is on record that Mrs.
Eddy not only suffered from toothache
but took nitrous oxide gas when the
teeth were extracted. But the incon-
sistencies of the leaders of Christian Sci-
ence make no impression on its adher-
ents. We do not speak the same lan-
guage.— Editor.]

MR. TESLA'S SCIENCE.
To the Editor: In the New York Sun
for January 3, Mr. Nikola Tesla has an
article that deserves a word. The
word is one of warning to all sober-
minded readers to remind them that Mr.
Tesla's recently published utterances
have discredited him in the eyes of com-
petent judges. In the Century Maga-
zine for June, 1900, Mr. Tesla printed a
long article, superbly illustrated with
cuts that had little or nothing to do
with his subjects, which dealt with a
few electrical matters, and also with
philosophic and social problems upon
which he freely expressed a jumble of
trivial, ignorant, pretentious and errone-
ous opinions. This article was free-
ly reviewed in the Popular Science
Monthly for July, 1900, and in Science
for September 21. These reviews were
doubtless seen by Mr. Tesla, but no
word of reply has been made public by
him. Indeed, he says in the Sun that
from adverse criticisms on his work he
experiences 'a feeling of satisfaction.'
Any one who desires a standing among
men of science is called upon to defend
his public utterances when they have
been seriously questioned in reputable
scientific journals. Until an adequate
rejoinder is received Mr. Tesla has no
standing among professed men of sci-
ence. He will have none among intelli-
gent readers from the moment that the
case is understood by them. It is not

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

437

profitable to again go over the ground
covered by the articles just mentioned,
but readers are referred to them in pass-
ing.

The article in the Sun of January
3 bears the marks of authenticity.
Much of it is printed in quotation
marks. It gives an account of Mr. Tes-
la's work in Colorado during a part of
the year 1899. This work had, he says,
three objects: first, to transmit power
without wires, and second, to develop
apparatus for submarine telegraphy.
These two problems have a direct com-
mercial value. When they are solved,
by Mr. Tesla or another, we shall hear
of them through the Patent Office. As
we have not so heard of them it is per-
missible to wait for results. We wish
Mr. Tesla every success in these investi-
gations. He is entitled to all the time
he needs — a lifetime if necessary. If
his experiments forward our present
knowledge in any material degree he
will be entitled to the gratitude of all
mankind, and he will receive it. Until
they do pronunciamentos from him and
comments from us are not required.

The third problem upon which Mr.
Tesla was engaged 'involves,' he says, 'a
still greater mastery of electrical forces.'
He will 'make it known in due course.'
In the meanwhile, however, he states
that he has noted "certain feeble elec-
trical disturbances .... which by

their character unmistakably showed
that they were neither of solar origin
nor produced by any causes known to
me on the globe." These he supposes
may have been signals from intelligent
beings on Mars or some other of the
'twenty or twenty-five planets of the
solar system.' Mr. Tesla obviously
wants to figure in the newspapers.
Every one would be greatly interested if
it were true that signals are being sent
from Mars. Unfortunately for Mr. Tes-
la's scientific standing, he has not ad-
duced a scrap of evidence to prove it. It
is of a piece with the 'twenty or twenty-
five planets' he ascribes to the solar sys-
tem. It would be interesting if there
were so many. There is no evidence of
it save Mr. Tesla's assertion, and asser-
tions— Mr. Tesla's or another's — do not
count in science. There is no further
space for a notice of Mr. Tesla's latest
extravagant vagary. For men of science
no notice at all is needed. Any intelli-
gent reader who will consult the reviews
already mentioned and compare them
with Mr. Tesla's own words will see that
his vivid writings must be read with ex-
treme caution. His electrical experi-
ments being directed towards commer-
cial uses must be judged by proved com-
mercial success. His speculations on sci-
ence are so reckless as to lose an inter-
est. His philosophizing is so ignorant as
to be worthless. X.

43*

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

SCIENTIFIC LITEKATUEE.

ENGINEERING.
American books on surveying have
heretofore been prepared primarily as
texts for class use, rather than for the
use of the field engineer. This point
of view is reversed in the volume of
900 pages, by Herbert M. Wilson, en-
titled 'Topographic Surveying, includ-
ing Geographic, Exploratory and Mili-
tary Mapping,' recently issued by John
Wiley & Sons. It sets forth, in the
main, the practise of the U. S. Geo-
logical Survey, and many of the illus-
trations have been derived from the
publications of that bureau, the col-
ored ones being printed from copper
plates owned by the Government.
Field work, with the plane table, the
transit and stadia, the level and
office methods of mapping occupy
nearly one-half of the volume; about
300 pages are devoted to geology and
astronomy, and the remainder to pho-
tography, camping, and the subsistence
and health of field parties. In no book
heretofore issued are the practical de-
tails of topographic work discussed
with such fulness as here, and the
numerous tables will be found of great
assistance in facilitating computations.
Indeed, a special effort seems to have
been made in the direction of tables,
some of which might well have been
omitted; for instance, the space de-
voted to the table of Peirce's criterion
for the rejection of observations would
have been better filled by elementary
matter on the method of least squares,
and the table for the values of 0.046d,
when d=10, 20, 30, etc., seems a re-
flection on the mathematical knowledge
of the reader. The book is in general
clearly written, although the frequent
use of italics seems to indicate that the
author was often apprehensive that he

might be misunderstood. It is a valu-
able supplement to the text-books of
the engineering colleges.

'Road Making and Maintenance,'
by Thomas Aitken (London, Griffin &
Co.), deals largely with European prac-
tise in street construction. The country
roads of England are as a rule better
than those of the United States, having
been earlier built and more systemat-
ically repaired, while great attention
is paid to securing uniformity of sur-
face. An instrument called the via-
graph is described by the author,
which takes an automatic record of
the inequalities of the street surface
and gives the sum of all the vertical
depressions found in paving over a
mile. A road having 15 feet of such
depressions per mile is called excellent,
while a fair road has 40 or 50 feet per
mile, and a passable one 60 or 80 feet per
mile. The cost of this viagraph is
moderate, and it is only necessary to
drag it along the street in order to
obtain the authentic record. It is sur-
prising to learn that wooden pavements
still continue to be laid in English
towns, while brick pavements are prac-
tically untried. On questions of city
streets American practise seems fully
abreast of that of England now that
the necessity of good foundations of
concrete is fully recognized. *Street
Pavements and Paving Materials,' by
George W. Tillson (New York, Wiley
& Sons), sets forth modern American
practise in an exhaustive manner, giving
specifications in use in different cities
for different kinds of pavements. The
first asphalt pavement laid in the
United States was in 1870; great diffi-
culties were met in adapting asphalt
to climate and traffic, but these have

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

439

gradually been overcome, and to-day
we have hundreds of miles of these ex-
cellent pavements. The first brick
pavement of the United States was
also laid in 1870, and to-day the total
number of miles is nearly a thousand,
of which more than one-tenth are in
Philadelphia. The cost of road con-
struction and street paving appears to
be now slightly less in the United States
than in England, and hence there is lit-
tle doubt but that in another half cen-
tury our roads and streets will be
brought into a condition fully equal to
that found in Europe. These two books
show that road building can no longer
be left to farmers, and street construc-
tion to town councilmen, but that eco-
nomic results can only be secured when
they are placed under the charge of ex-
perienced civil engineers.

'Irrigation and Drainage,' by F.
H. King, published by the Macmillan
Company, is not strictly an engineering
book, it having been mainly prepared
for the farmer and gardener, but it is
difficult to find a technical work which
so clearly exemplifies the fundamental
principles and minor details of the sub-
ject. The conditions that make irriga-
tion imperative or desirable, the proper
amount of water to be used, the methods
of supplying and distributing the water,
the laws of flow of ground water, and
the reasons, objects and methods of
draining land are set forth in a correct
and lucid manner. As a text-book for
use in agricultural colleges the volume
appears to be well adapted, while en-
gineering students will find that its dis-
cussions throw new light on their view
of the subject. The irrigation of the
arid regions, formerly known as the
Great American Desert, is now a matter
of great importance to both engineers
and agriculturists, and the author deals
fully with the peculiarities of its alkali
soils and with the results thus far at-
tained. In this connection note may be
made of a recent Bulletin of the U. S.
Geological Survey, entitled 'Storage of
Water on Gila River, Arizona,' by J. B.

Lippincott. This is a topographic and
engineering study for an irrigation
scheme made under a law authorizing
that bureau to carry on surveys for
possible reservoir sites in the arid
regions. Powerful influences are at
work to induce Congress to appropriate
money for the construction of such reser-

voirs and for building canals to deliver
water to irrigable areas. On the Gila
River watershed it has been found that
several reservoir sites are available, that
the Buttes dam may be built at a cost
of $2,600,000, the San Carlos dam at a
cost of $1,039,000, and others for smaller
amounts. It is gravely urged in this
Bulletin that the Government should
build one of these dams, in order to ac-
commodate certain Indians from whom
white men have already diverted water
to which the tribe has a legal right. As
these lines are written an effort is be-
ing made to push this philanthropic
scheme through Congress by means of
an amendment to the River and Harbor
bill!

The literature of engineering now
covers so vast a field that a person can
become acquainted only with a part of
the portion relating to his specialty Cat-
alogues and indexes are indispensable,
in order that he may know what has
been printed and where to find it. The
'Catalogue of the Library of the Ameri-
can Society of Civil Engineers' is a valu-
able aid in this direction, although that
library is far from complete. This vol-
ume, which contains seven hundred and
four closely printed pages, arranges the
books and pamphlets under twenty-five
principal classes, each of which is di-
vided into several sub-classes, thus ren-
dering it easy for the engineer to ascer-
tain exactly what the library contains
on any topic. This method of arrange-
ment has decided advantages over the
usual author and subject catalogues of
books whose publication is rarely ad-
visable. The engineering literature in
periodicals is, however, not represented
in this catalogue, except in the titles of
the journals. A 'General Index to En-

440

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

gineering News from 1890 to 1899' has
just been issued, which supplies the
want as far as the files of that journal
for those years is concerned. This is a
volume of three hundred and twenty-
four pages, alphabetically arranged after
the manner of a subject catalogue; it is
an excellent example of good indexing,
which may profitably be followed by
other periodicals with advantage to
themselves and their readers.

'Water Power,' by Joseph P.
Frizell, published by Wiley & Sons, is
the first engineering book to bear the
date of the twentieth century. It is a
book for the practitioner rather than
for the student, practical rather than
theoretical, descriptive rather than ar-
gumentative. Of the five hundred and
sixty pages, about two hundred are de-
voted to dams, about one hundred and
fifty to canals and water wheels, and
the remainder to the construction of
power plants and the transmission of
power. Much of the extended experi-
ence of the author is here recorded in
a form which is likely to be useful to
the enginering profession, and it is cer-
tain that as the coal deposits become
exhausted the energy of waterfalls
must more and more be utilized. It was
a marked characteristic of the engineer-
ing books of the nineteenth century that
they were adapted for the use both of
students and practitioners, the same
works that were studied in the class-
room being the manuals for field and
office work. There now seems to be a
tendency to issue books, embodying the
experience of engineers, which are main-
ly useful in practise and which are
needed in engineering colleges only for
consultation. One reason for this is that
the number of engineers is now so great
that such books can be published with
profit, and another is that many details
of practise have become so systematized
that scientific classification of them is
now possible. The economic side of en-
gineering practise has, in fact, become
•of utmost importance, and the multipli-
cation of books and periodicals is neces-

sary in order that each designer may
see the good points of the designs of
others, avoid their faults, and thus make
his own construction of greatest sta-
bility and usefulness at the minimum
cost.

MYCOLOGY.
A book on 'Edible and Poisonous
Mushrooms,' by Prof. George F. Atkin-
son, of Cornell University, has been
published by Andrus & Church, Ithaca,
N. Y. The author's 'Studies and Illus-
trations of Mushrooms,' issued as Bul-
letins 138 and 168 of the Cornell Uni-
versity Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tion, have been so well received, and
there has been such a demand for lit-
erature on the subject, that he pre-
pared this large octavo book, contain-
ing over two hundred half-tone illustra-
tions. Of these, seventy are used
as full-page plates, and there are, be-
sides, fifteen species in color. Nearly all
the genera of North American agarics
are illustrated, and many of the im-
portant genera, such as Amanita, Agari-
cus (Psalliota), Lepiota, Mycena, Pas-
illus, etc., have a number of illustra-
tions, while the genus Amanita, contain-
ing several of the most poisonous spe-
cies, represented by about fifteen species,
fully illustrated with the development
and differential characters, described
at length. In all, about two hundred
species are described, and more than
three hundred names are accounted for.
Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rorer writes a special
chapter on recipes for cooking mush-
rooms, and Mr. J. F. Clark one on the
chemistry, toxicology and food value of
mushrooms. There are also chapters on
the collection and preservation of mush-
rooms, how to avoid the poisonous ones,-
and keys to the genera of the agarics.

FOLK-LORE.

In the 'History of the Devil and the
Idea of Evil from the Earliest Times to
the Present Day' (The Open Court Pub-
lishing Company), Dr. Paul Carus has
produced an interesting and a convenient
manual of a certain aspect of the an-

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

441

thropological history of religions, and of
certain of the moral conceptions and
the aids to their realization which these
religions embody. The scope of the
work is more various than the title
would suggest, for it includes the
consideration of the outlying topics
that are indirectly but not in-
herently connected with the idea of
evil and its personal embodiment. It
thus loses in its systematic character,
but gains somewhat in its acceptability
as a popular presentation. The author
has made good use of the extensive liter-
ature of his special topic and of the
themes with which it is associated;
but the compilation can not and pre-
sumably does not lay claim to any
marked originality of contribution or
presentation. In one aspect the volume
shows commendable industry, namely,
in the collection of illustrations, which
give an unusually realistic account of
the vagaries of the human mind, and es-
pecially the human imagination, in deal-
ing with the mystery of good and evil.
In five hundred pages of text we have
three hundred illustrations, ranging from
savage and Assyrian and Chaldean and
Egyptian and Classic and Medieval
and modern pictures of the incarnation
of evil, to the acts of sacrifice and wor-
ship instituted in his honor, to Faust
legends and the fate of the damned, to
demon-possession and exorcism, to the
scenes at the stake and the persecu-
tion of witches, to the portrayal of the
devil in art and literature, in folk-lore,
and finally his degradation in the cari-
cature and drama of the day. This
panoramic unfoldment of the changes of
attitude towards the monarch of evil
affords an interesting corollary to the
conquests of culture over the terrifying
realms of the imagination. The flight
to evil that we know not of has in all
ages been made by the fancy of the
religious devotee, the ascetic, the church-
man, and through them as well as by

reason of the inherent necessity for a
fear of consequences as an incentive
to moral action, has the devil continued
to live and exert his influence over the
affairs of men. "The Devil of the
Salvation Army," says Dr. Carus,
"proves that there is still need of rep-
resenting spiritual ideas in drastic al-
legories; but though Satan is still paint-
ed in glaring colors, he has become
harmless and will inaugurate no more
witch-persecutions. He is curbed and
caged so that he can do no more
mischief. We smile at him as we do
at a tiger behind the bars in a zoologi-
cal garden."

The scope of the work may be brief-
ly indicated. An introductory considera-
tion of the nature of good and evil as
religious ideas leads to a general account
of demonolatry; this cult and its vari-
ous expressions in ancient Egypt, in
Persia, among the Jews, in Brahmamsm
and Buddhism, are then described; the
new era introduced by the spread of
Christian conceptions is portrayed, and
its combination with the conceptions
of Greece and Rome, its later encounter
with the traditions of Northern mythol-
ogy are further characterized; the suc-
cessive periods of inquisition, witch-
persecutions, reformation, constitute
the zenith of the diabolical epoch; the
reconstruction of the notions in regard
to Satan is well illustrated in the litera-
ture, while the philosophical problem
of good and evil still remains for dis-
cussion, even after science and the prog-
ress of civilization have crowded the
personal devil out of his occupation.

The main value of this volume i8
the service which it is capable of per-
forming as a work of reference, and
again as an interesting presentation
of a range of ideas with which many
scholars with various purposes have to
deal, and which forms a significant chap-
ter in the history of culture.

442

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

THE PEOGRESS OF SCIENCE.

Criticism of the Government is a
cherished prerogative of a democratic
people. Shortcomings that would be re-
garded as inevitable in the conduct of a
private institution, when discovered un-
der Government control, are apt to be
the target of very free speech. We be-
lieve that the scientific work at Wash-
ington is, on the whole, carried on as
economically and efficiently as in our
endowed universities, but no human in-
stitution is perfect, and just now the
U. S. Naval Observatory is being sub-
jected to a good deal of criticism by the
astronomers of the country. There is a
general consensus of opinion that, while
researches and discoveries of the highest
order have been made at the Naval Ob-
servatory, there has been a lack of the
far-reaching and long-continued funda-
mental work which should be the chief
end of a national institution of this
character. It is also pretty generally
agreed that one chief difficulty is
the division of control, the Observatory
having for superintendent a line officer
of the Navy, with no knowledge of
astronomy and a scientific director
with no real authority. Last year
a board of visitors was appointed by
Secretary Long, consisting of the Hon.
William E. Chandler, the Hon. Alston
G. Dayton, Prof. E. C. Pickering, Prof.
George C. Comstock and Prof. George
E. Hale, who made a careful report,
their chief recommendation being that
the Observatory be under the control
of a permanent board of visitors, who
should prescribe the work to be under-
taken and fill vacancies on the staff,
the astronomers so appointed to be no
longer officers of the Navy. The naval
officer who happens to be superintend-
ent of the Observatory has just now
made a rather acrimonious reply to the
report of the board of visitors, calling

its recommendations 'preposterous' and
'ridiculous,' and maintaining that the
work done at Washington is equal to
that of the Greenwich Observatory.

It must be confessed that there is
small likelihood that the recommenda-
tions of the board of visitors will be car-
ried into effect. The naval officers at
Washington have great and well-
deserved influence, and they must be
persuaded either to consent to the trans-
fer of the Observatory to another de-
partment or else to conduct the institu-
tion under the Navy in the way that
will be most creditable to it and to the
country. We regard the latter alterna-
tive as the more feasible. There may
ultimately be a national department of
education and science with a secretary
in the cabinet, but the time for this
has not yet come. In the meanwhile
scientific work is distributed to different
departments, and the Department of
the Navy can conduct the Observatory,
as is the case in Great Britain and
France, as well as another department,
even though the work of the Observa-
tory and the Nautical Almanac are not
exclusively, and perhaps not chiefly, of
concern to the Navy. The stars — so long
as they are not annexed — may logically
belong to the department having to do
with foreign affairs, but in this world
logic is of less concern than making the
best of existing circumstances. What
we regard as essential is to convince the
Department and the officers of the Navy
that there should be a single head of the
Observatory, selected as the man most
competent by scientific attainments and
executive ability to administer the in-
stitution. The promotion of the officer
longest in the service to the scientific
directorship and his retirement at the
age of sixty-two years will certainly

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

443

not always secure the best man possible
or for a sufficiently long term of years.
The director of the Observatory should
be appointed by the President, on the
recommendation of the Secretary of the
Navy, and the latter should select one
of two or three candidates nominated by
some expert body such as the National
Academy of Sciences. If such a plan
were properly brought before the Secre-
tary of the Navy, we believe that it
would secure his approval and also the
support of the officers of the Navy, who
take pride in the Observatory. They
would also probably agree that it would
be more appropriate to change the name
from 'Naval' to 'National' Observatory,
it being administered by the Navy for
the Nation.

The scientific students of the coun-
try have two general gatherings in the
course of the year. In the summer the
American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science holds a migratory meet-
ing, and with it assemble a number of
special societies. During the Christmas
holidays the American Society of Natu-
ralists serves as a center for societies de-
voted to the natural sciences — morphol-
ogy, physiology, anatomy, bacteriology,
botany, psychology and anthropology.
The meetings of these societies were held
this winter at the Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity, Baltimore, from the 26th to the
29th of December. There was no general
registration of members, but the attend-
ance was estimated at about three hun-
dred, and as it consisted exclusively of
working men of science, the number of
papers presented was nearly equal to
the attendance. The scientific work of
the Society of Naturalists consists of a
discussion on some subject of common
interest, a lecture preceding the usual
reception, and an address by the presi-
dent, given at the annual dinner, while
the 3pecial papers are presented to the
groups of experts who make up the spe-
cial societies. The discussion this year
was on the relations of the Government
to scientific research. It was opened by
Prof. H. F. Osborn, of Columbia Univer-

sity, the American Museum of Natural
History and the U. S. Geological Sur-
vey, who was followed by Prof. William
B. Clark, of the Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity and the Maryland Geological Sur-
vey; Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the Divi-
sion of Entomology of the U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture; Dr. B. T. Gallo-
way, Superintendent of Experimental
Gardens and Grounds, U. S. Department
of Agriculture, and Prof. William T.
Sedgwick, of the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology. The evening lecture
on 'Indians of the Southwest,' elaborate-
ly illustrated, was given by Dr. Frank
Russell, of Harvard University. The
address of the president, Prof. E. B.
Wilson, of Columbia University, was
entitled 'Aims and Methods of Study in
Natural History.' While the naturalists
were meeting at Baltimore, the Geologic-
al Society of America held its thir-
teenth winter meeting at Albany, and
the American Chemical Society held its
twenty-second general meeting at Chi-
cago. The American Physical Society
and the American Mathematical Society
held their sessions as usual in New
York, while a branch of the latter soci-
ety met at Chicago. There was also in
Chicago a meeting of the Naturalists
of the Western and Central States, with
an attendance of one hundred members
and a program containing about forty
papers. The academies of a number of
the Central and Western States, includ-
ing Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin and
Nebraska, also held their annual meet-
ings. When it is stated that about five
hundred scientific papers were presented
before these societies, it will be seen how
impossible it is to give a report of their
great and far-reaching activity. WTe
may, however, illustrate the character
of their work by three or four examples.

As an example of the scientific work
carried on by morphologists at the pres-
ent time, we may note two important
papers presented by Prof. E. B. Wilson,
of Columbia University, at Baltimore.
One of the most interesting biological
results of recent years is the discovery

444

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of Loeb that the eggs of the sea-urchin
may be caused to develop, without the
influence of the male element, by treat-
ment with solutions of magnesium chlo-
ride or other substances added to the
sea-water. Wilson has now examined
the internal processes occurring in these
esss. Phenomena of this character had
been earlier studied by Richard Hertwig
and Morgan, whose work paved the way
for that of Loeb; but neither of these
observers succeeded in obtaining com-
plete embryos, the eggs only having
passed through the initial stages of de-
velopment. Wilson's observations bring
the decisive proof that the eggs, devel-
oped under these conditions, have not
been accidentally fertilized. It is well
known that in the fertilization of the
egg an equal number of chromosomes
are contributed by the egg and the sper-
matozoon, this number being in every
known case one-half that characteristic
of the tissue cells of the species. If,
therefore, the magnesium eggs really de-
velop without union with a spermato-
zoon, we should expect to find them
showing but one-half the number of
chromosomes occurring in fertilized
eggs. Such is, in fact, the case in the
magnesium eggs (of ToxopneustesJ, the
number of chromosomes being here 18,
while in normal fertilization it is 18
plus 18, or 36. Every doubt is thus
removed regarding the accuracy of
Loeb's general result. Interesting light
is thrown by the observations on many
features of the process of normal fer-
tilization. According to Boveri's well-
known theory, the egg is induced to de-
velop through the importation of a cen-
trosome carried by the spermatozoon.
In the magnesium eggs this is obviously
out of the question; and Wilson's
studios, supplementing the earlier ones
of Hertwig and Morgan along the same
lines, give strong evidence not only that
the importation of a centrosome is not
necessary to development, but also that
the centrosomes of the dividing magne-
sium eggs are formed de novo out of the
egg-substance. As observed by Morgan,
these eggs often become filled with large

numbers of asters, each of which con-
tain0 a centrosome. One of the most
interesting results of Wilson's work is
the discovery that these asters may
multiply by division and form centers
of cytoplasmic division, even when they
have no connection with nuclear ma-
terial. The important point was deter-
mined also that similar asters and cen-
trosomes, likewise capable of division,
are formed in non-nucleated egg-frag-
ments obtained by shaking the eggs to
pieces — a fact which shows that the
formation of a centrosome may be whol-
ly independent of the nucleus.

In a second paper Wilson described
experiments on etherizing normally fer-
tilized eggs at various stages, the re-
sults of which bear nearly on some of
the questions suggested by the mag-
nesium eggs. The principal result of
these experiments was to show that
division of the nucleus and that of the
cell-body, though parallel, are in con-
siderable measure independent processes,
which is in accordance with earlier
studies by Hertwig, Demoor and others.
The results give, further, considerable
ground for the conclusion that the rays
of the radiating systems or asters in
dividing cells cannot be regarded as
fixed, fibrillar structures, as is assumed
by most of the prevailing views, but
are tracts of protoplasmic flow, as was
many years ago maintained by Fol and
Butschli. It was shown also that by
suitable etherization of the eggs and
subsequent transfer to sea-water, the
type of fertilization characteristic of the
sea-urchin may be artificially changed
into that normally occurring in the
starfish, and in many worms and mol-
lusks; and, in like manner, that the
cleavage of the egg may be transformed
into a mode that is typical of many of
the ccelenterates and arthropods. These
observations show that many new and
interesting conclusions bearing on the
early stages of development may be
looked for by further experimental
studies along the lines marked out four-
teen years ago by 0. and R. Hertwig,

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

445

which have been too much neglected by
later observers.

The geologists were especially inter-
ested in a paper by Prof. Frank D.
Adams, of McGill University, which
gave the results of an investigation on
the flow of rocks when subjected to
pressure in the laboratory under condi-
tions which reproduce those obtaining
in the deeper portions of the earth's
crust. Marble was the rock on which
most of the work was carried out, but
harder rocks, such as granite, are now
being studied. Small columns of marble
were carefully turned, polished and ac-
curately fitted into heavy wrought iron
tubes, constructed on the plan of heavy
ordnance by wrapping strips of wrought
iron around a core of soft iron and weld-
ing the whole together. The core of
iron was then bored out and the marble
substituted for it. Heavy steel pistons
were fitted into each end of the tube,
and the rock was submitted to very
high pressure, often for several months
continuously, in especially constructed
machines capable of developing pres-
sures reaching nearly a hundred tons to
the square inch. Under high pressures
the marble was found to flow, bulging
out the iron tube that enclosed it on all
sides. When the iron tube was cut
away a solid block of marble was ob-
tained, which had completely altered its
shape. It was found, however, that the
marble in these cases was only about
half as strong as the original rock.
Other columns of marble were heated to
temperatures of 300° C. and 400° C, and
while thus heated the pressure was ap-
plied as before. Under these conditions
the rock was found to flow readily and
to retain its strength much better, being
nearly as strong as the original rock.
In the third series of experiments, the
marble was not only heated to the tem-
peratures before mentioned, but at the
same time water under a pressure of
460 pounds to the square inch was
forced through it while it was being
compressed. Under these conditions,
the marble, after being molded, was

found to be as strong as it was original-
ly. A microscopical study of the struc-
ture of the deformed marble shows that
in these two latter cases the crystalline
grains composing the marble had glided
on one another.

Among the papers presented before
the Bacteriological Society one of the *
most interesting was by H. L. Russell
and S. F. Babcock, of Madison, Wis.,
upon the causes effective in the pro-
duction of silage. The very great in-
fluence of bacteria in natural processes
has led in the last few years to an as-
sumption on the part of bacteriologists
that these micro-organisms are agents
in nearly all the general processes of
nature involving chemical change.
Among other phenomena connected with
agriculture, it has been claimed that
the changes which take place in corn
fodder in the farmer's silo are the re-
sult of the growth of bacteria. These
changes are accompanied by a rapid
heating of the material when first placed
in the silo and, later, by the production
of peculiar flavors and aromas. These
phenomena are so similar to those which
bacteria are known to produce that it
has been a very natural assumption that
they are caused by micro-organisms.
Russell and Babcock have been of the
opinion that bacteriologists have gone
too far in ascribing natural phenomena
to bacterial agencies, and that it
is necessary to look in different direc-
tions for the explanation of some of
them. The production of silage, for ex-
ample, they insist, is not the result of
bacterial action. By carefully performed
experiments they succeeded in produc-
ing normal silage under conditions in
which bacterial growth was prevented.
They conclude that the changes occur-
ring in silage are produced partly by a
continuation of the respiratory activities
of the plant cells, which, for a time, are
stimulated rather than checked when
the plants are cut to pieces for storing
in the silage, and partly as the result
of the action of certain chemical fer-
ments or enzymes, which are eliminated

446

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

from the plant cells after the death of
the plant. These two factors the au-
thors regard as the efficient cause of
these changes in silage which have hith-
erto been attributed to the growth of
bacteria, and they believe that bacteria
have nothing to do with the process
when it takes place in a normal manner.

The outcome of the experiments in
growing Sumatra tobacco in the Con-
necticut Valley, recently reported by
the National Department of Agriculture,
is something more than a successful at-
tempt at plant introduction. It is a
tribute to the efficiency which has been
attained in the methods of conducting
soil survey, and a notable illustration
of the scientific and practical value of
such a survey as a basis for judging of
the adaptation of agricultural plants.
Two years ago the Division of Soils, in
connection with its soil surveys in the
Connecticut Valley, located areas about
Hartford which it believed were suited
to the growth of Sumatra tobacco. At
that time it had never been grown in the
region, and was not supposed to be adapt-
ed to it. During the past season the ex-
periment was undertaken, in co-opera-
tion with the Connecticut State Experi-
ment Station, on about a third of an
acre. This was shaded from the sun
by erecting a framework upon which
cheese-cloth was stretched at a distance
of about nine feet above the ground, and
inclosing the sides as well. The tobacco
grew well, and in due time was
harvested and fermented as is cus-
tomary. The quality of the finished
product was pronounced excellent, and
hardly to be distinguished from the im-
ported article. As a substantial proof of
this the crop has just been sold to a
dealer at an average price of 71 cents
per pound, including tops, butts and
trash, along with the choicer leaves. As
much as $1.25 per pound was received for
some of the unsorted product. The aver-
age price received for the regular to-
bacco crop grown in the locality is about
20 cent6. The Sumatra tobacco gave a
net profit at the rate of nearly $900 an

acre, exclusive of the expense of erect-
ing the shade. The framework will last
several years, but the cheese-cloth will
have to be renewed each year. The ob-
ject of shading this tobacco is to pro-
duce a thin leaf with small veins and a
more luxuriant growth. Shading simu-
lates the natural conditions under which
it grows by making the atmosphere
more humid and less subject to sudden
changes. The Sumatra leaf is used for
cigar wrappers, and is especially valued
because it is elastic, free from objec-
tionable taste and aroma, has small
veins, which reduce the waste, and the
leaf cuts up to better advantage than
the ordinary wrapper leaf on account of
its shape. About six million dollars'
worth of Sumatra tobacco is imported
annually, upon which a duty of $9,000,-
000 is paid. The experts in the Division
of Soils estimate from their surveys that
there is sufficient soil adapted to its
growth in Connecticut and Florida to
produce all that is demanded. This
year's success will undoubtedly stimu-
late attempts to grow it regardless of
the adaptation of the soil, so that there
are likely to be many failures and dis-
appointments another season, unless the
advice of the Department is followed.

An interesting chapter has been
added to the knowledge of the inert gases
of the atmosphere by Dr. Ramsay, the
co-discoverer of argon, and Dr. Traver3.
A little more than two years ago they
announced the discovery of krypton and
neon, and at the same time obtained in-
dications of two other gases, to which
they gave the names of met-argon and
xenon. They now find that the presence
of the so-called met-argon was due to
carbon in the phosphorus used for re-
moving the oxygen. By the use of large
quantities of liquid air they have, by
fractional distillation, obtained sufficient
amounts of krypton and xenon to study
their properties and measure their phys-
ical constants. They are all monatomic
gases, and in their inertness completely
resemble argon and helium. The spec-
tra of these elements have been exam-

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

447

ined and will shortly be published. The
neon tube is extremely brilliant and of
an orange-pink hue, and its spectrum is
characterized by a multitude of intense
orange and yellow lines. The krypton
tube is pale violet, while that of xenon
is sky-blue. The atomic weights of
krypton and xenon are, respectively, 82
and 128, and the inert elements thus
form a regular group lying between the
halogens and the alkalies. The atomic
weights are as follows: Helium, 4;
neon, 20; argon, 40; krypton, 82; xenon,
128. Their physical properties also cor-
respond with this grouping.

The daily papers have during the
past month exploited with nearly equal
prominence Mr. Tesla's pretended com-
munications from the planets, the al-
leged discovery by Professor Loeb of an
elixir of life, and Professor Pupin's im-
portant discovery improving the tele-
phone and the telegraph. These three
cases pretty well represent the different
methods of newspaper science. Mr.
Tesla likes to be advertised, and the ar-
raignment of his vagaries by our cor-
respondent, published in another col-
umn, is none too severe. Professor
Loeb and Dr. Lingle have carried out
valuable researches on the action of
salts on muscular contraction, pub-
lished in the 'American Journal of
Physiology,' and these have been exag-
gerated and distorted in the daily press.
We are requested by Professor Loeb to
state that this has been done without
his knowledge, and continued in spite
of his earnest protest. Professor Pupin's
discovery is reported with substantial
accuracy as regards its nature, its im-
portance, and the large sum paid by the
American Bell Telephone Company for
the patent. Professor Pupin's discovery
was made in the course of a long theo-
retical and experimental investigation,
carried on solely to increase our knowl-
edge of electrical phenomena and with-
out any reference to the Patent Office.
The researches were communicated to the
American Institute of Electrical Engi-
neers last spring, and published in their

'Proceedings.' The application consists
in the use of self-induction coils at regu-
lar intervals along a wire which coun-
teract its capacity and maintain the dis-
tinctness of the electric wave. It is thus
possible to telephone to San Francisco
as distinctly as can now be done to
Chicago, and in the use of lighter wires
to Chicago alone hundreds of thousands
of dollars are saved in the cost of cop-
per. Underground wires for telephony
can now be used, and ocean telephony
is made possible.

The scientific societies, whose mid-
winter meetings are described above,
have elected the following presidents for
the ensuing year: American Society of
Naturalists, Prof. W. T. Sedgwick, of
the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology; American Morphological Soci-
ety, Prof. J. S. Kingsley, of Tufts Col-
lege; American Society of Bacteriolo-
gists, Prof. W. H. Welch, of the Johns
Hopkins University; Society of Plant
Morphology and Physiology, Dr. Erwin
F. Smith, U. S. Department of Agricul-
ture; Folk-lore Society, Dr. Frank
Russell, of Harvard University; Ameri-
can Psychological Association, Prof.
Josiah Royce, of Harvard University:
American Mathematical Society, Prof.
E. H. Moore, of the University of Chi-
cago; American Chemical Society, Prof.
W. F. Clarke, of the U. S. Geological
Survey; the Geological Society of Amer-
ica, the Hon. Charles D. Wolcott, Di-
rector of the U. S. Geological Survey.
— Porf. E. E. Barnard, of the Yerkes
Observatory, has been awarded the
Janssen prize of the Paris Academy
of Sciences for his discovery of the fifth
satellite of Jupiter. — Dr. G. A. Miller,
of Cornell University, has been awarded
the mathematical prize of the Academy
of Sciences, at Cracow. — Prof. H. C.
Bumpus, of Brown University, has been
appointed curator of invertebrate zool-
ogy and assistant to the president in the
American Museum of Natural History,
New York. — We record with regret the
death of Lord William Armstrong, in-
ventor of the gun that bears his name

448

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

and of hydraulic machinery, and of Mr.
William Pole, an eminent engineer and
man of science, best known, perhaps, to
the general public as the author of the
'Evolution of Whist.'— Mr. John D.
Eockefeller has made a further gift of
one and a half million dollars to the
University of Chicago. — Among the pub-
lic bequests made by the late Henry Vil-
lard are $50,000 each to Harvard and
Columbia Universities. — The Huxley
Memorial Committee announces that the
sum of about $17,000 has been sub-
scribed for the statue now in the
Natural History Museum, London, and
for the Huxley gold medal to be
awarded by the Royal College of Sci-
ence.— The collection of minerals and
meteorites made by Mr. Clarence S. Be-
ment, of Philadelphia, has been acquired
by the American Museum of Natural
History, New York. — The Duke of the
Abruzzi proposes to start from Buenos
Ayres in 1902 on a voyage to explore the
South Polar Seas. A ship is to be built

in Italy for the purpose. — Drs. Sambon
and Low have returned to England,
after the summer spent in the mosquito-
proof hut in the Roman Campagna.
They are in excellent health, though it
is said that the past summer was excep-
tionally malarious. For example, fif-
teen or sixteen police agents were sent
to Ostia, and though they only re-
mained a night in the place, they all de-
veloped fever. — The daily papers report
that the Finlay theory of the propaga-
tion of yellow fever by mosquitoes has
been further confirmed by the commis-
sion now studying the subject in Cuba.
Cable despatches state that a monkey
which had been bitten by an infected
mosquito developed on the fourth day
well-marked symptoms; that of six non-
immunes bitten by mosquitoes which
had previously bitten yellow fever pa-
tients five developed yellow fever,
while subjects who slept in infected
clothing and bedding, but were guard-
ed from mosquitoes, were untouched. — •

THE
POPULAR SCIENCE

MONTHLY.

MAKOH, 1901.

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS.

By Professor SIMON NEWCOMB, U. S. N.
STATISTICAL STUDIES OF PROPER MOTIONS.

The number of stars now found to have a proper motion is suffi-
ciently great to apply a statistical method to their study. Several
important steps in this study have been taken by Kapteyn, who, in
several papers published during the past ten years, has shown how
conclusions of a striking character may be drawn in this way.

We must begin our subject by showing the geometrical relations of
the proper motion of a star, considered as an actuality in space, to the

Fig. 1.

proper motion as we see it. The motion in question is supposed to
take place in a straight line, with uniform velocity. Leaving out
the rare eases of variations in the motion due to the attraction of a
revolving body, there is nothing either in observation or theory to
justify us in assuming any deviation from this law of uniformity. The
direction of a motion has no relation to the direction from the earth to
the star. That is to say, it may make any angle whatever with that
direction.

Let E be the position of our solar system, and S that of a star mov-
ing in the direction of a straight line, S D. It must not be under-

VOL. LVIII.— 29

45o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

stood that the length of this line is taken to represent the actual mo-
tion; the latter would be infinitesimal as compared with its length; we
use it only to show direction. We may, however, use the line to rep-
resent on a magnified scale the actual amount of the motion during
any unit of time, say, one year. It may be divided into two com-
ponents; one, S, in the direction of the line of sight from us to the
star, which for brevity we shall call the radial line, and the other, S M, at
right angles to that line.

It must be understood that, as the term 'proper motion' is com-
monly used, only the component S M, can be referred to, because the
radial component, S R, does not admit of being determined by telescopic
vision. As we know from the preceding chapters, it can in the case of
the brighter stars be determined by spectroscopic measurement of the
radial motion. At present we leave this component out of consid-
eration.

The visible component, S M, can also be resolved into two perpen-
dicular components, the one east and west on the celestial sphere, the
other north and south. The former is the proper motion in right
ascension (the measured motion in this coordinate being multiplied by
the co-sine of the declination to reduce it to a great circle), and the
other is the proper motion in declination. In star catalogues these
two motions are given, so far as practicable. Thus, altogether the
actual motion of a star in space may be resolved into three components:
that of right ascension, that of declension, and the radial component.

An additional consideration is now to be added. The proper mo-
tion of a star, as observed and given in catalogues, is a motion relative
to our system. It has been shown in a former chapter that the latter
has a proper motion of its own. When account is taken of this, and
the motions are all reduced as well as we can to a common center of
gravity of the whole stellar system, we conceive the observed proper
motion of the star to be made up of two parts, of which one is the
actual motion of the star relative to the common center, and the other
due to the motion of the sun, carrying the earth with it. The direction
of the latter appears to us opposite that of the motion of the sun. The
sun's motion being directed to the constellation Lyra, it follows that the
component in question in the case of the stars is directed toward the
opposite constellation, Argo. This component, as we know, is termed
the parallactic motion, being dependent on the distance or parallax
of the star.

As in the case of other proper motions, we may measure the
parallactic motion either in angular measure, as so many seconds per
century, or in linear measure, as so many kilometers per second. The
relation of the two measures depends on the distance of a star. The
simplest conception of the relation may be gained by reflecting that the

CHAPTERS ON THE STABS. 451

parallactic motion of a star lying at right angles to the direction of the
solar motion during the time that the sun, by its proper motion, is pass-
ing over a space equal to the radius of the earth's orbit, is equal to
the parallax of the star. For this parallax is simply the angle sub-
tended by that radius as seen from the star; and the same angle is
the difference in direction of the star as seen from the two ends of
the radius.

As yet, the actual amount of the sun's motion has not been well
determined. Kapteyn's estimate is 16.7km. per second, which may be
called 10 miles. But the results of additional determinations of radial
motions make it likely that this result should be increased to perhaps
19 or 20km. per second, or 4 radii of the earth's orbit per year. Ac-
cepting this speed we shall have the following rule:

The parallax of a star lying in a direction nearly at right angles to
that of the solar motion is equal to one-fourth of its parallactic mo-
tion in a year.

In the case of stars in other directions, the parallax would be greater
in proportion to the cosecant of the angle between the direction of
the star and the solar apex.

If the stars were at rest this rule would enable us immediately to
determine the distance of any star by its proper motion, which would
then be simply the parallactic motion itself. Unfortunately, in the
case of any one star considered individually, there is no way of de-
ciding how much of its motion is proper to itself and how much is
the parallactic motion. But when we consider the great mass of
stars, it is possible in a rough way to make a distinction between the
two motions in a general average.

The direction or motion of any particular star having no reference
to that of the sun is as likely to be in the direction of one of the three
components we have described as of any other. Hence, in the average
of a great number of stars we may conclude that these components are
equal.

One of the simplest applications of this law will enable us to
compute the mean parallax of the stars whose radial motions have
been determined. As this application is, in the present connection,
made only for the purpose of illustration, I shall confine myself to the
47 stars of which the radial motions have been measured by Vogel.
The mean annual proper motions of these stars, taken without any
regard to their signs, are:

Including Arcturus. Omitting Arcturus.

n tt

In right ascension 0.163 0.144

In declination 0.155 0.168

The difference of the mean motions in right ascension and

452 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

declension is to be regarded as accidental. The velocity of Arcturus
is so exceptionally great that we ought, perhaps, to leave it out in
taking the mean.

Now, the mean of the radial motions as found by Vogel is
16 kilometers per second. By hypothesis the actual motion in the
radial line is in the general average the same as in the other two
directions. We have, therefore, to acquire what must be the parallax
of a star in order that, moving with a velocity of 16 kilometers per
second, its angular proper motion may have one of the above values.
This result is by a simple computation found to be:

From the mean motion in R. A 0.049 or 0.043

From the mean motion in Dec 0.064 or 0.035

The difference of these results shows the amount of uncertainty of
the method. Our general conclusion, therefore, is that the mean par-
allax of the Vogel stars, which may be regarded as corresponding
approximately to the mean parallax of all the stars of the second
magnitude, is about 0".04.

We have spoken of the two components of the apparent motion
as those in right ascension and declination, respectively. But there
is no particular significance in the direction of these coordinates,
which have no relation to the heavens at large. For some pur-
poses it will be better to take as the two directions in which the
motions are to be resolved that of the parallactic motion and that
of right angles to it. That is to say, taking the solar apex as a
pole, we conceive a line drawn from it to the star, and resolve the
apparent motion upon the celestial sphere into two components, the
one in the direction of this line, the other at right angles to it.
The former, which we may call the apical motion, is affected by the
parallactic motion; the latter, which we call the cross-motion, is not,
and therefore shows the true component of the motion of the star itself
in the direction indicated.

Kapteyn has gone through the labor of resolving all the proper mo-
tions of the Bradley stars given by Auwers, in this way. His assumed
position of the solar apex was:

Eight ascension 276°=18h. 24m.

Declination* -(-34°

The radically new treatment found in this paper embraces three
points. The first consists in the distinction between the spectral types

*This work of Kapteyn is yet unpublished. The author is indebted to his
courtesy for the manuscript copy, with permission to use it. Kapteyn's researches
based on this material are contained in a paper on the 'Distribution of the Stars
in Space,' communicated to the Amsterdam Academy of Science, January 28,
1893. An abstract in English is found in 'Knowledge' for June 1, 1893.

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 453

of the different stars and the separate study of the proper motions
peculiar to each type. The next point is the reference of the motions
to the solar apex. The third is the study of the relations of the stars
to the galactic plane.

A remarkable relation existing between the spectral type of stars and
their proper motions* was brought out by these investigations. The
stars of Type I. have, in the general mean, smaller proper motions
than those of Type II. The following table is made up from Kapteyn's
work. First we give the limits of proper motion; then on the same
line the number of stars of the respective Types I. and II. having proper
motions within these limits:

Centennial Number of Stars.

Prop, motions. Type I. Type II.

10 to

50 and more

786

474

203

194

159

223

Total 1,189 1,106

It will be seen that in the case of stars having proper motions of
less than 5" per century a large majority are of Type I. In the case of
proper motions between 6" and 9" the number is nearly equal. Be-
tween 10" and 20" there is a large majority of Type II. Between 30"
and 49" the number of Type II. is nearly five times that of Type I.
Finally, only three stars of Type I. have proper motions exceeding 50",
while 58 stars of Type II. have a proper motion exceeding this limit.

We may make two hypotheses on this subject: one, that the stars
of Type II. really move more rapidly than those of Type I.; the other,
that their actual motion is the same, but that the stars of Type I. are
more distant stars. The last conclusion seems much more probable,
and is strengthened by the much greater condensation of stars of Type
I. toward the Milky Way.

Let us now consider the principles by which we may study a great
collection of proper motions statistically. There are scattered around
us in the stellar spaces, in every direction from us, a large number
of stars, each moving onward in a straight line and in a direction which,
with rare exceptions, has nothing in common with the motion of any
other star. The velocities of the motion vary from one star to another
in a way that can not be determined, some moving slowly and some
rapidly. Is it possible from such a maze of motions to determine any-

*The author believes that Monck, of England, independently pointed out this
relation, possibly in advance of Kapteyn.

454

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

thing? Certainly we can not learn all that we wish, yet we may learn
something that will help us form some idea of the respective distances
of the stars and the actual velocity of their motions. An ohvious re-
mark is that the more distant a star the slower it will seem to move.
We must, therefore, distinguish between the linear or actual motion
of a star, expressed as so many kilometers per second, and its apparent
or angular motion of so many seconds per year, derived by measuring
its change of direction as we see it with our instruments.

We shall now endeavor to explain Kapteyn's method in such a way
that the reasoning shall be clear without repeating the algebraic opera-
tions which it involves. Let us conceive that Fig. 2 is drawn on the
celestial sphere as we look up at the heavens. S is the direction of a
star in the sky as we see it. Let us also suppose that the solar apex,
situated in the constellation Lyra, lies anywhere horizontally to the
left of the star, in the direction of the arrow-head marked Apex. Sup-

ApeK

Fig.

pose also that, were the solar system at rest, we should see the star
moving along the line S D. Let the length of the line S D represent
the motion in some unit of time, say, one year. Next, suppose the
star at rest. Then in consequence of the motion of the solar system, by
which we are carried toward the apex, the star would seem to be mov-
ing with its parallactic motion in the direction S B, away from the
apex. Let the length of this line represent the parallactic motion in
one year. Then by the theory of composition of motions, the star
moving by its real motion from S to D, and by the motion of the earth
having an apparent motion from S to B, will appear to us to move
along the diagonal S A of the parallelogram. Thus, the line S A will
represent the annual proper motion of the star as we observe it with
our instruments, and which can be resolved into the apical motion, in
the direction S B, and is cross-motion in the direction Sr.

The apical motion consists of two parts, one the parallactic mo-
tion, equal to S B; the other real, and due to the motion of the star
itself along the line S D, and equal to the distance of D from the
line Sr.

We have now to inquire how, in the case of a great number of
stars, we may distinguish between the two parts.

r CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 455

We now make the general hypothesis that, in the average of a great
number of stars, actual motions have no relation to the direction of our
sun from the star. Then the components of the actual motion, S D, will
in the general average have equal values, positive and negative can-
celing each other. Hence, if we take the mean of a great number of
motions along the apical line it will give us the value of S B due to the
motion of the earth, and, hence, the mean parallactic motion of all the
stars considered.

The problem now becomes one of averages. We' wish to form
at least a rude estimate of the average speed of a star in miles or kilo-
meters per second. To show how this may be done let us suppose that
we observe the proper motions of a great number of stars at some dis-
tance from the solar apex, so that their parallactic motion shall be ob-
servable. Stumpe and Eistenpart, the German astronomers, as well
as Kapteyn, have considered the relation between the two motions in
the following way: We divide the stars observed into classes, taking,
say, one class having small, but easily measured, proper motion; another
having a proper motion near the average, and a third, of large proper
motion. Sometimes a fourth class is added, consisting of stars having
exceptionally large proper motions. From each of these classes we
can determine, as already shown, the average motion from the direction
of the solar apex; that is to say, the average parallactic motion. This
will be inversely as the average distance of the stars.

Stumpe's three classes were: I., proper motions ranging from 16"
to 32" per century; II., between 32" and 64" per century; III., between
64" and 128" per century; IV., greater than 128". The average of the
proper motions in each class, the average of the parallactic motions and
the ratio of the two are these:

lass.

Prop. Mot.

Par. Mot.

Quotii

0.23

0.142

1.6

II.

0.43

0.286

1.5

in.

0.85

0.583

1.4

IV.

2.39

2.057

1.1

It will be seen that the ratio of the proper motion of the star to
the parallactic motion diminishes as the former increases.

The same thing was found by Eistenpart from the proper motions of
the Berlin zone, as shown below:

Class. Prop. Mot. Par. Mot. Quotient.

Small

0.128

0.061

2.1

Medium

0.197

0.109

1.8

Large

0.374

0.279

1.3

The smaller value of the quotient from stars near to us

456 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

than from the more distant stars was supposed to lead to the
conclusion that the latter had a more rapid real motion than the
former. A little thought will show that, while this is quite true of the
stars included in the list, this does not prove it to be true for the stars
in general. We can not, as already pointed out, determine the motion
of any star unless it exceeds a certain limit. Hence, in the case of the
more distant stars we can observe the proper motions only of those
which move most rapidly, while in the case of the nearer ones we may
have measured them all. We should, therefore, naturally expect that
the more distant stars in our list will show too large a value of the
proper motion, for the simple reason that those having small proper
motion are not included in the average. There is, therefore, no evi-
dence that the more distant stars move faster than the nearer ones.

An error in the opposite direction occurs through the method of
selecting stars of given proper motion. We have already pointed out
that in the case of any individual star we cannot determine how much
of its apparent apical motion may be that of the star itself, and how
much the parallactic motion arising from the motion of the earth.
What we have done is to assume that in the case of a great number of
stars the actual apical motions will be equal, and in the opposite direc-
tions, so as to cancel each other in the average of a great number, leav-
ing this average as the parallactic motion. Now, to fix the ideas,
suppose that two stars have an equal apical motion, say 3 radii of the
earth's orbit in a year, but in opposite directions. The apical motion
of the earth being 4 radii per year, it follows that the star which is
moving in the same direction as the earth will have a relative apical
motion of only 1, and will, therefore, not appear in our list as a star
of large proper motion. On the other hand, the star moving with equal
speed in the opposite direction will have a motion of 7 radii per year,
and, will, therefore, be included among stars of considerable proper mo-
tion. Thus, a bias occurs, in consequence of which we include many
stars having a motion away from the solar apex, while the correspond-
ing ones, necessary to cancel that motion, will be left out of the count.
Thus, the parallactic motion will, in the average, be too large in the case
of the stars of large apparent proper motion. Now, this is exactly
what we see in the above tables. As we take the classes with larger
and larger proper motions, the supposed parallactic motion, which is
really the mean of the apical motions, seems to increase in a yet larger
degree. It is, therefore, impossible to determine from comparisons like
these what the exact ratio is.

This error is avoided when we do not arrange and select the stars
according to the magnitude of their proper motions, but take a large
list of stars, determine their proper motions as best we can and draw
our conclusions from the whole mass. This has been done by Kapteyn

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 457

in the paper already quoted; and by a process too intricate to be de-
tailed in the present work he has reached certain conclusions as to
the ratio of the actual motion of the sun in space to the average mo-
tion of the stars. His definitive result is:

Average speed of a star in space
— Speed of solar motion x 1.86.

This I shall call the straight-ahead motion of the star, without re-
gard to its direction. But the actual motion as we see it is the straight-
ahead motion, projected on the celestial sphere. The two will be equal
only in cases where there is no radial motion to or from the earth. In
all other cases the motion which we observe will be less than the
straight-ahead motion. By the process of averaging, Kapteyn finds:

Linear projected speed of a star
= Speed of solar motion x 1.46.

This projected motion, again, may be resolved into two components
at right angles to each other. It follows that the average value of
either component will be less than that of the projected motion. The
components may be the motions in right ascension or declination, or
the apical motion and the motion at right angles to it. In any case, the
mean value of a component will be:

Speed of solar motion x 0.93.

I have used Kapteyn's numbers to obtain the same relation by a
somewhat different and purely statistical method.

Imagine the proper motion of a star situated nearly at right angles
to the direction of the solar motion. Although we cannot determine
how much of its apical motion is actual and how much is parallactic, we
can determine whether its motion, if toward the solar apex, exceeds
that of the sun. In fact, all stars the apical component of whose mo-
tion is in the same direction and greater than that of the sun, whatever
the distance of the star, appear to us as moving toward the apex, a direc-
tion to which we assign a negative algebraic sign. All stars moving
more slowly than this, or in the opposite direction from the sun, will
have apparent motions away from the apex, which we regard as alge-
braic positive. We can, therefore, by a simple count separate the stars
moving in the same direction as the sun, and with greater speed, from
all the others.

I have classified the stars in this way not only as a whole, but also
with reference to their cross-motion — motion at right angles to that of
the sun. That is to say, I have taken the stars whose cross-motion, r,
is 2" per century or less and counted their apical motions as positive,
negative and zero. Then, I have done the same thing with cross-
motions of *3" or 4", then with cross-motions ranging from 5" to 7", and

458

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

so on. All cross-motions above 13" we put together.* The results of
this work are shown, so far as described, in the first four columns of
the table below. We have here for the various values of t the num-
ber of positive, negative and zero apical motions.

Table showing the number of positive and negative apical motions
for different values of the cross-motion.

Values of

Special Motions, a

Percentage.

Pos.

Zero.

Neg.

P'.

0, -f l, 2

1,013
360
285
215
216

261

7
2

425

160

107

1,143
388
303
218
217

555

188

125

0.33
0.33
0.29
0.20
0.22

0.67
0.67
0.71
0.80
0.78

+ 3,4

-f 5 to 7

+ 8 to 12

4- 13 -f-

Total

2,089

363

805

2,269

985

0.30

0.70

The first question that arises in connection with this table is how
to count the motions that come out zero; that is to say, those which are
too small to be certainly observed. The most probable distribution we
can make of them is to suppose that they are equally divided between
positive and negative motions. I have, therefore, added one-half of
the zero motions to the positive and one-half to the negative column,
thus getting the results given in columns P and N. The percentages
of positive and negative motions thus resulting are given in the last
column.

We see that there is a fairly regular progression in the percentage,
depending on the value of the cross-motion. In the case of the small
cross-motions, which presumably belong to the more distant stars, the
percentage of negative motions is markedly greater than it is in the
case of the nearer stars which have larger values of t. The diminu-
tion in the number of zero motions is still more remarkable. This
arises from the fact that in the case of the nearer stars the apical mo-
tions are necessarily larger, whether positive or negative.

In the preceding table all the stars were counted, without reference
to their distance from the solar apex. The result of this will be that
the mean of the apical motions is taken as we see it projected on the
sphere, which does not correspond to the actual motion in space except
when the direction of the star is at right angles to that of the apex.
I have, therefore, made a second partial count, including only stars be-
tween 60° and 120° from the apex. These stars were selected in oppo-

*The author should say that the greater part of the work on these countings
was done with great care and accuracy by Mrs. Arthur Brown Davis, to whom
he is so much indebted for help of this kind through the present work.

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 459

6ite regions of the heavens, so as to eliminate any constant error de-
pending on the right ascension. The result of a count of 733 stars is:

Number of positive motions 530

" zero " 50

" " negative " 153

If we proceed as before, dividing the zero motions equally between
the positive and negative ones, we shall find the respective numbers to
be 555 and 178. The percentage of negative motions is, therefore, 24.
This will still be slightly too large, owing to the obliquity under which
many of the stars were seen. We may estimate the most likely per-
centage as 23.

We conclude, therefore, that when the motions of all the stars are
so resolved that one component shall be that in the direction of the
apex, 23 per cent, of the stars will be found moving toward the apex with
a greater speed than that of the sun. It may, therefore, be assumed
that in the general average an equal number are moving in the oppo-
site direction with a greater speed than that of the sun. We con-
clude, therefore, that the resolved motion of 46 of the stars is greater
than of the sun, leaving 54 per cent. less.

In the absence of an exact knowledge of the relation between the
magnitude and the number of motions, we shall not be far wrong in
assuming that one-half the stars move to or from the apex with more
than the average speed, and one-half with less. Comparing this with
the percentage found, we may conclude that the average motion of a
star is less than that of the sun, in the ratio 46:50; or that it is found
by multiplying the motion of the sun by the factor 0.92. This is
almost exactly the number which we have quoted from Kapteyn.

We have already stated that the actual speed of the solar motion,
still somewhat uncertain, may be estimated at 20 kilometers per second,
or 4 radii of the earth's orbit in a year. For our present purposes the
latter method of expressing the velocity is the more convenient. Mul-
tiplying this speed by the factors already found, we have the following
results for the average proper motions of a star in space expressed in
kilometers per second, and radii of the earth's orbit in a year:

Straight-ahead motion 37km. = 7.4r.

Projected motion 29km. = 5.8r.

Motion in one component 19km. = 3.7r.

The motion of 20km. or 4r. assigned to the sun is its straight-ahead
motion. This is little more than half the average. It follows that our
sun is a star of quite small proper motion.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE STARS IN SPACE.

We shall now bring the lines of thought which we have set forth in
the preceding chapters to converge on our main and concluding prob-
lem, that of the distribution of the stars in space. While we cannot

46o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

reach a conclusion that can claim numerical exactness, we may reach one
that will give us a general idea of the subject. The first question at
which we aim is that of the number of stars within some limit of dis-
tance. It is as if, looking around upon an extensive landscape in an
inhabited country, we wished to estimate the average number of houses
in a square mile. On the general average, what is the radius of the
sphere occupied by a single star? If we divide the number of cubic
miles in some immense region of the heavens by the number of stars
within that region, what quotient should we get? Of course, cubic
miles are not our unit of measure in such a case. It will be more con-
venient to take as our unit of volume a sphere of such radius that from
its center, supposed to be at the sun, the annual parallax of a star
on the surface would be 1". The radius of this sphere would be
206,265 times that of the earth's orbit. We may use round numbers,
consider it 200,000 of these radii, and designate it by the letter E.

Ri Ra Ra

Fig. 3.

Now, let us conceive drawn around the sun as a center concentric
spheres of which the radii are E, 2R, 3E, and so on. At the surfaces
of these respective spheres the parallax of a star would be 1", half a
second, one-third of a second, and so on. The volumes of spheres being
as the cubes of their radii, those of the successive spheres would be
proportional to the numbers 1, 8, 27, 64, etc.

If the stars are uniformly scattered through space, the numbers hav-
ing parallaxes between the corresponding limits will be in the same
proportion.

The most obvious method of determining the number of stars
within the celestial spaces around us is by measurement of their par-
allaxes. It is possible to reach a definite conclusion in this way only
in the case of parallaxes sufficiently large to be measured with an
approach to accuracy. In the case of a small parallax the uncertainty

CHAPTERS ON THE STABS. 461

of the latter may be equal to its whole amount. In this case the star
may be at any distance outside the sphere given by its measured par-
allax, or far within that sphere, so that no conclusion can be drawn.
It is, on the whole, useless to consider parallaxes less than 0".10; even
those having this value are quite uncertain in most of the cases. The
data at command for our purpose are the known individual parallaxes
and the statistical summary given by Dr. Chase as the result of his
survey, and quoted in our chapter on the parallaxes of the stars. This
survey was confined to stars whose parallax was not already measured,
and it brought out no parallax exceeding 0".30.

The most careful search has failed to reveal any star with a par-
allax as great as 1", and it is not likely that any such exists. It is, there-
fore, highly probable that the first sphere will not contain a single
star except the sun in its center.

Within the third sphere, the parallax at the surface of which is
0".33, we may place the following for stars with entire certainty:

a Centauri Par .=0.75

LI. 21,185 0.46

61 Cygni 0.39

Sirius 0.37

There are two other cases in which the parallax is doubtful, though

the measures as made bring the stars within the sphere 3R. They

are:

tf Herculis Par. — 0.40

O. A. 18,609 0.35

In the case of rj Herculis the proper motion is so small that
the presumption is strongly against so large a parallax, and the doubt-
ful parallax of the last star is so near the limit that it may be left
out of the count. The doubt in its case may be set off against a
doubt whether the parallax assigned to LI. 221,185 is not too large.
We assume, therefore, that four stars are contained within the sphere
3R, the volume of which is 33 = 27. This would give, in whole num-
bers, one star to 7 unit spheres of space.

When we come to smaller parallaxes we find a great deficiency in
the number measured in the Southern hemisphere. The policy of
Gill, under whose direction or with whose support all the good measures
in that hemisphere were made, was to make a few very thorough de-
terminations rather than a general survey. Between the limits 0".20
and 0".33 are found:

In the Southern Hemisphere 4 meas. (Gill)

Northern " 2 " (Chase)

" " 12" (Others)

Total 18

462 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Of the Northern results three are exactly on the limit, 0".20, and
several others are doubtful, and probably too large. The most likely
Dumber for the Northern hemisphere seems to be 12, and if we estimate
an equal number for the Southern hemisphere we shall have 24 in
all. Adding the four stars within the sphere 3E, we shall then have a
total of 28 within the sphere 5R, of which the volume is 125. This
gives between 4 and 5 space units to a star.

Let us now consider the space between the spheres 5R and 10E,
including all stars whose parallax lies between the limits O'MO and
0".20. Of these the numbers are:

Southern Hemisphere 6 (Gill)

Northern " 15 (Chase)

15 (Others)

Eeasoning as before, we may assume that the number of stars be-
tween the assigned limits is 60, making a total of 88 within the sphere
10R. The volume of space enclosed being 1,000 units, this will give
one star to 12 units of space.

How far can we rely on this number as an approximation to the
actual number of stars within the tenth sphere? The errors in the
estimate are of two classes, those affecting the parallax itself and those
arising from a failure to include all the stars within the sphere. The
very best determinations are liable to errors of two or three hundredths
of a second, the inferior ones to still larger errors. Thus, it may
happen that there are stars with a real parallax larger than the limit
of which the measures fall below it and are not included, and others
smaller than the limit which, through the errors of measurement, are
made to come within the sphere. As we have seen in the chapter
on the parallaxes, it is quite possible that there may be a number of stars
with a measurable parallax whose proximity we have never suspected
on account of the smallness of the proper motion. We can only say
that the nearer a star is to the system the more likely its proximity is
to be detected, so that we are much surer of the completeness of our
list of large parallaxes than of small ones. Hence, there may well be
a number of undetermined parallaxes upon or just above the limit O'MO.

The most likely conclusion we can draw from this examination
seems to be that in the region around us there is one star to every
8 units of space; or that a sphere of radius, 2E, equal to 412,500 radii
of the earth's orbit, corresponding to a parallax of 0".50, contains one
star. This is a distance over which light would pass in 8£ years.

We next see how far a similar result can be derived from statistics
of the proper motions. It seems quite likely that nearly all proper
motions exceeding 1" annually have been detected. The number
known is between 90 and 100, but it can not be more exactly stated
because there is some doubt in the case of a number which seem to

CHAPTERS ON TEE STARS. 463

be just about on the limit. In this value, 1", is included the effect
of the parallactic motion, which, on the general average, increases the
apparent proper motion of a star. To study this effect let us call the
list of 90 or more stars actually found List A. Were it possible to
observe the proper motions of the stars themselves separate from the
parallactic motion, we should find that, when we enumerate all having
a proper motion of more than 1", we should add some to our List A and
take away others. The stars we should add would be those moving
in the same direction as the sun, whose motions appear to us to be
smaller than they really are, while we should take away those moving
in the opposite direction, whose motions appear to us larger than they
really are. On the average, we should take away more than we added,
thus diminishing slightly the number of stars whose motion exceeds
1". Making every allowance, we may estimate that probably 80 stars
have an actual proper motion on the celestial sphere of 1" or more.
We have found that the average linear proper motion of a star, as
projected on the sphere, is about 6 radii of the earth's orbit annually.
A star having this motion would have to be placed at the distance 6R
to have, as seen by us, an angular motion of 1". The parallax cor-
responding to the surface of this sphere is 0".167. The volume of
the sphere is 216, and according to our estimate from the parallaxes
it would contain only 27 stars. It will be seen that these results give
a greater density of the stars than the result from the measured par-
allaxes; that is to say, they indicate that there are still an important
number of measurable parallaxes to be determined, while the num-
ber of stars is less than would be derived from their proper motions.
But the fact is that the number of stars estimated as within a given
sphere by the proper motions will be in excess, owing to the actual
diversity of these proper motions, which may range from 0 to a value
several times greater than the average. In consequence of this, our
list of stars with a proper motion exceeding 1" will contain a number
lying outside the sphere 6R, but having a proper motion larger than
the average. We are also to consider that within the sphere may
actually lie stars having a proper motion less than the average, which
will, therefore, be omitted from the list. Of the number of omitted
and added stars the latter will be the greater, because the volumes of
spheres increase as the cubes of their radii. For example, the space
between the spheres 6E and 9R is more than double that within
6R, and our list will include many stars in this space. The discrep-
ancy between the parallaxes and the proper motions probably arises
in this way.

Let us see what the result is when we take stars of smaller proper
motion. The most definite limit which we can set is 10" per cen-
tury. We have seen that Dr. Auwers, in his zone, found 23.9

464 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

stars per 100 square degrees having a proper motion of 10" or more.
This ratio would give about 10,000 for the whole heavens. The sphere
corresponding to this limit of proper mo don is 60R. On our hypothesis
as to star density this sphere would contain 27,000 stars, nearly three
times the number derived from Auwers's work. But it is not at all
unlikely that even this sphere in question contains twice as many
stars as have been detected. Great numbers of the more distant stars
will not have been catalogued, owing to their faintness, because a
star at the distance 60R will shine to us with only one per cent, the light
of one at distance 6R. This corresponds to a diminution of five
magnitudes; that is to say, a star of the sixth magnitude at distance
6E would only be of the eleventh magnitude at distance 60E, and
would, therefore, not be catalogued at all. There is, therefore, no
reason for changing our estimate of star density, which assigns to each
star around us 8 units of volume in space.

This fact suggests another important one. Owing to the great
diversity in the absolute magnitude of the stars, those we can observe
with our telescopes will naturally be more crowded in the neighborhood
of our system than they will at greater distances.

Some further results as to the mean parallax of the stars may be
derived from a continuation of the statistical study of the proper
motions. Kapteyn's investigation in this direction includes a de-
termination of the mean parallactic motion of the stars of each magni-
tude for the first and second spectral types separately. From this he
obtains the following mean parallaxes for stars of the different mag-
nitudes:

Mean parallaxes of stars of different magnitudes, and of the two prin-
cipal types, as found from their parallactic motions:
Mag. Type I. Type II.

2.0 .0315 .0715

3.0 .0223 .0515

4.0 .0157 .0357

5.0 .0111 .0253

6.0 .0079 .0179

7.0 .0056 .0126

8.0 .0039 .0089

9.0 .0028 .0063

10.0 .0020 .0045

11.0 .0014 .0032

Using the value 4 for the solar motion, instead of 3.5, found by Kapteyn,

all these parallaxes should be diminished by one-eighth of their amount.

Unfortunately, owing to the great diversity in the absolute bright-
ness of the stars, and the resulting great difference in the distances
of stars having the same magnitude, these numbers can give us only

CHAPTERS ON THE STARS. 465

a vague idea of the actual parallaxes. Let us take, for example, the
stars of the sixth magnitude. A few of these are, doubtless, quite
near to us and have a parallax several times greater than that of the
table. Excluding these from the mean, an important fraction of the
remainder will have a parallax much smaller than that of the table.

We get a slightly more definite result by studying another feature
of the proper motions. We may consider the Bradley stars, whose
motions have been investigated, as typical, in the general average, of
stars of the sixth magnitude. By a process of reasoning from the
statistics, of which I need not go into the details at present, it is shown
that the parallactic motion of a large number of these stars, probably
one-eighth of the whole, is about 1" per century or less. To this mo-
tion corresponds a parallax of 0".0025, corresponding to the sphere of
radius 400K.

The statistics of cross-motions lead to a similar conclusion. One-
half the Bradley stars have a cross-motion of less than 2 ".5 per century.
To this motion would correspond a sphere of radius 200R and a parallax
of 0".005. Stars at this distance must be hundreds of times the abso-
lute brightness of the sun to be seen as of the sixth magnitude. Yet the
conclusion seems unavoidable that the sphere of lucid stars extends
much beyond 400R.

Granting the star density we have supposed, a sphere of radius
400R would contain 8,000,000 stars. As we see many more than this
number with the telescope, we have no reason to suppose the boundary
of the stellar system, if boundary it has, to be anywhere near this limit.

All the facts we have collected lead to the belief that, out to a cer-
tain distance, the stars are scattered without any great and well-marked
deviation from uniformity. But the phenomena of the Milky Way
show that there is a distance at which this ceases to be true. Let S
be the sun, R a portion of the surface of the outer sphere of uniform
distribution, and R2 and R3 two contiguous spheres passing through
the galactic region G, of which the pole is in the direction P. It is
quite certain that the star-density is greater around Gr than around P.
This may arise either from the density at G being greater, or from that
at P being less, than the density within the sphere R. From the
enormous number of stars collected in the galactic regions, we can
scarcely doubt that the former alternative is the correct one. But
there must be a sphere at which the second alternative is also correct,
because we find the number of stars, even of the lucid ones, to con-
tinuously increase from P toward G.

Can we form any idea where this difference begins, or what is

the nearest sphere which will contain an important number of galactic

stars? A precise idea, no; a vague one, yes. We have seen that the

galactic agglomerations contain quite a number of lucid stars, and

vol. lviii.— 30

466 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

that, perhaps, an eighth of these stars are outside the sphere 400B. We
may, therefore, infer that the Milky Way stars lie not immensely out-
side this sphere. More than this, it does not seem possible to say at
present.

So far as we can judge from the enumeration of the stars in all
directions, and from the aspect of the Milky Way, our system is near
the center of the stellar universe. That we are in the galactic plane
itself seems to be shown in two ways: (1) the equality in the counts
of stars on the two sides of this plane all the way to its poles, and (2)
the fact that the central line of the galaxy is a great circle, which would
not be the case if we viewed it from one side of its central plane.

Our situation in the center of the galactic circle, if circle it be,
is less easily established, because of the irregularities of the Milky
Way. The openings we have described in its structure, and the smaller
density of the stars in the region of the constellation Aquila, may well
lead us to suppose that we are perhaps markedly nearer to this region
of its center than to the opposite region; but this needs to be estab-
lished by further evidence. Not until the charts of the international
photographic survey of the heavens are carefully studied does it seem
possible to reach a more definite conclusion than this.

One reflection may occur to the thinking reader as he sees these
reasons for deeming our position in the universe to be a central one.
Ptolemy showed by evidence which, from his standpoint, looked as
sound as that which we have cited, that the earth was fixed in the
center of the universe. May we not be the victims of some fallacy as
he was?

THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE. 467

THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE.

By Professor R. H. THURSTON,

CORNELL UNIVERSITY.

IN Haeckel's new and remarkable monistic book, 'The Eiddle of the
Universe at the Close of the Nineteenth Century/ which has just
been translated by Joseph McCabe and published by the Harpers, the ac-
cepted laws of the persistence of matter and the persistence of energy
are enunciated and their unity insisted upon; the union constituting
what is denominated 'The Law of Substance/ Substance, 'Stoff/ in
other words, being in fact what we are familiar with as matter, includ-
ing all its physical attributes, as essential parts of it, as a person's char-
acter and his material parts are one and, failing either of those attri-
butes, is no longer the same. It is only by these characteristics that we
can recognize or define either the person or the molecule; without them,
so far as we can see, there would be neither person nor matter.

The principle and the law of substance are unquestionably now in-
corporated into the scientific code permanently and positively; but the
time of recognition and the dates of discovery of the two elements of
that law are not, in the opinion of the writer, precisely as stated by
Haeckel; the discoverers are not given credit by this author in correct
proportion. He accords to Lavoisier the discovery of the persistence of
matter and the proof of that principle, undoubtedly, as generally be-
lieved, correctly. He gives Eobert Mayer (1842) credit for the dis-
covery of the principle of the persistence of energy and assigns to Helm-
holtz (1847) its more general application.

It was, in fact, Benjamin Thompson (Count Bumf ord), the American
philosopher, who, in 1796-97, experimentally proved the equivalence of
the two forms of energy, thermal and dynamic. He read the paper de-
scribing his work in 1798, before the Eoyal Society of Great Britain;
while Sir Humphry Davy confirmed it and added further proof im-
mediately afterward.

It must be carefully noted that there are at least three quantities to
be observed, studied and quantitatively measured: (1) substance or mat-
ter; (2) the forces which affect matter; (3) energy. Matter can perhaps
be conceived of as destitute of any designated force and possibly even of
any known attributes, such as the physical forces; forces can possibly
be conceived apart from any specific matter; energy involves both mat-
ter and motion, and infers the action of forces in its production or varia-
tion. Nevertheless, our only method of acquiring a knowledge of mat-

468 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ter is through the action of its attribute forces upon our senses; it is
indeed possible that matter only exists through that quality which
makes it the residence of the physical forces; it is extremely probable
that all natural forces affect all matter and originate in matter.

There are just three corollaries to the general 'Law of Substance/
the Law of Persistence of all Existences; these are:

1. The Law of the Persistence of Matter per se.

2. The Law of Persistence of Force as an Attribute of Matter.

3. The Law of Persistence of Energy, whether as affecting a mass of
matter or in process of transfer or of transformation; affecting varying
quantities and kinds of matter; passing from one quantity of matter to
another; changing, in inverse direction, the quantity of matter affected
and the velocity-component of the energy; the product of mass and
mean velocity-square remaining constant for the whole universe.

The distinction between force and energy was not, in earlier times,
very exactly observed; but it is easy to perceive in the context to the
enunciation of either corollary to the fundamental law the fact that
writers usually well understood the principle which they sought to state.
It had, by Faraday's time, come to be well understood by many scientific
men that matter is persistent, that its characteristic forces cling to it
persistently and that energy is the product of forces and motion, and
is consequent upon inertia.

The writer took occasion, in a paper read before the American So-
ciety of Civil Engineers (December 9, 1873), criticizing Professor Tait's
'Sketch of Thermodynamics/ his assignment to Sir Humphry Davy of
a prior place and his depreciation of the work of Mayer, to show that
Eumford is entitled to a larger credit than is ordinarily assigned him
even by those who admit his first appearance in this line of investigation
at the close of the eighteenth century. It is easy to show that, not only
was Eumford the first to exhibit by experimental research the fact of the
equivalence of thermal and dynamic energy, but that he was the first to
establish with some degree of approximation their quanti valence. In
fact, he secured data giving a much closer determination of the 'me-
chanical equivalent of heat' than did Joule, or any other investigator of
later years up to the middle of the century; at which date, while an ap-
proximate value had been hit upon, so great was the variety of constants
published that the real value was still exceedingly uncertain. Professor
Tait, however, was the first to call attention to the fact that Eumford
actually gave data sufficient to afford a basis for computation of the
equivalent, but he made the resultant figure 940 foot-pounds, assuming
the horse-power at 33,000 foot-pounds per minute, and failing to note
the fact that the engineer's 'horse-power' is considerably larger than the
power of the average horse.

Taking the generally accepted and fair mean value for the power of

THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE. 469

the animal, and accepting Kumford's statement that the work was that
which could be readily performed 'by a single horse/ the writer showed
that the quantity of heat developed in Kumford's experiments, com-
pared with the accepted datum, 25,920 foot-pounds per minute as the
power of the horse, as given by Eankine, for the average case, or better,
say 25,000 for the average Bavarian horse of the last century, we obtain
as the 'mechanical equivalent/ 783.8 foot-pounds, differing from 778,
the accepted figure of Rowland and later authorities, by but six units,
less than 1 per cent, of its own value and vastly nearer than any figures
obtained up to our own time.

Thus, as the writer claimed in 1873, we may state the achievement
of that great philosopher and engineer in the following terms:

1. Eumford was the first to prove experimentally the immateriality
of heat.

2. He was the first to indicate and directly to prove it to be a form of
energy; publishing his proof a year before Davy.

3. Eumford first, a half -century before Joule, determined by experi-
mental research the quantivalence of thermal and dynamic energies, and
secured data giving the value of the factor of equivalence with almost
perfect accuracy.

4. He is entitled to the sole credit of the experimental discovery of
the true nature of heat, of its equivalence with mechanical energy and
its measure of quantivalence.

The work of Sir Humphry Davy was of great importance; but it was
in confirmation of the deductions previously announced to the Eoyal So-
ciety by his contemporary and colleague, Eumford.

"Benjamin Thompson, of Concord, New Hampshire, commonly
known as Count Eumford, the Bavarian, should be accorded a higher
position and a nobler distinction than has yet been given him by writers
on thermodynamics."*

Eumford, above all others, ancient or modern, is entitled to the
credit of not only laying down an experimental foundation for the 'Law
of Substance' and the principle of persistence of energy, but also for
actually making it a physical, rather than as previously a metaphysical,
topic; for proving the falsity of the older views of the nature and origin
of heat in thermodynamic systems, for proving by direct test and ex-
perimental investigation the immateriality of heat and its real character
as a 'mode of motion/ as Tyndall called it, as a form of energy more
properly. He furnished a method and means of estimating the 'me-
chanical equivalent of heat'; he originated by actual work of research a
true statement of the principle of the quantivalence of the two forms of

* Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 1873. 'Note relating
to Rumford's Determination of the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat.' — Thurston.

470 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

energy and, inferentially, of the quantivalent relations of all energies.
He originated the now usual method of determining the quantivalence
of heat and thermal and dynamical forms of energy by the storage of
the heat of friction in a mass of water, and, by the churning of liquids,
of similarly storing the heat of fluid-friction. He adopted the view that
the energy developed in the animal system is the measure of a certain
proportion of the stored energy of the food thus utilized. Thus he ex-
tended the principle of persistence to the organic world and to living
creatures, opening the way to the final generalizations and conclusions
of the enunciator of the so-called 'Law of Substance.'

Thus Eumford was the first to prove by experimental investigation
the transformability of the energies, to exhibit the principle in its most
important example and to derive, by physical research, the principle of
the thermodynamic equivalence of energies and the fact of heat being
simply a form of energy and a mode of motion of substance.

Mayer seems to have been the first to recognize a now well-under-
stood fact: that, if we are to gain a more effective development of the
energies, potential in our fuels, which are practically our only sources
of commercially useful energy, we must find a way to transform the po-
tential energy of chemical union directly into some other form than the
thermal and by some other than the thermodynamic process. He says*
that 'the evident wastes of the thermodynamic process as illustrated in
our best steam engines justify us in seeking other methods of energy-
transformation,' more particularly by the transformation into motion of
electricity obtained by chemical means.

Mayer was probably the first to write under the definite title 'The
Mechanical Equivalent of Heat.'f He was the first to declare, in so many
words: 'the vis viva of the universe is a constant quantity.' t He stated
that 'the heat produced mechanically by the organism must bear an in-
variable quantitative relation to the work expended in producing it.'

This he deduced from his 'physiological theory of combustion.' He
anticipates the idea of the permanence of the universe in its present
general aspect by the suggestion that this redistribution of energy, 'de-
graded' by other phenomena, may be effected 'by the falling together of
previously invisible double stars' or equivalent phenomena. § He finds
by computation that the energy transformed through such collisions
'would considerably exceed that which an equal weight of matter could
furnish by the most intense process of chemical action' — in other words:
it would resolve the solid mass into its elementary atoms; which is pre-

*Torces of Inorganic Nature; 'Liebig's Journal/ 1842.
f 'The Mechanical Equivalent of Heat,' 1851.
$ 'Celestial Dynamics,' 1848.

§'The Mechanical Equivalent of Heat,' 1851.

THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE. 471

cisely the idea now held by Haeckel and other contemporary men of
science.

Mayer accepted the principle and, basing his computations on the
then accepted values of the specific heat of air, determined an equally
approximate mechanical equivalent. Joule followed, in 1845-49, and
later, determining this equivalent by admirable direct experiment.
English writers have sometimes insisted upon assigning all credit to the
latter for this determination; but Tyndall is less insular in his attitude
and frankly and cordially gives Mayer the credit to which he is un-
doubtedly entitled. Both are certainly to be credited with important
original work, and the method of Mayer gives a more accurate and cer-
tain measure of the constant sought than did any of the earlier experi-
ments of the English physicist, the more exact measures of specific heats
as now known being employed. Had Mayer known of Kegnault's work,
or had that work been completed before Mayer attempted his computa-
tions, the latter would have obtained more accurate figures than Joule
secured years afterward. It was only when Prof. Henry A. Row-
land took up the task and performed his marvelously fine work that an
acceptable valuation was secured.

Meantime, Helmholtz had accepted and applied the law of equiva-
lence of the energies broadly, as holding in all physical phenomena; but
he was distinctly anticipated by Grove, the English physicist, who in
January, 1842, in a lecture before the London Institution, asserted that
'Heat, light, electricity, magnetism, motion and chemical affinity are all
convertible material affections' and that 'all these affections are resolv-
able into one, namely motion.'* This thesis he enforced then and
thenceforward continuously. In 1862, he summarized his work in a
published study of 'The Correlation of the Physical Forces,' later re-
printed by Youmans in his famous collection of similar papers of 1864.
His paper concludes with an excellent bibliography, in which he shows
the origin of the now unquestioned view of authority in the minds of
the old Greeks, and its gradual establishment by observation, experience
and, finally, by experiment in the nineteenth century.

Helmholtz's lecture 'On the Interaction of the Natural Forces' was
delivered at Konigsburg,.in 1854; he at the time holding the professor-
ship of physiology at that university. In this lecture he states his first
ideas to have been published in a pamphlet, in 1847, 'On the Conserva-

* Perhaps the best presentation of the work of the earlier men of science, rec-
ognizing these great and fundamental truths, is that of Prof. Edward L. You-
mans, the founder of the Popular Science Monthly and one of the most
broad-minded and far-seeing men of his time, who, in his 'Correlation and Con-
servation of Forces,' published by the Appletons in 1865, brought together the rec-
ords of the great pioneers in this evolution of the scientific basis of all natural
science, including the papers of Grove, Helmholtz, Mayer, Faraday, Liebig and
Carpenter.

472 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tion of Force,'* in which he 'endeavored to ascertain all the relations be-
tween the different natural processes.' In his lecture of 1854, he
credits earlier writers on the subject, in the following order: Carnot
(1824), Mayer (1842), Colding (1843), Joule (1843), and states that he
was awakened to this work by the last-named.

To the Carnot law, Helmholtz gives the following expression: 'Heat
only when passing from a warmer to a colder body, and then only par-
tially, can be converted into mechanical work.'

This is obviously no other than the essence of the principle as not
only asserted, but actually proved, a quarter of a century before Carnot
by Benjamin Thompson and Humphry Davy, by direct experiment, so
far as it is an assertion of the convertibility of the two energies. Helm-
holtz acknowledges the indebtedness of the scientific world to Mayer,
whose paper 'On the Forces of Inorganic Nature' had been printed in
1842, that 'On Organic Motion and Nutrition' in 1845, and that 'On
Celestial Dynamics' in 1848; while his paper 'On the Mechanical
Equivalent of Heat' was not published until 1851. f

Helmholtz concludes: 'Thus the thread which was spun in darkness
by those who sought a perpetual motion has conducted us to a universal
law of nature which radiates light into the distant nights of the begin-
ning and to the end of the history of the universe.'

Dr. W. B. Carpenter, in a lecture before the Eoyal Society, published
later in their Transactions for 1851, summarized the work in this field,
to his date, under the title 'The Correlation of the Vital and Physical
Forces,' and showed, probably for the first time in this field, the unity
of the principle of equivalence of energies in organic and vital, as well
as in inorganic and lifeless nature. He attributes to Dr. Mayer, of Heil-
bronn, the first annunciation of the great principle of 'Conservation of
Force,' in its then broadest form, in his paper of 1845, already men-
tioned; while Carpenter considers his own paper of 1850 'On the Mutual
Eelations of the Vital Physical Forces, as the first announcement of
the extension of the law beyond the latter class of phenomena into the
range of vital energies. It is in his lecture on this subject that Carpen-
ter states the fact, since recognized perhaps most explicitly, among con-
temporary writers, by Haeckel, that 'what the germ supplies is not the
force but the directive agency.' 'The actual constructive force is sup-
plied by heat.' Even 'the life of man, of any of the higher animals, con-
sists in the manifestation of forces of various kinds, of which the or-
ganism is the instrument,' and, further: •' during the whole life of the
animal, the organism is restoring to the world around it both the
materials and the forces which it draws from it.'

* It will be noted that it was very usual among these earlier writers to employ
'force' synonymously with 'energy,' as we now define the latter.

f All these papers may be found in Youman's collection, already alluded to.

THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE. 473

"But there is this marked contrast between the two kingdoms of or-
ganic nature in their material and dynamic relations to the inor-
ganic world: that while the vegetable is constantly engaged in raising
its component materials from a lower plane to the higher, the animal,
whilst raising one portion of these to a still higher level by the descent
of another portion to a lower, ultimately lets down the whole of what
the plant had raised; in so doing, however, giving back to the universe,
in the form of heat and motion, the equivalent of the light and heat
which the plant had taken from it."

Thus, as Tyndall later wrote: "As experimental contributors, Rum-
ford, Davy, Faraday and Joule stand prominently forward; as theoretic
writers (placing them alphabetically) we have Clausius, Helmholtz, Kir-
choff, Mayer, Rankine, Thomson," and he distinguishes sharply between
the two classes, as the world of science always must, without denying to
either credit for that practical genius which makes the work of the one
party useful or for that genius of foresight and insight which often leads
the other far in advance of the investigator, giving quantitative values
to relations thus earlier recognized.

Thus, also, the ideas now taking expression as scientific statements
of nature's laws originated in a distant age, grew into form with experi-
ence and observation and restricted experimental research, until, with
the opening of the XlXth century, and with the enormous development
of scientific method and of experimental systems, and with the produc-
tion in marvelous exactness and perfection of every form of instrument
of research, quantities came to be exactly measured and the law of per-
sistence of energy could be stated positively and quantitatively.

When the idea of equivalence of thermal and dynamic energies and
of the formation of a thermodynamic science had come to be familiar to
the leaders of scientific thought, the extension of the idea to embrace all
the physical forces and energies was a simple and inevitable matter.
The comprehension of all physical energies within the stated law natu-
rally and promptly, and just as inevitably, led to the suggestion of the ex-
tension of the law to the so-called vital energies and forces and to its
enunciation in that general form which permitted its application by Car-
penter to the vital forces and its introduction by the biologists into their
department of life and work. It was in the extension of such appar-
ently obvious deductions to the seeming limit, and without a thought of
the fact having originality at the time, that the writer, in the Vice-Presi-
dent's address before the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, at St. Louis, in 1878, made that extension in an enunciation of
the principle now called by Haeckel the 'Law of Substance.'* The de-

* At that time there were two Vice-Presidents in the organization of that
Association, both of whom were expected, annually, to present addresses before
the whole Association at special meetings held for that purpose.

474 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

duction from all previous experience, and the inference from all experi-
mental work to that date, seemed entirely obvious. But, so far as the
writer is aware, this expression of the 'Law of Substance,' thus enun-
ciated in August, 1878, is unanticipated. It was then stated as fol-
lows:*

"The facts revealed by the researches of Rumford, Davy and Joule
have been grouped and systematically united by Eankine, Thomson,
Clausiu's and other scarcely less eminent men and the science of ther-
modynamics, which has been thus created, has been applied and put to
the proof by Hirn and other distinguished engineers of our own time.
Finally, it has now become evident that this last is but another branch
of the universal science of energetics, which governs all effective forces
in all departments of science. The man is still to be found who is to
combine all the facts of this latest and most comprehensive of all
sciences into one consistent and symmetrical whole and to illustrate its

applications in all methods of exhibition of kinetic energy.

* * * *

"The grand principle which we are just beginning to indistinctly
perceive, and to recognize as underlying every branch of knowledge and
as forming the foundation of all positive science, seems, when stated, to
be simply an axiom. The Scriptural declaration that the world shall
endure until its Maker shall decree its destruction by Omnipotence is but
a statement of a principle which is more and more generally admitted
as a scientific truth, viz. :

"The two products of creation, matter and force, and the fruit of
their union, energy, are indestructible.

"The grand underlying basis of all science is found in the principle:

"All that has been created by infinite power — matter and its at-
tribute, force, and all energy — is indestructible by finite power and
shall continue to exist, so long as the hand of the Creator is withheld
from its destruction."

"This 'Law of Substance,' as Haeckel proposes to call it, the writer
then stated, has "been admitted almost from the time of Lavoisier, so
far as it affects matter; it has been admitted as applicable to physical
energies since the doctrine of the correlation of forces and of the per-
sistence of energy became accepted by men of science and we are grad-
ually progressing toward the establishment of a Law of Persistence of all
Existence, whether of matter, of force and energy, or of organic vitality,
and perhaps even to its extension until it includes intellectual and soul-
life."

*Proc. A. A. A. S., Twenty-seventh Meeting, at St. Louis, Mo., 1878; Sec. A,
Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry; Address of the Vice-President, p. 43. Tide
also Thurston's 'Manual of the Steam Engine,' Vol. L, 1st Ed., 1891, Chap. III.,
p. 241.

THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE. 475

"The truths of science are thus coming into evident accord with
those doctrines of religious belief which are common to all creeds. We
are, however, as far as ever from the determination of the question
whether those higher forms of force and energy have quantivalent rela-
tions and intertransformability; although a belief that mind and matter
have a certain identity, and that in matter can be discerned 'the promise
and potency of all terrestrial life/ has been avowed, explicitly or im-
plicitly, by more than one great thinker when wandering into the realms
of speculation."

In this, Tyndall long anticipated our contemporary writers.*
Lavoisier showed to the satisfaction of the scientific men of his time
that matter is indestructible, whatever the apparent result of chemical
action. Faraday, and probably many among his predecessors, recog-
nized that the forces are indestructible, and that great investigator
wrote:

"To admit that force may be destructible, or can altogether disap-
pear, would be to admit that matter could be uncreated; for we know
matter only by its forces/'f

Liebig fully recognized the distinction between the proper use, of
the term, force and energy, and usually called the latter 'power/ as when
he says:

"Man by food not only maintains the perfect structure of the body,
but he daily inlays a store of power and heat, derived in the first in-
stance from the sun. This power and heat, latent for a time, reappears
and again becomes active when the living structures are resolved by the
vital processes into their original elements."^

Carpenter clearly saw these distinctions and recognized the nature
of energy, as distinguished from force, when, in his discussion of the ac-
tion of the vital forces, he asserted:

"What the germ really supplies is not the force but the directive
agency; thus rather resembling the control exercised by the superintend-
ent builder, who is charged with working out the designs of the archi-
tect, than the bodily force of the workmen who labor under his guidance
in the construction of the fabric." §
Carpenter says explicitly:

"Hence we seem justified in affirming that the correlation between
heat and the organizing forces of plants is not less intimate than that

* See his 'Heat Considered as a Mode of Motion,' N. Y., D. Appleton & Co.,
1864, for an admirable statement of this point and for his splendid championage
of Mayer.

f 'The Conservation of Force.'

I 'The Connection and Equivalence of Force.'

§ 'The Correlation of Vital and Physical Forces.'

476 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

which exists between heat and motion." He includes both animal and
vegetable vitality in his generalization.

"The life of man, or of any of the higher animals, essentially con-
sists in the manifestation of forces of various kinds, of which the or-
ganism is the instrument."

All organic life involves the direction of nature's forces and their
utilization by direction of the energies; but this striking and important
distinction is observed, as Carpenter first definitely asserted: The animal
employs energy derived by the disintegration of vegetable growth to its
will-directed, and to its internal automatic, work; while the vegetable di-
rects the energy of the sun's rays and of chemical action to the building
up of new organic matter into its life-forms. A cycle thus transfers and
transforms energy radiated to the earth from the sun, building up the
vegetable, sacrificing the structure in the building of the animal or-
ganism, breaking down the animal structure again, and setting free the
circling energy to continue its progress along other paths into other or-
ganic matter, or elsewhere, as directing agencies may compel.

Thus, in all nature and in all manifestations of natural law and of
motion, general experience has satisfied us that matter is persistent, that
it is endowed with inalienable properties which include the so-called
physical forces, similarly persistent in their character and methods of
action and their intensities, and that energy, a property of matter in
motion, is also persistent, but not also permanently affecting any given
mass; its total quantity is invariable, but it may be distributed indefi-
nitely, transferred in any manner and transformed to any extent, irre-
spective of other than quantitative measures of matter affected. Matter
not only permanently retains its characteristic forces, but, reciprocally,
the forces permanently require and maintain matter as their residence.
No exception to this constancy of union of matter and forces is yet
known, and the only question now remaining to be fully answered is:
How far may such relations be traced into the more intangible realms of
nature and life and consciousness.

Herbert Spencer has stated the fundamental idea of science in this
field most concisely, accurately and clearly. He says in 'First Prin-
ciples': "We cannot go on merging derivative truths in these wider
truths from which they are derived without reaching at last a wider
truth which can be merged in no other or derived from no other. And
whoever contemplates the relation in which it stands to the truths of
science in general will see that this truth, transcending demonstration, is
the Persistence of Force." Indeed, Faraday had already, years before,
asserted this law to be the highest that our faculties can appreciate in
physical science. In fact, as we may perhaps still more strongly put it:
The Law of the Persistence of Substance, including its every attribute,

THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE. 477

must necessarily underlie every permanent existence and the universe
itself.

The number of world-riddles, as Haeckel says, is diminishing
rapidly, and our scientific knowledge has come to be so far-reaching that
if we cannot resolve every minor problem of the universe, we have at
least gone far toward the solution of the mightiest among the larger
questions. One 'comprehensive question/ as he calls it, remains: What
is the foundation of the 'Law of Substance,' the law of the persistence
of matter and its attribute, force?

"What is the real character of this mighty world-wonder that the
realistic scientist calls Nature or the Universe, that the idealist philoso-
pher calls Substance or the Cosmos, what the pious believer calls God?"

"We must admit that we know as little of its essence, as did the
ancients or the philosophers of the later centuries, up to our own. The
mystery deepens as we probe it; there remains beneath all and behind all
an apparently 'unknowable,' to-day, as in all earlier times." Haeckel
throws no new light upon this eternal sphinx-life. He claims that the
eternity of matter, with its inalienable eternity of unchanging attri-
butes, its eternally persistent motion and energy, means eternal life of
the universe, with never-ending renewal of such movements as we are
now conscious of and in this probably all men of science are ready to
agree with him. But he goes on to assert that the necessary conclusion
is the destruction of 'the three central dogmas of the dualistic philoso-
phy— the personality of God, the immortality of the soul and the free-
dom of the will.' He finds few philosophers willing to go with him to
the end of his logic and thinks that 'consecutive thought is a rare
phenomenon in nature.' The majority of philosophers are desirous of
clinging to the old beliefs on the one hand, while taking hold of the
monism of the newer time on the other, seeking to ride both the differ-
ently moving steeds and usually ending by dropping from the younger
at the limit of their powers of holding on.

This has undoubtedly been true in the past and will probably remain
true in the future and as long as man retains his apparently eternal and
immortal convictions relating to a higher power; but, admitting
Haeekel's accusation and going with him to the ultimate of his deduced
facts and law, it seems extremely probable that, arrived at its end, they
will all be found much in the position of Haeckel himself, confronting
the deduction of Clausius and Lord Kelvin, and will still ask the un-
answerable question:

What lies beyond? Who or What inaugurated this eternity? What
or Who originated matter? What or Who marked the limits of the uni-
verse? If limitless: Who and What filled it with matter and motion and
life?

There will still within the soul of every thinking human being re-

478 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

main the conviction, apparently implanted at the origin of things, of
some real 'First Cause/ of some necessary beginning of our time, space
and life, and a conviction that what we call eternity affords time and
the universe space for all the evolution of higher life that imperfect
human nature aspires to. It will be admitted that, as Goethe says:

'By eternal laws of Iron Eules,

Must all fulfil the cycle of their destiny/

All can see that

'The times are changed, old systems fall,
And new life o'er their ruins dawns;'

yet, as in all past times, new interpretations and adjustments of the be-
liefs and the creeds of the fathers will be found to reconcile funda-
mental principles in religion and in morals with the older inspirations
and the newer readings of the Book of Nature, and we may unquestion-
ably hope that, in the future as in the past, the newer readings will tend
toward evolution of higher thought, nobler life, more perfectly ideal and
spiritual philosophy. We may all go with Haeckel and the greatest in-
terpreters of the laws of Nature, and yet may find it possible to look be-
yond the limits of things seen into 'The Unseen Universe' with no loss
of the spiritual.

Haeckel is one of the few, even among scientific men, who accept the
necessary, or apparently necessary, conclusions coming of his logic to the
very extremity and, in this case, he finds them carrying him to the de-
duction that there can be no immortal life of the individual soul.
Whether this conclusion must follow or not, he is more far-reaching in
his deductions relating to physical phenomena, as consequences of the
'Law of Substance,' than any among his predecessors; for he accepts the
conclusion that there cannot be a dead eternity and that there must be
some return from that swing of the pendulum which, with Sir William
Thomson (now Lord Kelvin), left a cold and still universe to eternal
death. This he finds absurd and admits the probability that the back-
ward swing will come, during the eternities, through the occasional col-
lision of suns, suns and planets, planet with planet, of binary systems
and meteoric masses and star-dust, such as have been actually, not infre-
quently, seen during our own historic period, by the astronomer at his
telescope, and by his ancestor, the astrologer, and even occasionally by
the unobservant people of all times. Such a collision is sufficient in its
development of thermal energy to reduce the colliding bodies into vapor
and to disperse it throughout space in nebula and meteoric matter, and
to renew the cycle.

As Haeckel says: The law of the persistence of force proves, also,
that the idea of a 'perpetuum mobile' is just as applicable to, and as sig-
nificant for, the cosmos as a whole, as it is impossible for the isolated ac-
tion of any part of it. Hence the theory of 'entropy' is likewise unten-

THE LAW OF SUBSTANCE. 479

able. It is not the fact that the 'end of the world' is to come as sup-
posed in the theories of entropy and with the degradation of energy to a
uniform and unchanging lifelessness. Sooner or later — and time is noth-
ing, 'a thousand years are but as a day' — sooner or later, the collection of
masses will return mass-energy to the form of molecular and atomic
energy, now here, now there, throughout the universe, and the round of
eternities will be unceasing. "The eternal drama begins afresh — the
rotating mass, the condensation of its parts, the formation of new
meteorites, their combination into larger bodies, and so on."*

* 'The Riddle of Existence'; pp. 239-248.

480 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

THE HEIGHT AND WEIGHT OF THE CUBAN TEACHERS,

WITH COMMENTS ON THEIR PHYSICAL STATUS COMPARED WITH THE

AMERICANS.

By Dr. DUDLEY ALLEN SARGENT,
HEMENWAY GYMNASIUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

WHEN the Cuban teachers were in Cambridge last summer, it was
commonly observed that they seemed to be smaller in size and
stature than our own American teachers and students. This impression
was undoubtedly favored by the peculiar manner in which some of the
Cubans wore their clothing. Many of the men had their coats cut in
at the waist, and wore them tightly buttoned about the waist and chest,
while the trousers were large and full, especially at the knee. This
gave the bodies of the men a lean and slender appearance. Most of
the women went without their hats when going to and from the recita-
tion halls, and, although many wore high-heeled shoes, the diminutive
stature was very apparent.

In order to determine the facts as to the physical status of the
Cuban teachers, about a thousand (973) of them were measured and
weighed at the Hemenway Gymnasium at Harvard University during
the first week in August, 1900. As this work was undertaken in con-
nection with the regular work of the Harvard Summer School of Phys-
ical Training, the time that could be given to the measurements was
necessarily limited, and the height and weight were the only physical
observations taken and recorded. In order to facilitate the work, each
teacher was given a card to fill out, upon which were blank spaces for
his number, date of measurement, name, date of birth, and his own and
his parents' nationality. The cards distributed to the women were
pink in color; those given to the men were green. These cards were
brought to the gymnasium by the persons who desired to be measured,
and the height and weight, taken in inches and pounds, were entered
upon the cards, which were then left to be tabulated. Contrary to the
usual custom with American students, the height and weight of the
Cubans were taken with the clothing and shoes on. Three-quarters of
an inch were allowed for the height of the heel of the shoe, and six
per cent, of the total weight of each woman and seven per cent, of the
total weight of each man was allowed for the weight of the clothing.
The subtraction of the height of the heel of the shoe and the weight
of the clothing from the original height and weight as taken, make
these factors in the measurement of the Cubans comparable with the

HEIGHT AMD WEIGHT OF CUBAN TEACHERS. 481

students and teachers of several of the colleges for men and women
in the United States. This comparison seems to me altogether desir-
able, not only that we may learn something of the physical characteris-
tics of the Cubans, in order to help them in their efforts to attain a
national independence, but in order that we may learn something of
our own strength and weakness, and be able to govern ourselves ac-
cordingly.

The ages of the American students measured, which we present for
comparison, ranged from 16 to 30, while the ages of the Cuban
teachers ranged from 16 to 60. As the growth in stature is usually
completed about the twenty-second year, the number beyond this age
who were measured would have little influence in raising the average
height. The weight, however, may increase up to the fiftieth or six-
tieth year, and if any considerable number of persons beyond the age
of 30 or 40 are included in this observation, the average weight would
be considerably increased. In the factor of weight, therefore, the
Americans and Cubans were hardly comparable, because there were so
many of the Cubans who were older than the Americans, and conse-
quently might be expected to weigh more. The effect of this increased
weight due to age shows itself in a peculiar way, as will be observed by
reference to Chart 2.

After the cards were collected from the Cubans they were tabulated
according to the percentile grade method advocated by Francis Galton.
By this method the medium weight and height which 50 per cent, sur-
passed and 50 per cent, failed to reach, were determined, also the
values which smaller and larger per cents, exceeded or fell short of.

In referring to Table No. 1 it will be observed that there were 973
Cuban teachers measured. Four hundred and seventy-nine of these
were men and 494 women. The youngest man was 16 years of age, and
the oldest 64, while the youngest woman was 13, and the oldest 59.
The medium age, i. e., the age which 50 per cent, surpassed and 50 per
cent, fell short of, was 27 years for the men and 24 years for the women.
Ten per cent, of the men were more than 44 years of age, and 10 per
cent, of the women were 38 years and over. The table of American
college students with whom the Cuban teachers were compared was
made up from the measurements of about 3,000 men and 2,000 women,
taken more than fifteen years ago. It is only fair to state that the
average height and weight in several of these institutions for both
sexes has increased somewhat since then. Of this number comprising
the American table, the youngest man was 16, and the oldest 45, while
the youngest woman was 15, and the oldest 40. The medium age of
the male student was 20 years, and the medium age of the female
student was 18.8 years. Ninety-five per cent, of the American male
students were under 26 years of age, which was the age surpassed by

VOL. J,VIIT.— 31

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HEIGHT AND WEIGHT OF CUBAN TEACHERS. 483

over 50 per cent, of the Cuban male teachers. Although the Cuban
female teachers were younger than the Cuban male teachers, 60 per
cent, of the former had attained an age which was only surpassed by
5 per cent, of the American female students. Almost all the extra
attainments in stature and in weight that may be attributable to age
are, therefore, in possession of the Cubans.

In comparing the distribution of height and weight among the two
nationalities (see Table No. 1 and Charts Nos. 1 and 2), some interest-
ing and suggestive facts are brought to our attention. Among the
American male students measured, the shortest was 54.7 inches and
the tallest was 75.6 inches. Among the Cuban male teachers the short-
est was 55.9 inches and the tallest was 75.6. Although there is but
little difference in the extremes represented by the two nationalities,
the difference in the stature attained by the greatest number in the
two groups is very striking. The medium height of the American
male student is 67.7 inches, while only 10 per cent, of the Cuban male
teachers attain this stature. The medium height of the Cuban male
teachers was found to be 64.3 inches, but this height is surpassed by
over 90 per cent, of the American male students.

Upon referring to the figures giving the height of the women, it
will be observed that the American female students have a greater
range of extremes, as would naturally follow from their larger num-
bers, the tallest American being 71.3 inches and the shortest 53.2, while
the tallest Cuban female teacher was 68.9 inches and the shortest 54.7
inches. The medium height of the American female student is 62.6
inches, and the medium height of the Cuban female teacher is 60.3
inches. Over 80 per cent, of the American female students surpass the
stature attained by 50 per cent, of the Cuban female teachers, or only
20 per cent, of the latter attain a stature of 62.2 inches, which is sur-
passed by 50 per cent, of the former.

The distribution of weights (see Table No. 1) in the two groups is
equally striking and suggestive. The heaviest American male student
in the group weighed 229.3 pounds, and the lightest weighed 72.8
pounds. The heaviest Cuban male teacher weighed 202 pounds, and the
lightest 85 pounds. The medium weight of the American male student
was 134.5 pounds, and the medium weight of the Cuban male teacher
was 114 pounds. More than 90 per cent, of the American male students
surpass in weight the 114 pounds attained by only 50 per cent, of the
Cuban males, and only 5 per cent, of the latter exceeded 150 pounds.

The heaviest American female student in the group weighed 218
pounds, and the lightest 77.2 pounds. The heaviest Cuban female
teacher weighed 220 pounds and the lightest 74 pounds, which sur-
passes the American females in the two extremes. The medium weight
of the American female student was 114.6 pounds, and the medium

484

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

weight of the Cuban female teacher was 102 pounds. Eighty per cent,
of the American female students surpass the medium weight of the
Cuban female teachers, but on the other hand, 10 per cent, of the
Cuban women surpass 128 pounds in weight, which is exceeded by only
20 per cent, of the American women students.

Many other interesting comparisons may readily be made. Upon
referring to Table 2, some of the differences in the several percentile
grades of tbe two sexes and nationalities readily become apparent.

Co/>y,yAS /if5J -

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I'll ART 1.

The medium Cuban man is 12 pounds heavier than the medium Cuban
woman, but the smaller Cuban men are 13 or 14 pounds heavier than
the smaller Cuban women, while the larger Cuban men are only 2 and
6 pounds heavier than the larger Cuban women. This would seem
to indicate that the Cuban women tend to take on flesh as they grow
older much more readily than the Cuban men, or that through some
selective agency the larger and stronger type of Cuban man is not
well represented among the teaching force. In all probability, the

HEIGHT AND WEIGHT OF CUBAN TEACHERS. 485

stronger and heavier men would have entered the army or engaged
in some more vigorous occupation than teaching school.

Among the many things that interested the Cubans in our people
was the freedom of our women and the opportunities they enjoyed for
growth and development, both mentally and physically. But what
shall we say to the fact that the medium American woman is 19.9
pounds lighter than the medium American man, and that the difference
increases in the mans favor all through the different percentile grades.

Cojeyr/'g/rf /£9<3 ■
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Chart 2.

If our American women have better opportunities for growth and de-
velopment than the Cuban women, why do they not compare more
favorably with the American men, in weight and height, than the
Cuban women do with the Cuban men? Is it due to the inferiority
of the American woman, or the superiority of the American man?
Has the heavier and more buxom type of woman been selected, and
left her leaner and lighter sister to wed the arts and sciences? Have
the admirable opportunities for physical training and athletics, af-

486

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

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HEIGHT AND WEIGHT OF CUBAN TEACHERS. 487

forded our male students, begun to show the expected results by a
general increase of weight and stature, that has not yet been attained
by our college women? Can it be true that our American women are
beginning to show the material cost of attempting to build a highly
organized brain and maintain their special physiological function at
the same time? Although in primitive races the two sexes are almost
always more nearly alike physically, perhaps the little contrast between
the Cuban male and female teachers as compared with the contrast
between the American male and female students, may be due to the
superiority of the physique of the Cuban women in comparison with
the physique of the Cuban men. This supposition is greatly strength-
ened by again comparing the difference in the medium weight of the
Cuban male teacher with that of the American student. The latter is
20.5 pounds heavier than the former, which is even in excess of the
amount which the American male exceeds the American female in
weight. On the other hand, we find that the medium American
female student exceeds the medium Cuban female teacher by 12.6
pounds, which is more than the average Cuban man exceeds the average
Cuban woman. The weight of the Cuban man and the American
woman is very nearly the same in all of the percentile grades, as will be
observed in noticing the close proximity and correspondence of the
curves in Chart No. 1.

The differences in height follow the same general trend as those
in weight. (See Table No. 2.) There is a difference of 4 inches in the
medium height of the Cuban man and the Cuban woman, while the
difference between the American man and the American woman is 5.1
inches. In both nationalities there is less comparative difference be-
tween the small men and the small women and the large men and the
large women, in point of height, in the various percentile grades, than
there is difference in weight. The difference between the medium
height of the American man and the Cuban man is 3.4 inches, while
the difference between the medium height of the Cuban women and
the American women is 2.3 inches. Here, again, in all the grades, the
comparative differences in height were much less than the compara-
tive differences in weight. In this respect it is interesting to note
that most of the Cubans gained steadily in weight all the time they
were in Cambridge, and many returned to Cuba in a better condition
of health than when they came to the United States.

If we would inquire into the real cause of the diminutive stature
and weight of the Cuban teachers of both sexes when compared with
our student type, we must begin with the question of race. The
agencies, conditions and environment that have been working for
generations upon a people stamp their almost indelible effects upon
them, and give them the physical characteristics which we readily

488 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

recognize in the different national types. Upon looking up the nation-
ality of the Cuban teachers as recorded on their cards, we find that of
the men 74 per cent, had Cuban fathers and mothers, 17 per cent, had
Spanish fathers and Cuban mothers, while 2 per cent, descended from
parentage of mixed Cuban, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German,
Negro and American origin.

Among the women, 71 per cent, had Cuban fathers and Cuban
mothers, 22 per cent. Spanish fathers and Cuban mothers, 3 per cent.
Spanish fathers and Spanish mothers, while 4 per cent, had mixed
descent of Cuban, American, French and Mexican origin. In both
the men and women the descent is so largely Cuban and Spanish that
the influence of the other nationalities would hardly be appreciable.
We must look, then, to Spanish and Cuban ancestry and to the con-
ditions under which they have lived to account in a large measure for
the poor physique of their descendants as we see them to-day.

Looking up the physical status of the Spaniards, as shown by their
height and weight, we find the height of the average Spaniard to be
ii'i.64 inches, according to the report of the Anthropometric Commit-
tee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and
Baxter's report of the soldiers entering the U. S. Army during the
Civil War. In the latter report, the men from Italy, Spain and Por-
tugal, in the order given, are shown to have had the lowest average
stature of all the recruits that entered the service. Assuming that
the Spanish soldiers were built on the same lines as the Cuban teachers,
that is, weighing about 1.77 pounds to every inch in stature, it would
make them average about 116.18 pounds. This is a very low standard
of physical attainment, and ranks the Spanish immigrants who come
to this country with the Portuguese, Hungarians, Hindoos, Bavarians,
Chinese and North American Esquimaux.

Concerning the causes that have led to Spain's physical, mental
and moral deterioration, it is hardly necessary to speak. When we
consider that during the dark days of the Inquisition, from 1481 to
1808, more than 340,000 persons were punished for their religious con-
victions, and 32,000 of these were burnt alive, and that thousands who
represented the nation's best blood fled from the country — what other
result could have been expected? Let us turn now to the island of
Cuba. Columbus described the native Cubans as 'loving, tractable
and peaceable; though entirely naked, their manners were decorous
and praiseworthy.' Another authority says 'the early Cubans seem
to have been men of medium height, broad shoulders, brown skinned,
fiat-featured and straight-haired.' Into this native element has been
] mured an infusion of Spaniards, Creoles, Negroes, Chinese and other
foreign blood, with its inevitable tendency to mix races.

Prom a physical point of view, the Cubans of to-day are inferior to

HEIGHT AND WEIGHT OF CUBAN TEACHERS. 489

their Spanish forefathers. This fact is attributed principally to the
enervating effect of the climate, hut there are other causes. The
Cubans being naturally a domestic and affectionate people seek to form
marital relations at a very early age. Many a young man is a father
before he is eighteen years of age, by a wife a couple of years younger.
Girls are considered women at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and many
of them are mothers of a considerable family before they are twenty.
When we consider that the human organism is not fully developed until
the age of twenty-one or twenty-two, even in a tropical climate, a
large number of these premature marriages and all that they imply
might easily account for the physical inferiority of the race. Another
custom which I understand is practised more or less extensively among
the best of Cuban families, can not but have a damaging effect upon the
life and health of the child, and consequently upon the adult physique.
This is the pernicious habit of bandaging infants in swaddling clothes.
(See 'Cuba, Past and Present,' by Eichard Davey.)

The object, in all probability, is to give the child what is termed by
some persons a fine figure; but, inasmuch as every attempt of this kind
tends to cramp the vital organs and eventually to stunt growth and
development, it would seem to be one of the customs which the Cuban
ladies might well afford to abandon if they hope to rear a vigorous
people. Another custom, which, however, is not confined to Cuba, is
the excessive use of tobacco. But in that country, I am informed,
almost every man, woman and child appears to be addicted to the habit
of smoking. (See 'Cuba, Past and Present.') Tobacco may be a solace
to the aged, a force regulator for many, and even a food to some per-
sons, through the property it possesses of lowering organic activity.
But this is the very reason why it should not be used by aspiring youth
who wish to attain a vigorous manhood. Excessive smoking produces
disturbances in the blood, mucous membranes, stomach, heart, lungs.
the sense organs and in the brain and nervous system. When indulged
in freely by the young, the habit of smoking causes impairment of
growth, premature development and physical prostration. This cus-
tom alone, if universally practised by one or two generations, would
certainly tend to dwarf the people who become enslaved by it.

A tropical climate does not invite one to active exercise, and the
Cubans as a people may well be excused for not indulging in the
violent athletic games now so popular with the Northern races. But
it has always seemed to me strange that they do not avail themselves
of the opportunities present for swimming and bathing. I under-
stand that there are ample bathing places, but the people of either
sex seem to have a prejudice against their free use. When one recalls
that the South Sea Islanders of the Pacific are among the tallest and
best-formed people in the world, averaging 5 feet 9.33 inches in height,

490 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

it is natural to associate their fine physiques with their passionate
fondness for swimming, which is one of the best of known exercises
for giving one an all-round development.

The Cubans, as a class, have been reported by different American
authors to be uncleanly, and some of the Cambridge people feared that
this personal neglect might prove troublesome during the Northern
sojourn of their visitors. Passing over the right of the Americans to
make this criticism, who were themselves criticized by Dickens and
other English travelers, not so many years ago, for this same defect,
and who are not even now a water-loving people — I wish to say that
bathing for cleanliness, with free use of perfumed soap, etc., is of little
value from a hygienic point of view, compared to the bathing that fol-
lows a profuse perspiration produced by physical exercise. If, in con-
nection with the use of water in the summer season, the skin is fre-
quently exposed to the direct rays of the sun, and immediate contact
with the air, it will be greatly improved in its functional power. In
my personal contact with young men in the examining room, I am
more and more impressed with the importance of keeping the skin in
good condition, not only as a means of maintaining health and pre-
venting disease, but of adding to one's nervous and muscular power.
Since custom has decreed that the body shall be altogether covered,
even in the tropics, the skin has lost much of its beauty, as well as its
health-preserving qualities.

A dark complexion is the result of living for a long time in a tropical
climate, and is not indicative of racial inferiority, as is too frequently
assumed where the white and black races come together. The habit
which many Cuban women have of plastering their faces with rice
powder until they look almost ghastly, seems to us very singular, in
view of the fact that so many of our own well-bred youth of both sexes
spend their summer vacations at the seashore or in the mountains, ear-
nestly endeavoring to acquire a tanned skin and a bronzed or olive-
brown complexion.

Another custom which prevailed among many of the Cuban women
who were in Cambridge was that of wearing narrow-toed, high-heeled
shoes. The Cubans have naturally small hands and feet, and perhaps
it is pardonable for a people to affect to exaggerate a little the thing
upon which they pride themselves. Here, again, we see something of
Spanish blood and the traditions of slavery. Those who toil for a
living have large hands and feet: slaves toil for a living; therefore,
slaves have large hands and feet. Those who do not have to work for a
living have small hands and feet: ladies do not have to work for a liv-
ing; therefore, ladies have small hands and feet. It is only necessary
to carry this line of reasoning a step farther to see why the Chinese
aristocrat bandages the feet of his daughter until they become so small

HEIGHT AND WEIGHT OF CUBAN TEACHERS. 491

and crippled that she cannot walk, or the prospective Spanish aristocrat
crowds her feet into pointed-toed shoes, with heel in the middle of the
foot, with the same result. This inability to walk with ease and com-
fort was made very apparent among the Cuban teachers in their his-
torical and geological excursions about Cambridge. Upon investiga-
tion, it was found that the Cuban women were wearing narrow, pointed-
toed shoes, with high heels, numbering in sizes from two to four, and
that the Cuban men were wearing the same style shoe, numbering in
size from three to six. These are the sizes usually worn by our Amer-
ican boys and girls ranging in age from ten to fourteen. Our women
wear shoes ranging in size from No. 2^ to 8, and our men shoes ranging
in size from No. 6 to 10.

Of course, a smaller stature on the part of both Cuban men and
women implies smaller feet, but in order that the feet, though small,
should be of service, the toes and joints must be allowed freedom of
movement. This they cannot obtain if the feet are crowded into
small, tight-fitting, stiff-soled, high-heeled shoes.

Our American men and women, after enduring years of pedal in-
firmities, have at last learned the value of common-sense shoes. The
interest in tennis, golf, cross-country walking and other forms of phys-
ical exercise has done much to bring about a needed reform in
America in caring for the feet. It is a recognized fact that conquering
armies often depend as much upon their ability to march as they do
upon their ability to fight. So, in more senses than one, it is necessary
for a people to get a footing in the world before they think of com-
peting with rivals or maintaining their independence as a nation.

While we all rejoice in the efforts of the Cubans to improve the
condition of their schools, and admire their interest and enthusiasm
for intellectual attainments — let it be remembered that every nation
that has risen to eminence in this respect has always had a strong
physical foundation to build upon. My observations among the Cubans
have led me to believe that they are not so far behind the Americans in
point of mental ability and acumen as they are in lack of physical
vigor, and some moral aim or purpose to strive for. This condition is
partly due to the effects of a tropical climate, and the corrupting in-
fluence of an effete civilization like that maintained in the Island of
Cuba so many years by the Spanish Government. But I have already
pointed out some of the physical defects of the Cuban people that are
the outcome largely of faulty habits of living — short stature, light
weight, flat chests, slender waists, small hands, little, narrow feet and
emaciated limbs. These are fundamental defects, and are usually as-
sociated with a relatively feeble digestion, weak heart and incapacious
lungs.

The remedies I would suggest are equally fundamental. Restraint

492 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

from conjugal relations and the breeding of children until both sexes
have completed their growth and development. Eating more food
and drinking less coffee. Abstinence from the use of tobacco during
the period of adolescence. Proper clothing for infants and children,
and freedom from the restrictive and cramping influence of coverings
for the trunk, limbs and feet at all times. The establishment of sys-
tematic habits of exercising and bathing from early youth to adult
life, in view of attaining greater physical beauty and perfection. Arouse
an ambition in young men to be strong, active and courageous, and in-
cite them to the practise of such sports and games as tend to cultivate
these qualities. Kindle among the young women an admiration for
large, vigorous and manly men, in preference to little men, with effemi-
nate airs and graces. A few years of strenuous living with these simple
ideals in view will not only make the future Cubans larger and stronger
than the present generation, but will go a long way towards enabling
even the present Cubans to realize some of their higher ideals and
nobler aspirations.

HIGH EXPLOSIVES. 493

THROWING A HIGH EXPLOSIVE FROM POWDKR GUNS.

By HUDSON MAXIM.

r INHERE is noAv at Sandy Hook a battery of pneumatic torpedo
J- guns, and another at the port of San Francisco, the largest
of which have a caliber of fifteen inches and are capable of throw-
ing a maximum charge of 500 pounds of nitro-gelatin about a mile.
Even to attain this range, it is necessary to fire at a very high angle.
The projectile has no power whatever of penetration, being only a
thin casing, about an eighth of an inch thick.

The purpose of these guns was to drop dynamite upon the deck
of war vessels, or into the water to explode near them. These bat-
teries are necessarily provided with a large plant of engines, boilers
and air compressors, which, together with the long and cumber-
some pneumatic guns and mountings, present unusual difficulties
in their protection from the fire of an enemy, while the range is so
short that a modern battleship could approach within what, for it,
would be a comparatively short range, and destroy the entire out-
fit, without in turn being in the least exposed to the fire of the pneu-
matic tubes. Even should a battleship, in order to enter the Channel,
be obliged to pass within range of the pneumatic guns, it would be
by mere chance that one of the torpedo bombs could be dropped any-
where near it.

We will grant, however, that should these guns score a hit, with
500 pounds of nitro-gelatin, the stanchest battleship would have cause
to tremble, especially should the bomb drop into the water and explode
near the unprotected hull.

The pneumatic gun owes its existence to a misconception of the
nature and possibilities of high explosives and of the requirements of
a system for their successful projection from ordnance. Congress
appropriated the money for the construction of the pneumatic bat-
teries now in service from the same misapprehension of their utility.
The 'Vesuvius,' with its pneumatic guns, was also the child of error.
The shots fired by her at the fortifications of Santiago resulted in
nothing more serious than the production of loud reports, which
possibly frightened the enemy. Her projectiles had no power of
penetration, and, therefore, were useless against fortifications.

It must be borne in mind, however, that the modern powder gun,
with its small caliber and ponderous weight, throwing a heavy steel
projectile, with but a small bursting charge of black powder, or with

494 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

none at all, and the unwieldy armor-clad battleship are also only the
children of experiment and have not yet passed the experimental
stage. These constitute one extreme of the problem, while the pneu-
matic torpedo gun is the other. In Ihe belief of the writer, the large-
bored cannon for throwing high explosives at high velocity, propelled
by smokeless gunpowder, instead of by compressed air, is a mean
between the extremes, which is destined to solve the problem; while
the present form of cannon and the armor-clad warship, on the one
hand, will be relegated to the rear, and the pneumatic gun, on the
other hand, will fall into oblivion.

It was with a view to the solution of the problem of successfully
throwing high explosives from powder guns that the writer developed
the progressive smokeless powder, which has been adopted by the
United States Government, and by the use of which higher velocities
with lower pressures are secured than would be possible by any other
means. A special form of multi-perforated powder grains, invented
by the writer, for throwing aerial torpedoes from guns, makes it pos-
sible to so control the pressures, even when full charges are employed,
as to warrant the use of guns having a very large caliber and compara-
tively thin walls. I found that several high explosives could be made
sufficiently insensitive to withstand the shock of acceleration in powder
guns necessary to any desired velocity.

There was, however, at that time, no means known for making a
fuse which should carry a sufficient quantity of detonative material,
such as fulminate of mercury or a similar compound, in order to
detonate effectually the insensitive high explosive charge on reaching
the target. When such a quantity of fulminate was employed, there
was danger of its being exploded by the shock of the propelling charge
of gunpowder, and in turn setting off the high explosive charge of the
shell and bursting the gun.

I designed and patented a fuse in 1895, in which the detonator
was positioned at the rear of the shell, and completely outside of the
high explosive charge, with the whole strong wall of the shell base be-
tween it and the high explosive, in which position, should the fuse go
off prematurely from shock in the gun, the detonator would blow
out at the rear and no damage would be done, as the high explosive
would be beyond its reach. When, however, the projectile with its fuse
struck the target, the body of detonative compound was thrown vio-
lently forward in a guide tube and into the high explosive bursting
charge, due to the retardation of the projectile.

To carry out the foregoing experiments, I built two powder mills
at Maxim, near Lakewood, N. J. It was there that the Maxim-
Schiipphaus smokeless powder was produced, and there I conducted
a large number of experiments with a long four-inch gun, having pres-

HIGH EXPLOSIVES. 495

sure gauges at different points along the whole length of the barrel, by
which it was possible to ascertain not only how much pressure was
exerted behind a projectile at the instant of firing, but how well the
pressure was maintained behind it all along the bore. From this
gun a torpedo shell, made thin and filled with Maximite and having
a very heavy base portion filled with lead to act as tamping, was fired
against an armor plate three and one-half inches thick and four feet
square, demolishing it completely. The quantity of high explosive
carried was only two pounds.

After the completion of the experiments at Maxim, N. J., and the
successful testing of the Maxim-Schupphaus powder by the United
States Government, followed by its adoption, I went to England, with
a view to the disposition of the foreign patent rights. On the 24th of
June, 1897, I delivered a lecture before the Eoyal United Service In-
stitution of Great Britain, on 'A New System of Throwing High
Explosives from Ordnance.'

I explained and illustrated how a torpedo gun could be constructed
which would weigh no more and cost no more than the ordinary
twelve-inch seacoast rifle, but which should have a caliber twice as
great, and which would stand a chamber pressure sufficiently high to
throw a projectile carrying half a ton of high explosive at as great a
velocity as that imparted to the usual 1,000-pound shell thrown from
the 12-inch gun, and which carries only 37 pounds of black rifle
powder.

I showed diagrams giving the range of destructiveness of such
aerial torpedoes when striking in the water adjacent to a battleship,
and claimed that such a quantity striking on board or against the
armored side, under high velocity, would, without question, throw the
vessel out of action.

This lecture was very widely commented upon in both the general
and the scientific press, and it was stated in the House of Parliament,
by one of the members who was opposing the appropriations for so
many large battleships, that it would be necessary, in the event of war,
and after the aerial torpedo was introduced, to keep battleships snugly
in harbor and roof the harbors over to protect them.

THE GATHMANN GUN.

The Gathmann Gun Company, last year, secured an appropriation
from Congress for a large torpedo gun, which was constructed by the
Bethlehem Ironworks, and now lies at the Sandy Hook Proving
Grounds, awaiting tests.

This gun is very like that proposed by me in the above-mentioned
lecture, excepting that the caliber is not quite so large for the weight,

496 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

although the caliber, which is eighteen inches, will doubtless prove
sufficient to enable the gun to give a good account of itself.

In the trials of this gun, made by the builders with a charge of
Maxim-Schiipphaus smokeless powder, a projectile weighing a ton was
hurled at a velocity of 1,900 feet per second with a pressure of only
19,000 pounds to the square inch. As the gun will safely stand a pressure
of 25,000 pounds -to the square inch, a velocity of more than 2,000
feet per second can obviously be readily obtained, as against the
velocity of from 2,000 to 2,250 feet per second for the 1,000 pound shell
from the 12-inch gun, with a pressure of 35,000 pounds to the square
inch. We must note here that the weight of the Gathmann gun is only
59 tons, against 52 tons for the 12-inch seacoast rifle.

A bill now before Congress calls for an appropriation for the ef-
ficient testing of this weapon. The service projectile, which will be
thrown from this gun in the coming test, will carry about 475 pounds
of wet, compressed guncotton, or 700 pounds of Maximite. Maximite
being 50 per cent, heavier than guncotton, the shell will hold 225
pounds more of that material. There are to be 24 shots at full
velocity, some for range and accuracy, and others to show the effect
on powerful structures erected on the land. The last and final test
will be against a steel barge anchored off shore, presenting a side fully
armored and supported, so as to offer even greater resistance than
would be afforded by the side of the strongest battleship now afloat.

Although Mr. Gathmann is my competitor, I feel much gratified at
his success in procuring from the Government the necessary appropria-
tions for building and testing this gun, and I am of the opinion that
the results of these tests will prove a source of gratification to all the
taxpayers of the country, who, unless the gun proves successful, will
be called upon to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars for build-
ing and arming a fleet of monster battleships, which will not be re-
quired after one shot has been fired against the steel barge which will
be provided for the purpose.

The war vessel that must follow as a natural result of the success of
the aerial torpedo will be an unarmored, or only partially armored,
gunboat or cruiser of small dimensions, capable of traveling at very
high speed. It will be a sort of floating gun-platform, and will cost
only a fraction of what the battleship costs, while a single one of
these gunboats will afford far more protection than the most powerful
battleship.

MAXIMITE.

The United States Government has, during the last two years, been
putting forth especial efforts to thoroughly investigate the qualities
and merits of high explosives, with a view to finding the best bursting

HIGH EXPLOSIVES. 497

charge for shells. A large number of explosive compounds have been
submitted by various inventors and tested by the Ordnance Depart-
ment of the United States Army at the Sandy Hook Proving Grounds.

Some of the explosive compounds submitted have given very satis-
factory results. Perhaps half a dozen of them would serve fairly well,
if nothing better could be found. The Government, however, has placed
its standard of excellence very high, with the hope of finding, if pos-
sible, something better than is possessed by other countries.

The United States Government was one of the last to adopt a
smokeless powder, notwithstanding the fact that it was one of the first
to experiment with these new explosives. But the Departments then
having the matter in charge were very conservative, taking nothing
for granted, were uninfluenced by the example of other countries and
were determined that nothing but the best would be good enough for
Uncle Sam. The result is that this Government to-day possesses a
smokeless powder superior to that adopted by any other country. The
same policy has been manifested in the search for a high explosive
suitable as a bursting charge for shells.

The tests through which a high explosive must pass before there is
the least hope of its meeting the requirements of the Government are
very severe. The inventive Yankee, having an ambition to serve the
Government by producing for its use a satisfactory high explosive, has
u difficult task before him. In the first place, the compound must be
perfectly stable, and to determine this it is submitted to a severe
heat test for a period of fifteen minutes. If it fails to stand this test
it is condemned at once, and goes no further. If it passes the heat
test satisfactorily, a quantity is then placed under a falling weight
or hammer to test its sensitiveness or its ability to resist shock. This
is determined by the height from which it is necessary for the hammer
to fall in order to explode the material. If the explosive proves suf-
ficiently insensitive to indicate that it will stand the impact or shock
of penetrating armor plate, it is then tested to determine its explosive
power. A forged steel armor-piercing shell is filled with the material
and armed with a very powerful exploder, which is set off by electricity.
The force of the explosive is shown by the number and character of the
fragments. Small shells are burst for fragmentation in a steel-walled
chamber; larger shells are buried in the sand and exploded, the frag-
ments being recovered by sifting the sand.

If the number of fragments indicates a sufficiently high explosive
power, an armor-piercing shell is filled with the compound and fired
through a nickel steel plate, so thick as to almost stop the shell in
passing through, leaving just velocity enough to carry it a few feet
into a sand butt back of the plate, where it may be dug out and re-
covered, provided the explosive proves to be sufficiently insensitive to

VOL. LVIII.— 32 «

498

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

stand the .shock of impact, and does not explode on the instant of strik-
ing the plate. This is a very severe test — the severest of all. An
explosive which will stand this impact on the plate, where the en-
tire velocity of the projectile is overcome, while moving its length
through the plate, is proved to be so insensitive that there
can be no danger in its projection from ordnance at any desired
velocity. That is to say. there will be no danger of the explosive
going oil' in the gun, because the shock of acceleration in the gun
is necessarily very much less than the shock of retardation when the
projectile strikes the armor-plate.

Maximite has passed all of the above tests satisfactorily. When
it was subjected to the heat test and no change was manifested at the

Fig. 1.

Twelve-inch forged steel armor-piercing shell, weighing 1,000 lbs., be-
fore and after exploding the Maximite. There ait- about 7.000 fragments shown
in the photograph from which this illustration was made.

end of fifteen minutes — the required time — the material was allowed,
at my request, to remain under the lest for a period of two hours, and
there were no .-igns of decomposition even then.

A 12-inch forged steel armor-piercing shell, weighing 1,000 pounds,
and provided with a detonating fuse, Inning electrical connections for
tiring, was filled with Maximite. The shell was buried in the sand and
exploded. So terrific was the detonation that 7,000 fragments were
nciualh recovered and photographed.

The accompanying illustration. Fig. 1, shows the shell before
exploding. On the right of the shell are 7,000 fragments which were
recovered. II will he observed thai the fragments do not have the

HIGH EXPLOSIVES.

499

usual broken appearance, but arc much distorted by the violence of
the explosion.

A live-inch armor-piercing projectile was next filled with Maximite
and fired through an armor plate, as above described, the projectile
being afterwards recovered intact. It was found that the shock had in
no way affected the explosive. The shell was then armed with a fuse
and fired by electricity. The number and character of the fragments
showed that the same force was developed in proportion to the weight
of the shell, as in the case of the large 12-inch shell above mentioned,
which was exploded in the sand. The five-inch shell is shown in
Fig. 2. The fragments recovered after the explosion are shown on the
right of the shell.

The next test was with projectiles filled with Maximite fired against

Fig. 2.
Five-inch forged steel armor-piercing projectile, weight 45 lbs., before and
after exploding the Maximite. This shell, after filling with the explosive, was
first fired through a four-inch nickel steel plate into a sand butt, where it was
recovered intact. It was then exploded for fragmentation. There are a little
over 800 pieces of the shell shown in the photograph, the average weight of the
pieces being, therefore, about one ounce.

a concrete wall, with results which demonstrate that the power of
the explosion was superior to that of any other high explosive ever
thrown from a gun.

Projectiles loaded with. Maximite were then fired through a wooden
screen, after passing which they exploded, and the fragments went into
the sea. The fragmentation was such that the appearance of the
water was similar to that which would be produced by the simultaneous
fire of a regiment of musketry. On this occasion, a result was produced
hitherto unknown, and which, perhaps, illustrated the violence of the

500

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

explosive better than anything else. The projectiles, at the instant
of explosion, were probably going at a velocity of about 2,000
feet per second. Pieces of the base plug of one of the projectiles were
thrown back with such violence as to not only overcome the for-
ward movement, but to throw them backward with a velocity estimated
to be at least 1,000 feet per second.

This shows that a projectile filled with Maximite and exploded in a
state of rest would have its fragments hurled at a velocity of about
3,000 feet per second, a much higher speed than that of a rifle ball, and
that the forward-moving fragments, when a projectile is exploded in
flight, will be hurled at a velocity something like 5,000 feet per second,
or more than twice the speed of a rifle ball.

For the same reason that a large number of small bullets thrown
at a high velocity are more effective and deadly than the large, heavy,
slow-moving bullets formerly employed, a shell filled with such an

Fig. 3.

Fig.

Fig. 4.
Fig. 3.
The fragments, natural size, of the point of a forged steel armor-
piercing shell, exploded with Maximite, showing the ragged and shredded state
of the metal produced by the explosive, with the hardened tip of the projectile
broken off by the impact.

Fig. 4.

Side view of a fragment from the body of a 12-inch armor-piercing
forged steel shell, exploded with Maximite. On the left of the fragment, which
was the inner surface of the shell, is seen the flattening and stretching effect of the
blow which it received from the explosion, as though it had been heated and then
si ruck with a sledge-hammer, the force of the blow being so sudden and severe
that the whole outer surface of the shell, except a small piece seen hanging to the
fragment on the right was knocked off by the force of the impact.

Fig. 5.
View of opposite side of fragment seen in Fig. 4, showing where this
piece was jammed upon a neighboring fragment with such force that its sur-
face « :i- made In flow like wax.

HIGH EXPLOSIVES. 501

explosive as Maximite has an enormous advantage over explosives
heretofore in use.

CURIOUS PROPERTIES OF MAXIMITE.

Maximite cannot be exploded by ignition. If a store-house filled
•with this material were set on fire, there would he no danger of ex-
plosion. Melted cast iron may be poured upon a mass of Maximite with-
out the least danger of exploding it. When heated, it melts, and if the
heating be continued, it will evaporate like water, without producing an
explosion. Lyddite, the high explosive adopted by the British Govern-
ment, is said to be simply picric acid. This substance is melted for fill-
ing the shells, which are preliminarily heated to about the fusion point
of the material to prevent too rapid setting. The melting point of
picric acid is 122° C. The melting point of pure Maximite is exactly
one-half of that of picric acid. That is to say, it is 01° C. The low
melting point of Maximite enables it to be fused over the ordinary
water bath, but owing to the impossibility of exploding it by heat,
the water bath is not used, for it may be melted over an open fire in the
same manner that asphalt is melted in the street cauldrons, and with
equal safety. It is not necessary to heat the shells beforehand when
filling them with Maximite.

On the other hand, great care has to be taken in the fusion of
picric acid, because, if it becomes ignited in quantity before fusion,
while in granular form, it will detonate, and also if it be heated very
much above the fusion point, it will detonate.

The high fusion point of picric acid renders it necessary to em-
ploy a special lining material for protecting the shells against the
erosive effect of the acid, while Maximite has very much less erosive
action upon metals, and owing to its low fusion point an ordinary coat-
ing of shellac or similar sid)stanee is all that is necessary to protect the
shells.

It has been found from the experiments made by the Government
that, although a high explosive may be so sensitive as to safely with1
stand the shock of acceleration in the gun. it may still be dangerous to
fire, owing to the rapid rotation given to the projectile by the rifling of
the gun, which is a rate of about 7,000 turns a minute. As a result, the
projectile revolves upon the explosive before the latter has time
fully to participate in its rotation. The great heat generated by this
friction is apt to set fire to the explosive, causing a detonation.

Maximite requires so little heating for fusion that there is but
slight contraction of the molten substance in reaching the point of
solidification or freezing point. Maximite, furthermore, possesses the
peculiar quality of expanding on solidifying, in the same way that
Mater does on freezing. This causes it to set very firmly upon, and to

502

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

adhere tightly to, the walls of the shell, so that it is quite impossible
for the charge to shift in the shell. In the event, however, of the shell
rotating upon the Maximite charge, the surface of the substance ex-
posed would simply melt, producing a fluid and perfectly frictionless
bearing. In the Transvaal War many Lyddite shells exploded pre-
maturely, either from shock in the gun or from the rotation of the
shell upon the eharge. Such prematures would be impossible with
Maximite.

Fig. 6.
Three 3-inch shells, which were filled with Maximite and primed with
50 grains of fulminate of mercury. The points of the shells were blown off
with the fuse without exploding the Maximite. The confinement and the force
of the exploder wore not sufficient to detonate the Maximite. This is a good
illustration of the extreme insensitiveness of this material. (See small piles of
unexploded Maximite below the fragments of the shells.)

When wet compressed guncotton is used as a shell charge, there is
always some danger of a premature from the rotation of the shell
upon the charge, especially when the percentage of water is not great.

VALUE OF HIGH EXPLOSIVES IN ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS.

Maximite is the first high explosive, satisfactory in other respects,
which could be tired through armor plate of such thickness as to
lender it available for armor-piercing shells.

In a recent test it the Sandy Hook Proving Grounds, a 12-inch
armor-piercing forged steel shell, carrying a bursting charge of 70
pounds of Maximite. was fired through a 7-inch Harveyized nickel
steel plate. This is the maximum thickness of such a plate for which

HIGH EXPLOSIVES.

503

this shell is adapted; hence Maximite has shown itself capable of with-
standing the shock of penetration of armor plate as thick as the
armor-piercing shel] itselHwil] stand, and furthermore, in the maximum
quantity which the largest shells are capable of carrying.

In the 12-ineh shell for piercing si ill thicker armor, the charge
space is considerably smaller and the length of column of explosive
very much shorter, so that, although the shock upon the projectile
would be greater, si ill the shock upon the explosive would not be any
more severe than that exerted upon the Maximite in the above test.

The write!- has developed a fuse which will carry 100 grains, or
even more, of a fulminate of mercury compound, together with more
than 2,000 grains id' a picrate, through the thickest armor plate, with-
out going oil' prematurely, and which will act promptly to explode the
bursting charge of Maximite immediately it ejets through the plate.

^/\

, :

"." ' '"..,:.:.

»:■- ?r~ ~~ ' ' '^-^ ■•-"

Figs. 7 ANn 8.

A section of the common 12 -inch seacoast rifle, and a section of torpedo gun
proposed by the writer in a lecture before the Royal United Service Institution of
Great Britain, June, 1897.

The problem of successfully throwing high explosives from pow-
der guns mav be said to be already solved. Not only this, but the far
more difficult problem has been solved, of successfully firing high ex-
plosives through armor plate to explode inside of a war vessel.

An equally important feature of the problem has also been met,
and that is the safety in storage of high explosives in quantity, es-
pecially in the magazines of a battleship. The refractory character of
Maximite is such that it is rendered absolutely safe under such cir-
cumstances. Furthermore, it is so insensitive thai projectiles tilled
with it could not be exploded by other projectiles striking ttjiem and
exploding among them.

In a recent test by the Government, three 3-inch shells were filled
with Maximite and armed with a point fuse filled with fifty grains
of fulminate of mercury, and the fuses tired by electricity. As a
result, the forward ends only of the shells were blown oil' by the fuse,
leaving the whole rear portions of the shells unbroken, and tilled with
nnexploded Maximite. The fragments of the forward ends, which were

504 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

recovered, had the Maximite adhering to them like mortar to a brick.
Another 3-inch shell was filled with picric acid, fused and fired in ex-
actly the same manner as were the Maximite shells. The pierie acid
detonated with great violence, breaking the shell into small fragments.
This tesl determined the superior insensitiveness of Maximite, and its
absolute safety against even very severe shocks.

in order to effectually detonate Maximite, it must he confined in a
w\\ strong steel shell, and set off with net less than 100 grains of
fulminate of mercury, reinforced with not less than 1,000 grains of
Mime form of picrate, dry guncotton or similar substance

In tin' recent tests made by the British government upon the old
battleship, the "Belleisle," great havoc was found to have been wrought
by tin' Lyddite shells whenever they penetrate through the ship's side
at unprotected points, but all such shells which struck upon the armor
plate exploded on impact, and did no damage. Had Maximite shells
been used in this test, they would have passed through the armor plate
and exploded inside the vessel.

Maximite is an entirely new chemical compound. Nothing like it,
to my knowledge, has ever before been produced. Its production is based
upon an entirely novel theory of detonation, which, together with the
formula for the material itself, is kept a Government secret.

PYRAMID LAKE, NEVADA. 505

PYRAMID LAKE, NEVADA.

By HAROLD W. FAIRBANKS, Ph.D.

BERKFXEY, (A I,.

NOT much more than fifty years ago the Great Basin region, lying
between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas, was al-
most unknown. Previous to 1840, a few daring men had penetrated
west of the Rocky Mountains. The route to Oregon had been traversed,
and one party had crossed the southern portion of the Great Basin, but
the main portion was unexplored.

The maps made of the country lying west, of the Eocky Mountains
previous to the explorations of Fremont are most interesting, as showing
the strange conceptions which men had formed of the geographic fea-
tures of the region. The great Sierra Nevada range of California is en-
tirely absent, and a number of rivers are marked as rising in the Eocky
Mountains and flowing west into the Pacific.

One of these maps was used by Fremont, who first made known the
real character of the region, and the journal of his wanderings in this
desert waste 1- most interesting reading. Enabled as we are now to
cross the deserts in a few hours in comfortable cars, with good maps at
hand, and plenty to eat and drink, it is hai'd to place ourselves in the
position of the early explorers of a vast and unknown region, where each
day the problem o\' food and water has to lie solved anew.

We owe much to Fremont for his daring explorations in the arid
regions of the West. It was during his first expedition that he dis-
covered Pyramid Lake, the subject of this sketch, bid in trying to extri-
cate himself and his party from the deserts, they nearly perished upon
the snowy summits of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

In the year L843 Fremont conducted an exploring expedition to
Oregon. As winter approached he turned southward from The Dalles,
expecting to return to Salt Lake by way of Nevada. But upon getting
into the deserts and fearing that he would not be able to cross them, he
turned westward and. in the very heart of winter, attempted to cross
the Sierras into California. This plan was based upon a misconception
of the geography; for hi- map showed him no Sierra Nevada, but instead
a great river called the Buenaventura, which was supposed to rise in the
Eocky Mountains and flow westward into San Francisco Bay. Day
alter day as his party became more wearied, and food for the animals
became scarcer, he watched for this river, thinking that every stream
which they came to must be the one sought, but found invariably that

5o6

rOPULAU SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Fig. l. Pyramid Island, Pyramid Lake.

Fig. 2. Tin \ Deposits v.\ Pyramid Lake, showing Concentric Str

ucture.

PYRAMID LAKE, NEVADA. 5°7

the streams flowed in the wrong direction and emptied into lakes with-
out outlets or into the desert sands.

As the party (raveled southward into Nevada, they came upon one of
the largest and most interesting of the lakes of the Great Basin. Fre-
mont says in his journal: "Beyond, a defile between I he mountains
descended rapidly about 2,000 feet; and filling all the lower space was a
sheet of green water some twenty miles broad. It broke upon our eyes
like the ocean. The waves were curling in the breeze and their green
color showed it to be a body of deep water. For a long time we sat en-
joying the view. It was like a gem in the mountains which from our
position seemed to enclose it almost entirely." 'Thus runs (he narrative
of the first white man who ever saw this great body of water. Of its
source and general relations he knew nothing, but he hoped that it had
an outlet and that the stream would lead him westward to California.

Traveling southward along the eastern shore of the lake, the party
came in sight of a great rock rising from it, and camped upon the shore
opposite. Fremont says: "It rose according to our estimate 600 feet
above the water, and from the point we viewed it, presented a pretty
exact outline of the great pyramid of Cheops. This striking feature
suggested a name for the lake ami I called it Pyramid Lake."

The lake thus discovered and named has had an interesting geologi-
cal history, and is surrounded by many remarkable scenic features. It
occupies the deepest portion of the basin of a much greater lake which
once covered much of northwestern Nevada. This extinct lake has
been named Lahonton, after an early French explorer.

It must be understood that the Great Basin, as its name signifies, is
an extensive region with no outlet to the ocean. It is made up of in-
numerable faulted crust blocks, the elevated ones giving rise to the north
and south ranges of mountains and the depressed ones to the desert
basins lying between. Each local basin or valley has its own watershed
limited by the mountains which surround it, but if for any cause the
water supply from these mountains is in excess of the evaporation in the
valley, a lake results, and if the supply is sufficient the lake will overflow
its own basin and spread into the adjoining basins, rising to a height at
which the water lost by evaporation exactly balances the inflow.

In this manner it was that the great Lake Lahonton spread over the
valleys of northwestern Nevada during the glacial period. The Walker,
Carson and Truckee rivers, with many smaller ones, all heading in the
glacier-covered Sierras, were supplied with a great amount of water dm>
ing the heavier precipitation of that period. In addition, the heat was
not so great and consequently evaporation was less.

The ancient boundaries of this lake have been traced and carefully
studied, and we know- that during its high-water stage it was second,
in size, only to Lake Bonneville, another great lake of the same period

;o8

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

which occupied the hasin of Great Salt Lake. The total length of Lake
Lahonton from north to south was not far from 250 miles, with a width
from east to west of 180 miles. Its area was more than 8,000 square
miles. It was an exceedingly irregular lake, however, for it was broken
up by mountain ranges into many long and narrow arms, with deep bays
and long peninsulas. At the time of its greatest expansion it still had
no outlet, although one arm reached far westward into Honey Lake val-
ley, < iilil'ornia, and another one extended into southern Oregon.

As time passed on and precipitation decreased, the supplying streams
became smaller and the lake began to shrink. The basins which had
been connected at high water again were separated and so there at last
resulted the conditions of the present dav. Many of the lakes are still

*•

*■ :.-v.

<■:-

'^mm'u

■3fei

Fig. 3. Terraces of Lake Lahonton, North of Pyramid Lake.

shrinking, and it is difficult to tell how much of the ancient lake will
eventually remain. Walker Lake, Carson Lake, Humboldt, Honey and
Pyramid lakes are the remnants of the once far-reaching Lake Lahonton.
The great valleys which the lake left bare are now among the most arid
portions of Nevada. Notable among these is the Black Rock desert,
where for many miles, and in some directions as far as tbe eye can
reach, the barren clay floor of the old lake stretches away.

A- the waters of Lake Lahonton receded they did so by stages
and at every stopping-place left a well marked beach. These old beach
terraces are among tbe most striking features of this region. One may

PYRAMID LAKE, NEVADA.

509

travel for days over the desert with the old wave-cut benches circling
the mountains far above him.

Pyramid Lake occupies the deepest of the basins of Lake Lahonton.
It has a depth now of about 360 feet, but the waters of the ancient lake
rose 500 feet higher, making its greatest depth at the time of maximum
expansion nearly 1,000 feet. Pyramid Lake has a length of thirty
miles and a maximum width of ten miles. It is fed by the Truckee
Eiver, which has its source in Lake Tahoe in the high Sierras. The
lake is, of course, alkaline, as are all the lakes of the Great Basin, hut
the water is not as strongly impregnated as some of them. It is well
supplied with large trout, as well as several other kinds of fish. The
water is unfit for people to drink, although it answers for stock.

■ /-*

Fig. 4. Tcfa Deposits, North End of Pyramid Lake.

High mountains come down to the lake, leaving in places scarcely
room for a road, and although the waters are quiet as a rule, yet
they are subject to sudden and violent storms.

At many points within the basin of the former lake, Lahonton, there
are strange-appearing deposits of calcareous tufa, either encrusting the
rocks or rising in curious and fantastic towers and domes. The waters
of the lake were richly impregnated with calcium carbonate, derived in
part from the incoming streams, but more largely probably from cal-
careous springs. As the lake waters receded, the salts in solution be-
came more concentrated and soon began to form chemical precipi-
tates upon projecting rocky points. In the port ion of the basin now oc-

5io

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

cupied by Pyramid Lake the springs were more numerous and the water
consequently more richly impregnated with lime. As a result, we find
to-day in and about this lake the most interesting and remarkable tufa
deposits known in all the Great Basin.

The tufa deposits are of various sorts and appearances, the differ-
ences being due to changes in the chemical properties of the water at
various stages. Some of the forms are merely encrusting, and appar-
ently structureless. Others show beautiful dendritic and interlacing fig-
ures, lapping over each other like the successive branches of some
organic growth. The great deposits in Pyramid Lake have been built up
in the form of towers, domes and pinnacles. The smaller ones bear a
mosl striking resemblance to great thick mushrooms with a concentric

Fir,. 5. Tufa Homes, East shore of Pyramid Lake. Mushroom-like Form.

structure. These mushroom-like growths start from some projecting
point or pebble and increase in size by precipitation from the surround-
ing water, until, massing together, the great domes and pinnacles have
been built up, rising hundreds of feet in the air.

While these deposits are still being formed in Pyramid Lake, the

large ones which rise so picturesquely from the water must, of course,

have been formed before Lake Lahonton had entirely disappeared, and

it has been only through the continued recession of the water that the

■ -its have become exposed to our observation.

Following the road northward along the wesl side of the lake, we
3 many curious forms assumed by the tufa. Here is one upon a pro-

FY HAM ID LAKE, NEVADA.

5ii

jecting point of the shore like an old ruined castle, there by the road-
side a cluster of nearly spherical domes, partly broken down and show-
ing the concentric inner structure. But upon the far side of the lake,
standing out clearly in the desert air, rises the mosl attractive feature of
all. It is Pyramid Island, and we do no! wonder at Fremont's naming it
as he did.

Hiring a boat at a little ranch by the shore, we rowed across the clear
and quiet waters of the lake to Pyramid and Analio islands. The latter
island is completely encrusted with the dendritic In fa. which from a
distance appears like the overlapping scales upon some gigantic animal.

Fig. (5, Mushrooji Rock, Anaho Island.

Upon the eastern side of the islands, rising from the edge of the
water there is a most picturesque deposit, known as the mushroom rock
and shown in the accompanying photograph. Rising from a firm base,
the deposit becomes -mallei-, and then at the top swells out in a spherical
head.

Pyramid Island next demanded attention, and a row of a mile farther
brought us close under its towering cliffs. It rises almost vertically
from the water, but its sides soon become more sloping and terminate
in a point nearly 300 feet high. Its shape is almost symmetrical from
whichever side it is viewed. Its surface is of a very light color, and con-
sequently it is* a conspicuous landmark from all points about the lake.

512

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Fig. 7. One of the Pinnacles, North End of Pyramid Island.

Fio, 8. Tufa Crass, North End of Pyramid Lake.

PYRAMID LAKE, NEVADA. 513

It is but a short distance from the island to the eastern shore, where
Fremont camped and made the sketch which accompanies his narrative.
This is a favorite camping spot for the Indians while engaged in fish-
ing. Upon a projecting point near here there is a large cluster of very
perfect tufa domes. They are among the finest about the lake. Several
of them stand out from the others and exhibit finely their manner of
growth. Starting from a point upon the rocks, the mushroom-like
form spreads out until eight or ten feet in diameter and is then com-
pleted by a perfect hemispherical upper surface.

Long before we reached the northern end of the lake our attention
was attracted by a long line of sharply pointed crags and islands, extend-
ing out more than a mile into the lake. The most of these can be
reached only by water, so securing a boat from an Indian, we pulled
across the three miles of water intervening.

This group of tufa domes and crags is by far the most interesting of
any about the lake. Exceedingly picturesque is the effect as one rows
among them, gliding over the quiet waters, from whose clear depths rise
these fantastic forms. Some are low and rounded, their mammillary or
botryoidal surfaces made up of an aggregation of domes. Others are
more angular, rising sharply from the water's edge to a height of 300
feet. Beautiful beaches of clean sand stretch between those nearer the
shore, sand marked most regularly by the waves of the lake at different
stages, as it slowly recedes through the summer months. Upon a warm
summer's day when the lake glistens in the sunlight, the caves in the
tufa offer most inviting retreats, and the clean gently shelving beaches
and comfortably tempered water are irresistible. One enjoys a bath in
the mineral waters, but must be careful not to stay in them too long, for
they are so strongly impregnated with alkalies that the skin is soon af-
fected.

During the high-water stages of the lake these picturesque towers
grew up beneath its surface from numerous warm springs carrying lime
in solution. Springs still issue at various places, and the tufa can be
observed in process of formation. It is soft and spongy, crushing under
one's feet as one walks over the surface, but slightly above the summer
level of the lake.

These rocks, as well as those at the southern end of the lake, are the
resort of thousands of sea birds, many of which nest here. Pelicans,
sea gulls, terns, geese, ducks, etc., abound. The pelican rookeries are
large and particularly interesting, with the great uncouth birds swim-
ming about in large numbers and the downy young waddling around
the nests. The cavities and nooks in the tufa offer especially con-
venient nesting places for many of the birds. Then, too, they are sel-
dom molested in this remote place.

Another interesting feature about the life of these rocks is the multi-

VOL. LV1II.— 33

514 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tude of spiders. One cannot climb over them without being covered
with the webs and distributing hundreds of the little insects. But few
bushes grow upon the tufa, for the rainfall here is very slight, and they
are clearly revealed in all their nakedness.

Exceedingly barren are the shores of this great lake, except at two
points where springs furnish water for irrigation. The Truckee Eiver
has rich bottoms along its lower course, occupied by Indians who seem
to be fairly well civilized.

Although the lake is so isolated, its scenery is remarkable in the ex-
treme, and it deserves to be better known. More plainly than is
usually the case, the history of the ancient lake which occupied these
valleys is recorded on the slopes of the surrounding mountains and in
the strange tufa deposits which rise out of the waters of its modern rep-
resentative, Pyramid Lake. Eising and falling with the different sea-
sons, the lake seems to have slight hold upon life. If the Truckee
Eiver should be entirely diverted to Winnemucca Lake, the waters of
Pyramid Lake would undoubtedly shrink to insignificant proportions.
The same effect would be brought about if the aridity of the Great
Basin region should increase, and the precipitation upon the Sierra
Nevada become less than at present.

Let us hope that, in the swinging of the pendulum from arid to
more moist conditions and back again, the lakes of the Great Basin are
not doomed to extinction, but that they may again increase in size, re-
peating the conditions of the past.

THE GEOLOGIST AWHEEL. 515

THE GEOLOGIST AWHEEL.

By Professor WILLIAM H. HOBBS,

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.

IN no country of the world does the government distribute to its peo-
ple with so lavish a hand as in our own the published results of
scientific investigation. One example among many that might be given
is furnished by the reports of the United States Geological Survey,
which for abundance of material, for scientific value and for beauty of
illustration are not approached by the geological publications of any
European state. Of the many who see the beautifully colored geological
maps which accompany these magnificent reports, or the only less elabo-
rate and expensive maps prepared by certain of the individual States,
doubtless few have the faintest notion of the studies on which they are
based.

No comprehensive study can be made of the geology of any region
until some sort of geographical map of the region makes it possible to
represent the exposed rock masses in approximately their true positions
relative to one another. If the geology be other than of the very sim-
plest character — and this will generally be true of mountainous regions
— it is not only necessary to fix the geographical positions of rock masses,
but their elevations as well. In other words, the map must not only be
a plan, but special elevations must be represented, known as geological
sections. The most satisfactory representation — and this will be essen-
tial for all difficult areas — will be one which shows not only special ele-
vations, but the topographic relief of every point in the area. A proper
preparation for detailed geological work in a difficult area involves,
therefore, the making of a relief or topographic map based on correct
triangrdation, and of a scale and an accuracy of delineation of relief
forms commensurate with the complexity of the geological structure.
For large areas of the eastern United States such maps have been prepared
by the United States Government, sometimes in cooperation with the
State governments, and these maps maybe obtained in the form of beau-
tifully engraved atlas sheets by any one and at merely nominal prices.
On these maps are shown in black the railroads, highways, houses, etc.
(the culture); in blue, the lakes, streams, swampy areas, etc. (the hydrog-
raphy); and in brown, the lines of approximately equal altitude (the
topography).

With such a map the field geologist can begin intelligently his geo-
logical work. This work will consist first of all in the collecting of his

516 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

data, that is, the visiting and examination of a great number of rock ex-
posures well distributed over the area, and the careful location of each
upon his topographical map, with observations indicated by special char-
acters and colors. Where the region is thinly settled and roads are few,
access will be difficult and the location of exposures doubly so, since no
well determined points upon the map will generally be found near at
hand from which to fix direction or to measure distance. In the com-
paratively thickly populated Atlantic section of the United States there
will, however, be found large areas within which the highways form an
elaborate network, and the location of outcrops will here be compara-
tively easy; a road corner, a sharp bend of a highway, a house, or other
characteristic landmark being generally near enough to furnish a basis
of measurement. It is for a study of such areas that the present paper
is especially intended.

In the past the field geologist engaged in areal and structural work
has depended either upon his own power of locomotion or upon the use
of a saddle horse or a team. In the northeastern United States the
numerous fences restrict his use of a horse to the highways themselves,
and the difficulty of hiring suitable saddle horses has practically elimi-
nated them from consideration. When teams are used they must very
frequently be left while rock exposures are sought or examined, and the
time thus lost in hitching in suitable places is very considerable.
Further, a horse requires food and water, protection from flies, etc., and
its hire varies from one to three dollars per day.

The advent of the bicycle has greatly facilitated the study of regions
where roads are frequent, though geologists seem to be slow to appre-
ciate its advantages. The increasing number of official government or
State geologists, of university professors, and of teachers and students
generally who engage in geological work may well excuse one for urging
the advantages in effectiveness, in cheapness and in comfort of a prop-
erly equipped bicycle for this and similar forms of scientific work. One
of the greatest of these advantages arises from the attached cyclometer,
which if read and recorded at road corners and other landmarks affords
one at all times either a perfect location (in case an exposure is found on
the highway), or a convenient base (if an excursion must be made away
from the road).

The most convenient form of cyclometer for geological work is one
which can be attached to the axle of the forward wheel of the bicycle be-
tween the prongs of the fork. The slight disadvantage of being com-
pelled to bring the wheel to a definite position before reading the cyclom-
eter is small when compared to the danger of injuring the usual form
through the falling of the wheel or from contact with objects by which
the wheel is left supported. It is, moreover, frequently desirable to
ship the wheel as baggage on railway trains, and it is generally better on

THE GEOLOGIST AWHEEL. $17

these occasions to remove the ordinary type of cyclometer lest it be
broken or injured in handling. All this danger is avoided in the im-
proved form of cyclometer which is attached to the center of the axle.

The equipment of the geologist will generally consist of a collecting
bag with separate compartments for note book, maps, and rock speci-
mens; a hammer, compass and aneroid barometer. In regions of low
relief the aneroid is of little service and may be dispensed with, but the
best method of carrying the other articles of the geologist's equipment is
a question of considerable importance.

The collecting bag which is in use by government parties operating
in the northern Atlantic States may be deserving of a special description,
inasmuch as it is an evolution of many years. It is made of the best
grade of russet leather and has four compartments. The map compart-
ment is merely a double back within which the maps, properly pro-
tected, are slipped. The note book compartment is sewed on the front
of the bag and shaped to the book. In the main central compartment
of the bag the specimens are stowed and in a wide but shallow pocket
sewed to its back near the top are kept the black and colored pencils, the
eraser, horn protractor, and small ebonite triangle, for use in the making
of notes and in plotting the observations upon the map. The cover of
the bag is a flap fastened by a strap to a buckle on the front and near the
bottom of the note book compartment. When carried on the person the
bag is supported by a wide strap passing through loops on the sides and
bottom so as to carry the weight from below. On the wheel the bag is
supported by a light framework of strong galvanized iron wire, which by
means of three leather straps is securely fastened to the handle bar and
the head of the machine. The bag fits loosely into the frame, even
when filled with specimens, and it is kept in place on rough roads by
being attached by two straps furnished with snaps to the handle bar of
the bicycle. The bag can thus be almost instantly attached to the wheel
or removed from it and slung by the carrying strap over the shoulder.

The topographic map sheets which are used for the base in the geo-
logical work are cut in half and each of these halves is again divided so
as to be mounted on the inside of two cloth covered and hinged boards,
as is the lining to a book cover. This method of mounting secures a
smooth surface and a firm support to the map, gives a large area always
at hand so that geological relationships may be easily appreciated, and
furnishes moreover the best possible protection to the records of the
work. Hardly less important is the protection which these stiff boards
afford to the leather back of the bag when they are slipped within its
map compartment, and also to the body of the geologist when the bag
is loaded with heavy specimens and carried from the shoulder.

The best form of compass is doubtless the four-inch aluminum dial
compass with clinometer attachment, which is manufactured by Gurley

518 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

for the United States Geological Survey, but cheaper and simpler in-
struments can be made to serve almost as well. This instrument is best
carried in a leather box worn upon the belt. The aneroid, if used, is
carried in a leather case slung from the shoulder and passed under the
belt so as to be shaken as little as possible. The hammer is most con-
veniently carried upon the person by slipping the handle through the
belt, a 'pick' or prospector's form being specially secure in this posi-
tion because of its long head. When riding the hammer is slipped
under a strap on the side of the carrying frame of the rock bag.

Where observations must be frequently taken, as in detailed areal
mapping, considerable time may be lost in finding a suitable support
against which to rest the wheel. Bicycle manufacturers should be able
to devise a light and simple support which can be carried with the wheel
and quickly adjusted. In a region adapted to bicycle work, such as
much of the Piedmont Plateau and the Coastal Plain of the eastern
United States, as well as large areas in Europe, it is believed that a
bicycle outfit such as is here described makes it possible to reduce
greatly the expense and to divide by at least one-half the time necessary
for mapping over that required if older methods of locomotion and
transportation are employed. The inertia of long-established practise
is, however, considerable, and geologists have been somewhat slow to
adopt the newer methods. The small expense of such an equipment and
the accessibility of the beautiful government maps make it possible for
private and essentially amateur geologists, with the advantages of only a
brief geological training and a moderate amount of experience, to col-
lect valuable data within the area surrounding their homes, especially if
these chance to be in a thickly settled part of the country.

FORMATION OF HABITS IN THE TURTLE. 519

THE FORMATION OF HABITS IN THE TURTLE.*

By ROBERT MEARNS YERKES,

HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

TZTABITS are determinants in human life. It is true that
-1 — *- we are free^ within limits, to form them; it is also true that,
once formed, they mold our lives. In the life of the brute habit
plays an even more important role than it does in man. The ability
to survive, for example, frequently depends upon the readiness with
which new feeding habits can be formed. So, too, in case of dangers
habitually avoided, those individuals which form habits most quickly
have the best chances of life. But it is unnecessary to emphasize the
importance of habit to all living beings, for it is obvious. We have now
to ask, What precisely is a habit?

A habit proves in analysis to be nothing more or less than a
tendency toward a certain action or line of conduct — a tendency
due to structural and functional modifications of the organism
which have resulted from repetition of the action itself; for nothing
can be done by the animal mechanism without resultant changes
in its organization. These changes it is which influence all sub-
sequent activities and constitute the physical basis of habit. Repe-
tition of an act apparently leads to the formation of a track for
the controlling nervous impulse — a line of least resistance, so to speak —
along which the current therefore tends to pass. A duck when thrown
into the water does not have to stop to think what to do to get out, how
to move this leg and then that; it instinctively, we say, meets the
situation with that combination of movements called swimming. But
the duck swims almost, if not quite, as well the first time it is put into
the water as it ever does. There is little profiting by experience. This
simply means that the structural basis of the swimming habit is present
at birth, and does not have to be formed by repetition of the action
thereafter. The habit is, in other words, inherited. For man swim-
ming is not an instinctive act; he has to learn every detail of the com-
plex muscular process by trial; he has to establish by repetition of the

* This article is based upon an experimental study of the associative processes
of turtles made at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Holl, Mass., during
the summer of 1899, under the direction of Dr. E. L. Thorndike. My thanks are
due Dr. Thorndike and Prof. C. O. Whitman, the director of the laboratory, for
their kindness.

520 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

activity the basis of the habit. Finally, however, the man will be able
to meet the situation — water, a distant shore, and a desire to be on the
shore — as the duck does — that is, habitually.

Since habits make an animal what it is in great part, the study
of their formation, of the manner and rapidity of their growth,
and of their permanence must be of practical as well as of scientific
importance. We are rapidly realizing, as the increasing interest in
animal psychology clearly indicates, that the mental life of all ani-
mal types must be understood before we can attain to a satisfactory
science of psychology or give a history of the evolution of mind.
To watch the progress of a habit's growth is exceedingly interest-
ing, whether the subject be a man or one of the lower animals.
Ordinarily the chief difficulties in the way of such a study are the
great length of time and the constancy of observation necessary.
But these obstacles may readily be avoided by making observa-
tions under artificial or experimental conditions — that is, by adapt-
ing conditions to the needs of the experiment, instead of trying
to adapt one's self to natural conditions. The account which fol-
lows presents, as an example of this kind of work, observations on
habit formation in the common 'speckled turtle' (Chelopus gut-
iaius). It has been my aim to give a brief account of the way in which
a particular turtle profited by experience.

The work was undertaken to determine to what extent and with
what rapidity turtles can learn; to measure as accurately as might be
their intelligence. Reptiles are usually considered sluggish and
unintelligent creatures, and there can be no question about the
general truth of this opinion. Turtles certainly appear to be very
stupid — so much so, indeed, that one would not expect much in the
way of intelligent actions. Just how stupid, or better perhaps, just
how intelligent they are, we shall be better able to judge after
studying the habits of the animals more carefully, and collecting
more evidence like the following:

The finding of the way through a labyrinth to a nest was chosen as
the habit to be studied. The motives employed to get the subject to
try to find its way to the nest were: first, the desire to hide in
some dark, secluded place; secondly, the impulse to escape from
confinement; and lastly, the desire to get to a place of comfort.
Dr. Thorndike,* in studying the associative processes of cats and
dogs (of which a brief account appeared in the Populae Science
Monthly for August, 1899), used hunger as the chief motive
for escape. This is unsatisfactory in the case of turtles, because they
frequently do not eat well in confinement, and at best their feeding or

*' Animal Intelligence, an Experimental Study.'

FORMATION OF HABITS IN THE TURTLE. 521

desire for food is very irregular and hard to control as a motive in ex-
perimental work.

The method of experimentation was simple. A box three feet
long, two feet wide and ten inches deep was divided into four
portions by partitions, also ten inches deep, arranged as shown in
Fig. 1. In each partition was a hole four inches long and two
inches deep, just large enough to permit the turtle to pass through
easily. The box is shown in ground plan by Fig. 1.

A is the space in which the animal was placed to start, the start-
ing-point being marked by a dot (.). The corner marked nest con-
tained a mass of damp grass and was darkened. When every-
thing was ready for an experiment the animal was placed in A at
the dot and allowed to wander about until it found the nest by
passing through the openings marked 1, 2 and 3.

On July 20 the animal, a speckled turtle about four inches
long which was found in Woods Holl, Mass., was placed in A for

^___ L "

NEST

..--' ^^.

■• \ -

NEST

Fig. 1. Plan of Labyrinth No. 1.

Fig. 2. Course for Fourth Trip.

the first time. After wandering about almost constantly for thirty-
five minutes, it chanced to find the nest, into which it immediately
crawled, there remaining until taken out for another experiment
two hours later. The observations were made from one to two hours
apart, in order to avoid fatiguing the animal, and also to leave it some
inducement for seeking the nest, for if it were taken out each time as
soon as it got back to the comfortable corner, the game would soon lose
interest. The second time the nest was reached in fifteen minutes,
with much less wandering. The time for the third trip was five minutes,
and for the fourth, three minutes thirty seconds. During the first three
trials the courses taken were so tortuous that it seemed foolish to try
to record them. There was aimless wandering from point to point
within each space, and from space to space. After the third trip the
routes became much more direct, and accurate records of them were
obtained. Fig. 2 gives the course taken in the fourth experiment. It
is fairly direct, but shows that the animal lost its way in A and again in
B; having passed through 2, it took the shortest path to the nest.

522

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

A record of the route in connection with the time of the trip is
necessary as an index of the effect of experience, because if the
animal takes a direct course, with no wrong turns, but makes sev-
eral halts, the time may indicate no profiting by the former acts,
whereas the route will at once show that there has been improvement.
Thus one record supplements the other.

These experiments were made six or eight times a day
until fifty trials had been given. The tenth trip was made in
three minutes five seconds, with two mistakes in turning. The
time of the twentieth journey was but forty-five seconds, and that
of the thirtieth, forty seconds. In the latter experiment a direct
course was taken; this was also true in the case of the fiftieth trip,
which was made in thirty-five seconds. Fig. 3 represents graphically
the times of the first twenty experiments of this series. The vertical

32
28
24
2£
16
12
8
4

-1_J_L

1 Z 34 5 67 8 9 10 11 \Z 13 14 15 16 17 18 1920

Pig. 3. Times of Experiments from One to
Twenty.

«A ^^^_- • B

■

' 7 /

■ / '

i E

NEST

Fig. 4. Plan of Labyrinth No. 2.

column of figures at the left, 1 to 40, indicates minutes; the horizontal
line of figures, 1 to 20, gives the number of trials.

That the turtle profited by experience, and that very rapidly, is
evident from the figures. The average time for the first ten trips, from
one to ten, was eight minutes fifty-four and a half seconds; the average
time of the ten trips between thirty and forty was one minute three
seconds. What at first took minutes, after a few trials required only as
many seconds. There was remarkably little aimless wandering, crawling
up the sides of the box and sulking in the corners after the third experi-
ment. In fact, the animal soon began to behave as if it had the goal in
mind and was intent on making directly for it. It learned with sur-
prising quickness to make the proper turns and to take the shortest
path. Three or four times I noticed it turn in the wrong direction,
crawl into a corner and, as it seemed, become confused, for it then re-

FORMATION OF HABITS IN THE TURTLE. 523

turned to the starting-point, as if to get its bearings, and started out
afresh. In every case the second attempt resulted in a direct and un-
usually quick journey to the nest. Very frequently halts just in front
of the holes were noticed. It looked as if the animal were meditating
upon the course to be taken. Had one seen a man in a similar situation
he would unhesitatingly have said that the person was trying to decide
which way to go. There can be little doubt, however, that the mental
attitude of the turtle was extremely simple compared with a man's
under similar conditions. There are those who would claim that even
the turtle was thinking about its environmental conditions, but it seems
far more probable that it stopped in order the better to get those
sensory data by which it was enabled to follow its former course. Smell
and sight furnish the most important elements in the associative
processes of lower animals. This interpretation of the action is sup-

a .; ;;-;-y;>.

', i

t ;

F ■:'"

£-*

..•'

•.

5
I

— « \ —

..* "^^< -~"~"T

- /

•
•
«

• #

1 .. A •.

Fig. 5. Course for Fifth Trip.

Fig. 6. Course for Thirtieth Trip.

ported by the fact that it occurred most frequently after the course had
been gone over a few times.

A more complex and novel labyrinth was now substituted. Its
new features were a blind alley (see F, Fig. 4) and three inclined
planes (3, 4 and 6 of Fig. 4). A plan of the labyrinth is shown
in Fig. 4. At the left of the nest a side view of the inclines
3 and 4 is shown. Each was one foot long, and the middle point
(M) was four inches from the floor.

Labyrinth No. 2 was used in the same way as No. 1, the turtle being
placed in A and permitted to seek the nest, which was this time a box
filled with moist sand. The inclines at first baffled the little fellow, and
it was an hour and thirty-one minutes before he reached the nest. A
and B seemed to offer no difficulties, but the new features — the blind
alley and the inclines — were puzzles. By the fifth trial, however, these
had become somewhat familiar. The route taken in this experiment
has been produced in Fig. 5.

524 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

The time of this trip was sixteen minutes. The times of some of
the other trials were as follows:

10th trip 4 minutes.

15th «

20th
25th
30th
35th
40th
45th
50th

" 5 seconds.

" 20 seconds.

" 45 «

" 20 "

" 10 seconds.

The route for the thirtieth trip was, as Fig. 6 indicates, almost
direct.

The times of these experiments are generally longer than those of
the first series because the inclines consumed considerable time.

During the formation of the habit of crawling up incline 3 and
sliding down incline 4 a very interesting modification of the action
occurred, namely, the shortening of the path to the sand-box by
crawling over the edge of incline 4. At first the animal, after
climbing up 3, would slide all the way to the bottom of 4 and
would then turn toward the nest. Soon, however, it began making
the turn toward the nest before reaching the bottom, thus throwing
itself over the edge of 4. The turn was made earlier and earlier on 4,
until finally it got to crawling over as soon as it reached the top of 3,
or M. It always turned itself over the edge carefully, and landed, after
a fall of four inches, usually on its head or back. By this process the
path was shortened eight or ten inches. This action is a splendid illus-
tration of the way in which an advantageous habit may grow by accre-
tion, as it were, until it seems as if it must have been the result of
reasoning. Some would, no doubt, hold that in this case the turtle
chose the direct path because of inferences from judgments. Although
this may be true, there is surely a sufficient explanation of the habit,
as we have come to know it, in the profiting by chance ex-
perience. No one would say that the nest was at first found by
inferences. It was reached because of the animal's impulse to move
about, to seek escape or hiding. Had the turtle stopped to judge and
draw inferences as to the way to escape, instead of persistently moving
from place to place, it would probably be in the pen yet. No; the
wandering impulse led by chance to the finding of satisfaction, turtle
pleasure, in the nest. Because of this satisfaction, the action was im-
pressed on the vital mechanism, so that there was a tendency (the
beginning of a habit) toward repetition of it. Had the action failed to
give satisfaction, the probability of its being repeated would have been

FORMATION OF HABITS TN THE TURTLE. 525

merely that of chance, and not chance plus the influence of the former
pleasure-giving activity. The turtle happened to crawl over the edge of
the incline, and, finding that this enabled it to get to the nest quicker,
it continued the act, thus forming a habit.

Such experiments as these give clear pictures of habit formation
in animals. They also furnish a means of measuring with considerable
accuracy the rapidity of the process, the degree of intelligence and
the permanence of associations, thus making possible a comparison of
the mental abilities of different animals.

526 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

THE SCIENCE OF DISTANCES.*

- By Sir GEORGE S. ROBERTSON, K. C. S. I.

WHEN the British Association for the Advancement of Science
honored me with an invitation to preside over this Section, I
accepted the distinction, thoughtfully and with sincere gratification.
The selection as your president at Bradford, this great and interesting
center of commercial energy, of a student of political movements who
was also deeply interested in the science of geography, seemed to
point suggestively to a particular branch of our subject as appropriate
for an opening address. This consideration, and, to my thinking, the
fitness of the occasion, led me to believe that the British Empire itself
was a very proper subject for such reflections as could be compressed
within the limits of an inaugural Presidential Address. Many of my
predecessors have eloquently and wisely dealt with various topics of
admitted geographical rectitude — with geography in its more strictly
scientific study, Math its nature and its purview, with its recent progress,
and with the all-important question of how it could be best taught
methodically and how most profitably it might be studied. In dealing
with the important practical application of our science to the facts of
National life — Political geography — I feel that perhaps a word of ex-
planation is necessary. Pure geography, with its placid aloofness and its
far-stretching outlook, combined sometimes with a too rigid devotion to
the facts and conclusions of strict geographical research, is apt to incline
many scientific minds to an admirable quiet-eyed cosmopolitanism —
the cosmopolitanism of the cloistered college or the lecture theater. It
perhaps also at times has a tendency to create in purely academic stu-
dents a feeling of half disdain or of amicable irritability against those
who love the science for its political and social suggestiveness and eluci-
dations. Thus there is a possible danger that geographers of high intel-
lectual caliber, with enthusiasms entirely scholarly, may come to under-
rate Nationality and to look upon the world and mankind as the
units, and upon people and confederacies and amalgamations merely as
specific instances of the general type. We know that geography is often
looked upon as the science of foreign countries more especially. Such
mental confusion is undoubtedly less common than it was, yet it still
i ufluences, unconsciously, the minds of many people. It is well not to

* Address of the president of the Geographical Section of the British Associ-
ntion for the Advancement of Science, Bradford, 1900.

THE SCIENCE OF DISTANCES. 527

forget this curious fact, and to point out, as if it required emphasizing,
that there is nothing foreign to geographical thought in the association
of geography and patriotism, and that the home country is worthy of
careful study, particularly when, as with us, our home country is not
Yorkshire, nor England, nor the United Kingdom, but the whole Brit-
ish Empire. That is my justification and my apology for taking Politi-
cal Geography and the British Empire as my subject, if justification
and apology seem to any one to be necessary. To the generous hearts of
our distinguished foreign visitors who honor us quite as much as they
delight us by their presence, I am sure of my appeal. Every true man
loves his own country the best in the world. That beautifying love of
country does not require him to be ignorant of or hate other coun-
tries. The community of the civilized nations, no longer to be described
as Christendom even, for Japan has been received into it, is a mighty
fact in geography no less than in politics. To love mankind one must
begin by loving individuals; before attaining to true cosmopolitanism
one must first be patriotic.

Now, besides dealing with the topography of the globe, geography
considers also the collective distribution of all animal, vegetable and
mineral productions which are found upon its surface. The aspect of
the science which deals with man's environment, and with those in-
fluences which mold his national character and compel his social as
well as his political organization, is profoundly interesting intrin-
sically and of enormous practical usefulness when rightly applied. Given
the minute topography of a country, a complete description of its sur-
face features, its rivers, mountains, plains and boundaries, a full account
of its vegetable and mineral resources, a knowledge of its climatic vari-
ations, we have at once disclosed to us the scene where we may study
with something like clearness man's procession through the ages. Many
of the secrets of human action in the past are explained by the land-
forms of the globe, while existing social conditions and social organiza-
tions can often thereby be intelligently examined and understood. Per-
sistent national characteristics are often easy to explain from such con-
siderations. For instance, the doggedness of the Dutch river-population,
caused very greatly by a perpetual struggle against the sea, or the com-
mercial carrier-instinct of the Norwegians, those northern folk born in
a country which is all sea-coast of countless indentations. Having few
products to barter, the Norwegians hire themselves to transport the
merchandise of other peoples. We British also were obviously pre-
destined to isolation and insularity, when perhaps in the human period
the Thames ceased to be a tributary of the Rhine. Our Irish fellow-
countrymen were similarly fated for all time to lead a separate, special
and national life apart from our own, when at a still earlier period, geo-
logically, the Irish channel was formed.

528 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Such large-scale facts are not to be overlooked; there are others,
however, of varying degrees of prominence. Some merely require to be
interpreted thoughtfully, while others, after diligent study, may still
remain dubious and matter for speculation. Geography is the true basis
of historical investigation and the elucidation of contemporary move-
ments. At the present time great social and political changes are occur-
ring throughout the world — in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, and
in the islands of the great seas. These changes are absolutely depend-
ent upon the physical peculiarities of the different lands acting upon
generations of men during a prolonged period of time. As a conse-
quence of certain soils, geographical characteristics and climates, we
notice how harsh surroundings have disciplined some races to hardiness
and strenuous industry, accompanied by keen commercial activity,
which is itself both a result of increasing population and the cause of
still greater overcrowding. Then we see other people at first sight more
happily circumstanced. With them the struggle to live is less ferocious,
their food is found with little toil. But we perceive that the outcome of
generations of Nature's favoritism has been to leave them less forceful
and less ingenious in the never-ending warfare of existence. By com-
parison they grow feeble of defense against the hungrier nations, rav-
enous for provender. Man forever preys upon his own kind, and an easy
life in bland surroundings induces a flabbiness which is powerless against
the iron training of harsh latitudes, or against the fierce energy and the
virile strength produced by hereditary wrestling with unkindly
ground.

The discovery of America and Vasco da Gama's voyage round the
Cape originated movements and brought into play those subtle in-
fluences of foreign lands upon alien sojourners, and through them
upon their distant kindred, which alter the course of history and modify
national manners and perhaps national characteristics also. The colo-
nization of territories in the temperate zone by European Governments,
separated by vast ocean-spaces from their offshoots, has given origin to
new and distinct nations different from the parent stock in modes of
thought and in ways of life, a result due mainly, no doubt, to local phys-
ical conditions, but in part also, if only in part, to detachment, to
complete and actual severance from the mother country. This brings
us to that most interesting and important topic, geographically speak-
ing, of Distance, an aspect of our science which is of the utmost con-
cern to traders and statesmen; indeed, an eminent German geographer
defines geography as the Science of Distances. To this subject of Dis-
tance I wish in particular to direct your attention, and especially to its
bearings upon the British Empire.

The British Empire is equal in size to four Europes, while its
population approximates four hundred millions. Although that may

THE SCIENCE OF DISTANCES. 529

seem a somewhat grandiloquent method of description, it is a fairly
accurate statement of fact. Still more interesting to us is another truth
— that outside of these islands we have some ten millions of white-
skinned English-speaking fellow-subjects. These islands are scarcely
more than one-hundredth part of the whole Empire, although we count
as four-fifths of its white population; of the total number of the
Queen's subjects we are, however, no more than a tenth.

British Empire is somewhat of a misnomer, just as the North
American and Australian Colonies were never colonies at all in the clas-
sical sense of the word. For the colonies are not independent of the
mother country. An empire again really means a number of subject
peoples brought together, and at first held together, by force. India
is an empire, for instance. Some new title or phrase would have to be
invented to describe accurately all the possessions of the British Crown
from the government of India through all possible grades of more or
less direct control until we come to some colony with representative in-
stitutions, and thence to the great commonwealths with responsible
legislators and responsible cabinets. Happily, however, there is no
need now for any novel designation. The style British Empire has be-
come in time of stress a rallying cry for all the Queen's subjects, and the
term has become sanctified by the noble, eager devotion shown to her
Majesty, both as a beloved and venerated constitutional sovereign, and
as the common bond of unity between those great self-governing
daughter-nations which we in the past were accustomed to speak of as
'our colonies.' Consequently British Empire has henceforward
a clearly defined, a distinct, a national significance, just as Imperialism
has a special and peculiar meaning to all of us. We understand by
British Empire and by British Imperialism a confederacy of many lands
under the rule of her Britannic Majesty. This confederacy is domi-
nated by white peoples — Anglo-Saxons, Celts, French-Canadians and
others — knit together in most instances by the ties of blood relation-
ship, but with equal if not greater closeness by common interests, an
identical civilization and a love of liberty, in addition to that digni-
fied but enthusiastic acceptance, already referred to, of the constitu-
tional sovereignty of the same Queen. We may hope that generous
democratic expansiveness and social assimilation will also in time detain
willingly within the limits of this British confederacy of white peoples
those other Christians and distant kinsfolk of ours in South Africa
who are at present so bitterly antagonistic.

Euled and controlled under liberal ideals by the center of authority
there are, in addition, the great subject territories whose non-Christian
population are less advanced in moral and material progress. They
exhibit indeed every degree of backwardness, from the barbarism of the

TOL. 1 VIII.— 34

530 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

savagest tribesman to the intellectual but archaic civilization of ancient
Asiatic nationalities.

Concerning the British Empire, and comparing it with other em-
pires, ancient, recent or now existing, its two most remarkable features
are its prodigious and long-continued growth and the persistency of its
power. It cannot to all seeming grow much larger, from lack of expan-
sive possibility. But it is unprofitable to predict. Every step which has
been taken in the way of extension, particularly of late years, has been
against the wishes, and in almost passionate opposition to the views of
large sections of the people. Yet the process of enlargement has gone
on continually, being often in actual despite of a Government, whose
members find themselves powerless to prevent absorptions and concre-
tions which they would gladly avoid. Objections to this perpetual
growth of empire in territory, and to the resulting responsibility which
we not altogether willingly accept, are unanswerable theoretically. The
too heavy and continually increasing strain upon our military resources
every one can appreciate. The limit in power of the strongest navy in
the world is at least as obvious as the vital necessity that our Navy be
largely and ungrudgingly strengthened. Naturally the cry of cautious,
patriotic men is the same now that it has always been — 'Consolidate
before you step farther.' In India, owing to conscientious and strenu-
ous opposition to every suggestion of expansion, and to the almost vio-
lent form which that opposition often took, our progress has been on the
whole slow and comparatively safe. "We have (I, of course, avoid all
allusion to very recent policy) as a rule consolidated, strengthened
ourselves, and made our ground sure before another advance. But there
is a general impression that in other parts of the world we have been
hastily and unfortunately acquisitive, whether we could help it or not:
that the new provinces, districts and protectorates are some of them
weak to fluidity; that the great and unprecedented growth of the Empire
has led to a stretching acid thinning of its holding links which are over-
strained by the weight of unwieldy extension and far beyond the help
of a protecting hand. I hope to be able to show that in some impor-
tant respects this suspicion is not altogether true; that science, human
ingenuity and racial energy have given us some compensations, and
that it is not paradoxical nor incorrect to say that our recent enormous
growth of empire has been everywhere accompanied by a remarkable
shrinkage of distances — by quicker and closer intercommunication of all
its parts one with another and with the heart center. In short, the
British Empire, in spite of its seemingly reckless outspread, its some-
times cloudy boundaries, its almost vague and apparently meaningless
growth, is at the present day more braced together, more manageable,
and more vigorous as a complete organization than it was sixty years
ago. The difference between its actual extent in the last year of the

THE SCIENCE OF DISTANCES. 531

century and its size at the date of the Queen's accession can be estimated
by a glance at a remarkable series of maps published in the 'Statesman's
Year-book for 1897/ while since 1897, and at this instant as we all
know well, its mighty bulk is being still further increased.

The world as a whole has strangely contracted owing to a bewilder-
ing increase in lines of communication, to our more detailed geographi-
cal knowledge, to the formation of new harbors, the extension of rail-
ways, the increased speed and the increased number of steamships, and
the greatly augmented carrying power of great sailing vessels built of
steel. Then, hardly second in importance to these influences are the
great land lines and the sea-cables, the postal improvements, the tele-
phones, and perhaps we may soon add the proved commercial utility of
wireless telegraphy. This universal time diminution in verbal and per-
sonal contact has brought the colonies, our dependencies, protectorates,
and our dependencies of dependencies, closer to each other and all of
them nearer still to us. Measured by time-distance, which is the con-
troller of the merchant and the cabinet minister just as much as of the
soldier, the world has indeed wonderfully contracted, and with this
lessening the dominions of the Queen have been rapidly consolidating.
Nor is this powerful influence by any means exhausted. In the near
future we may anticipate equally remarkable improvements of a like
kind, especially in railways, telegraph lines and deep-sea cables, and in
other scientific discoveries for transmitting man's messages through
water, in the air, or perhaps by the vibrations of the earth. For us par-
ticularly, railway schemes of expansion must be mainly relied upon to
open up and connect distant parts of the Empire. Our true and only
trustworthy road of intercommunication between the heart of the Em-
pire and its limits must always be the sea. For general trade purposes,
such as the convenience of business travelers, all continental lines and
all the great projected railways will be helpful, whatever nation con-
trols them; but our certain security is the sea, the sea which protects
us, which has taught us to be an Imperial people. But if we ever for-
get that, there may be a calamitous awakening. We must not be per-
suaded to build — or at any rate to place reliance upon — land roads or
railways through regions inhabited by tribes and peoples over whom we
have not complete military as well as political control. Persian, Ara-
bian, North African railway projects are happily rarely heard of now.
As national enterprises they never were and never could be practicable,
or otherwise than dangerous mistakes. We are a world-power solely be-
cause of our warships and because of our command of the sea. In the
future also we shall remain a world-power only so long as we hold com-
mand of the sea in the fullest sense of the term, not merely by the force
and efficiency of the fighting Navy, but by the excellence and the per-
fecting of our mercantile marine, by increasing its magnitude, carrying

532 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

power and speed, and by anxiously attending to its recruitment by
English sailors. We must not attempt to overtax our resources to
guard railway lines through foreign semi-civilized or savage countries
by exported or local armies. A heavy land responsibility lies upon u&
already. Under a little more we might be easily overweighted and
crushed down. " We must concentrate all our surplus energies upon
our sea communications. Therefore the railway lines which I spoke of
as helping to consolidate the Empire in the near future are those only
which are projected or are being built in the various colonies and de-
pendencies, lines to distribute and to collect, to connect provinces, and
feed harbors. The mighty Canadian Pacific Railway is unique in the
Empire. It not only complies with all these requirements, but in addi-
tion it provides to Australia and the Eastern dependencies an alternative
road, convenient and safe. As I said before, all railways, wherever built,
will probably help us directly or indirectly in the long run, provided we
are never committed to the protection of any one of them outside of our
own boundaries.

And what has been said about railways applies, with obvious modifi-
cations, to telegraph lines and to maritime cables. The more general
the extension of these, and the more numerous they become, the greater
benefit there will be to this country in its double capacity as the greatest
trader and the greatest carrier of merchandise in the world; while the
actual equivalent to a diminution of time-distance in traveling is to be
found in the instantaneous verbal message which can be despatched to
the most distant point of the Empire. But we ought certainly to join
all the shores of the Queen's dominions by sea-cables completely con-
trolled by British authority. To rely upon connection between our own
cables through telegraph systems stretching across foreign countries,
however friendly, or to permit the ends of these sentient nerves of
the Empire to emerge upon shores which might possibly become an
enemy's country, is dangerous to the point of recklessness, that parent
of disaster. As a melancholy instance of my meaning it is only neces-
sary for us to remember the Pekin catastrophe — how we suffered from
those dreadful intervals of dead silence, when we could not even com-
municate directly with our own naval officers at Taku,or with anyone be-
yond Shanghai, although we have in our possession a place of arms at
Wei-hai-Wei upon the Gulf of Pechili. It is obvious that we ought
to have an all-British cable for pure strategic purposes as far as Wei-
hai-Wei, our permanent military outpost on the mainland.

Now to give some suggestions of the increased facilities for carry-
ing merchandise, for conveying passengers quickly about the world,
and for the sending of messages to all parts of the earth, a few, a very

THE SCIENCE OF DISTANCES. 533

few, salient facts may be quoted about ships — sailing ships and steam
vessels — and about telegraphs and cables.

In 1870 there were no more than ten British sailing ships which
exceeded or reached two thousand tons burden. In 1892 the yards on
the Clyde alone launched forty-six steel sailing vessels which averaged
two thousand tons each. In 1895 the number of large steel sailing ships
being built in the United Kingdom was down to twenty-three, and,
speaking generally, it is inevitable that sailing vessels must give way
to ocean steamships for most kinds of cargo — cattle, coals, wool, grain,
oil and everything else.

Now let us turn to the results in shortening journeys accom-
plished by the progress made in the construction and in the driving
machinery of steamships within the last forty years, which has especially
been fruitful in such improvements.

During this century the six months' voyage round the Cape to
India became a forty and then a thirty days' journey by what was known
as the overland route for mails and passengers through Egypt. By de-
grees it had become shorter still by the railway extensions on the Con-
tinent and by the unbroken steamship passage through the Suez Canal,
until now the mails and hurrying travelers may reach London in twelve
or fourteen days after leaving Bombay; and the great liners of the P.
& 0. Company can arrive in the Thames eight days later. This famous
corporation, after her Majesty had been reigning nearly ten years, pos-
sessed only fourteen ships, with an aggregate of 14,600 tons. Now it
owns a princely fleet of fifty-three ocean steamers, with a total capacity
of 142,320 tons. Practically the voyage to India in her Majesty's reign
has been diminished by one-half at least.

Also since the Queen's accession the passage between the British
Isles and the Commonwealth of Australia has grown shorter, from the
ninety days taken by the sailing clippers to the fifty-three days occupied
by Brunei's 'Great Britain.' At the present time it lasts from thirty to
thirty-five days by the Suez Canal route, while it has been finished in
as little as twenty-eight days. Australia is consequently only half as far
away, in time, as it was; while, if the Suez Canal were closed for any
reason, we have at our disposal, in addition to the Cape route with its
quick steamers, which is linked to us by the Pacific Ocean road, the
splendid service of that Empire-consolidator, the Canadian Pacific
Railway.

The important part played by the Suez Canal in this connection
will be discussed a little later. Now I am merely indicating by a few
well-known facts the diminution of distance by the improvements which
have been made in the ships themselves and in their propelling
machines.

Across the Atlantic the rapidity of traveling and the general aver-

534 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

age speed of all cargo steamers have increased remarkably. Very inter-
esting statistics on this point were given to the British Association for
the Advancement of Science last year, at Dover, by Sir William White,
in the Presidential Address of Section G. We may say, without repeat-
ing details, that during the last half of the nineteenth century the
breadth of the Atlantic has practically been diminished one-half.

In 1857 the Union Company contracted to carry mails in thirty-
seven days to the Cape. Now the contract time is nineteen days. This
again diminishes the distance by one-half. As an instance of the re-
markable change which has been made in steamships within forty years,
it may be mentioned that the first 'Norman' of the Union Company took
forty-two days to reach the Cape, while the present 'Norman' has covered
the journey in fourteen days twenty-one hours. I need not specify
particularly the equivalent acceleration of speed upon other great steam-
ship lines. All our sea distances have been shortened 50 to 60 per cent,
in an identical way.

It is not too bold to predict that the Atlantic, from Queenstown to
New York, will, before long, be steamed in less than four days. The
question has now resolved itself simply into this — will it pay shipowners
to burn so much coal as to ensure these rushing journeys before a
cheaper substitute for coal is found? We know that a torpedo-destroyer
has been driven through the water at the rate of forty-three miles an
hour by the use of the turbo-motor instead of reciprocating engines.
Consequently an enormous increase in the present speed of the great
Atlantic liners is certain if the new system can be applied to large ves-
sels. By such very swift steamers, and by the example they will set to all
established and competing steamship companies, the journey to Canada
and subsequently to all other parts of the Empire will be continually
quickened, until predictions which would now sound extravagant will
in a few years be simple every-day facts.

We must turn next to the subject of telegraphic communication es-
pecially as it relates to the British Empire.

The mazes of land-lines and of sea and ocean cables are too
numerous and intricate to be described in detail. Also the gen-
eral effect of this means of bringing distant people together,
and its transcendent importance for political, strategic and trade
purposes, need not be too much insisted upon in this place,
so obvious must they be to everyone. Yet, great as has been its power
and advantage in all of those directions in the past, it is certain
that still greater development and still greater service to the world
will follow in the future even from existing systems, not to speak of
their certain and enormous possibilities of growth. In the celerity
of the actual despatch of a message we need not ask for nruch improve-
ment. Lightning speed will be probably sufficient for our go-ahead

THE SCIENCE OF DISTANCES. 535

children of the twentieth century. But where we may expect and shall
undoubtedly get increased success is in multiplied facilities for send-
ing telegrams all over the earth, and in widening their usefulness and
convenience to all ranks and sections of the community. To obtain
these necessary advantages there are two requisites — first a great and
general cheapening of tariffs and, as a certain consequence of such re-
duced charges, a duplication or even a quadrupling of many of the pres-
ent cables to prevent blocking; and, secondly, an indefinite extension of
both lines and cables everywhere. Progress in submarine telegraphy
undoubtedly means a lessening in the price of service and a firmer con-
trol by the State, as an obvious corollary to the large help to the com-
panies already given by the general taxpayer, quite as much as it means
those scientific inventions and scientific discoveries which the coming
years have in store for us. At the present time the charges are far too
high, ridiculously so as regards India, and the use of the great cables
is, therefore, very often beyond the power of the small capitalist and the
trader of the middle sort. Yet certain and early news is of supreme
importance to large numbers of both classes. Its absence hampers or
stops business, while its price is too severe a tax upon average profits.
This fact has led to the invention of ingenious and elaborate codes.
They might possibly have been devised in any case; but there is no
doubt that messages by code would be certainly expanded so as to pre-
vent all possible ambiguity, if telegraphing to distant countries were
not so costly. The spreading of land-lines and sea-cables about the
earth has gone on rapidly since 1870; to the extent that those already
completed would seem even to be in advance of their requirement, if
that requirement were to be measured by their full employment.
Nevertheless it is to be wished that new companies could be formed
and new lines laid down to excite competition and thereby to cheapen
rates; or else that our Government should step in and regulate charges
over subsidized British lines. For the power of the great telegraph
corporations, by reason of their monetary resources, enables them to
overcome ordinary rivalry and to treat public opinion with indiffer-
ence. A general cheapening of rates has constantly been followed by
increased profits, earned by the resulting augmentation of traffic, but
it needs an enterprising directorate to face the necessary initial ex-
penditure, except under pressure. Boldness and foresight in finance
are naturally less prominent features in the management of the great
telegraph companies than contentment with a high rate of interest on
invested capital. All their energy and watchfulness are employed to
crush, competition rather than to extend their activities indefinitely.
Moreover, money-making is their business, not Imperial statesmanship.
If it were a question of the added security or the close coupling-up of
the Empire (which are probably s}iionymous) on the one hand and a

536 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

loss of profit (however splendid the dividends might still remain) on
the other, we know what would be the result of their deliberations.

Important as are the sea-cables for statesmen, for strategy and
for commerce, they are or will be equally important socially to keep
up intimacy and swift intercourse between families half in Britain
and half in India for instance, or between friends and relations in
these Islands and in the great colonies. They might be made to give
the sensation almost of actual contact, of holding the hand of your
friend, of speaking directly to his heart. It is this interchange of per-
sonal news and private wishes, quite as much as the profound political
and commercial aspects of lightning communication with all parts of
the Empire, which will bind the Empire in bonds stronger than
steel, easy as affection, to hold it together with unassailable power.
Consequently the health and strength of the Empire depend very
greatly upon a cheapening of telegraph charges. Doubtless a time will
come when all our main cables of the first importance will be in the
hands of Government, when they will only touch upon British terri-
tory, and when they will be all adequately protected from an
enemy. Those are truly Imperialistic and patriotic aspirations. But
we must never forget the grand part in bringing together, within whis-
pering distance, as it were, the different parts of the world, and con-
sequently of our world-wide Empire, which has been taken in the
past by such Napoleonic organizers as the late Sir John Pender.
It is to him and to such men as he that we owe those splendid be-
ginnings which by means of vital reflexes from the nerve-center of
the Empire have helped to fire our white fellow-subjects all over the
globe with a loftier patriotism and with new, brave and broader
ideals of nationality.

It was coincident with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869
that the liveliest interest began to be taken in sea-cables, and a mas-
ter-mind perceived their commercial possibilities. Before that time
the success of the constructing companies had not been great. Sir
John Pender then founded the famous Eastern Telegraph Company
by the amalgamation of four existing lines, which had together laid
down 8,500 miles of sea-cables, besides erecting land-lines also. A year
later, in 1873, from three other companies he formed the Eastern
Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company, which joint-
ly possessed 5,200 miles of submarine lines. From that date the ex-
tension of electric communication to all parts of the earth, over wild
as well as over civilized countries, and beneath the salt water, has only
been equaled by their average remunerativeness. Now there are 175,-
000 miles of submerged cables alone, of which this country owns no
less than 113,000 miles. The history of some of these cables is full
of interest, and might attract the delighted attention of the lover

THE SCIENCE OF DISTANCES. 537

of picturesque romance no less than the student of commercial geog-
raphy. It also supplies suggestions and many facts, both to the
physical geographer and to the student of seismic phenomena. Science
has taught the companies to economize time, labor and material in
cable-laying operations, as well as how to improve the working in-
struments. Human ingenuity, business perception and organizing
power have shown once more their startling possibilities when directed
and controlled by cool, clear-eyed intelligence combined with gen-
eral mental capacity.

It is only necessary to reaffirm, for the reasons already given, the
national, the imperial, the commonwealth requirement for cheap teleg-
raphy, and the profound necessity there is both strategically and
politically for complete government control by purchase, guarantee
or other equitable means over main cables which connect Great Brit-
ain with her daughter states, her Indian empire, and her dependen-
cies. Our communications with our own folk must be independent of
private companies and completely independent of all foreign nations.

All the details which I have given are illustrative of man's success-
ful energy and of his progressive ingenuity in enslaving the great
forces of the earth to diminish distance, to shorten world- journeys,
and to speed world-messages. Another human achievement, the pierc-
ing by Lesseps of the Suez Isthmus, has had remarkable conse-
quences. It had been talked of in England centuries ago. Christo-
pher Marlowe makes Tamerlane brag:

' And here, not far from Alexandria,
Whereas the Tyrrhene and the Eed Sea meet,
Being distant less than full a hundred leagues,
I meant to cut a channel to them both
That men might quickly sail to India.'

The illustrious French engineer solved one great problem in 1869,
only to originate others which are of profound importance to com-
mercial geography — and to the British Empire most of all. The Suez
Canal has brought India and the Australasian Commonwealth won-
derfully near to our shores. It has greatly diminished many time-
distances, but why has it not injured our Eastern trade? Also is
there any danger or menace of danger to that trade? From the
very beginnings of the great commerce, the Eastern trade has en-
riched every nation which obtained its chief share. It has been the
seed of the bitterest animosities. It alienated Dutch and English,
blood relations, co-religionists, co-reformers, into implacable resent-
ment, and bitter has the retribution been. On the other hand it
brought into temporary alliance such strange bedfellows as the Turks
of the sixteenth century and the Venetians. At the present day

538 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

what international jealousies and heartburnings has the same rivalry not
fostered! For all the trading peoples know how vital is that traffic.

In the earliest days of commercial venturings the Eastern trade
focused at Alexandria, afterwards at Constantinople and the Italian
'factory' stations of the Eastern Mediterranean. Barbarous upheavals
in Central Asia interrupted the current at times, but only as temporary
dams. Then came Vasco da Gama's voyage round the Cape and its
sequels — the diversion of the rich merchandise of the Orient from the
Italian ports and from the Eastern Mediterranean to the sea-coast
cities of the Atlantic. Out of the relentless scramble of the Atlantic
nations for this, +he grandest of the trader's prizes, the English came
out bloodily triumphant and the British have remained the dominant
shippers ever since. But when the Suez Canal was trenched through,
a geographical reversal followed: the merchant's chief path may be
said to have left the Cape circuit and to have regained the old line,
with immensely added facilities, to debouch upon the Eastern Medi-
terranean. Why has it not affected us more profoundly? Are not geo-
graphical canons outraged by the great steamers passing by the French
and Italian ports to find distributing centers in these islands? I think
that theoretically it is so, even admitting that the foreign harbors
are more difficult than ours. Practically only a few industries have
suffered; the volume of our trade has increased greatly and it still
remains easily preeminent. One of the chief explanations I believe to
be this: Geographical considerations were defeated, for the time at
any rate, by the excellence of our banking system when the Suez Canal
was opened. The wealth of the country, then as now, instead of being
separated and divided into isolated patches, was accumulated in the
hands of bankers and was readily and easily available for commercial
enterprises. So the necessary steamers — huge, and of special Hue —
were built at once by our companies and launched into the Eastern
trade before their rivals could begin to stir. This country had the in-
valuable help of its monetary facilities. Wealthy shipping corpora-
tions, once fully organized and successful, have great power, by reason
of their reserves and resources, to hustle and ride off the attacks of
weaker less experienced competitors. Supposing this great change had
but just occurred — our advantages, though still distinct, would have
been less remarkable. And in the future international trade jealousy
will be keener and the competition even more severe. We must not for-
get that our geographical position is no longer in our favor for steam-
ships plying from the East, and, as in the immediate past, we must
throw away no chances, but seek to make up for that admitted defect
by foresight, by education, by maintaining and constantly adding to
our experience, and by defending and supporting that admirable eys-

THE SCIENCE OF DISTANCES. 539

tern — our national banking system — which has carried ns over seem-
ingly insurmountable obstructions to brave trade triumphs.

The general considerations which I have named might lead to the
inference that actual geographical disadvantages, in trade competition
for instance, may sometimes be conquered by man's resourcefulness
and energy. Within obvious limitations that is certainly true. At
places, as we know, the borderland between geography and many of
the natural sciences is often vague and confusedly interlaced. So per-
haps also with mechanical and economic science our boundaries at
certain spots overlap. Quick steamers, far-reaching telegraph lines,
and the piercing of isthmuses by ship-canals may at the first glance
appear outside the purview of the geographer. Yet from that particu-
lar aspect of geography which I have already spoken of as the Science
of Distances we perceive how relevant they are, how worthy of study.
Truly ours is a very catholic science, and we have seen how even the
comparative value of national banking systems may help to explain
seeming geographic inconsistencies, to reconcile facts with possi-
bly unexpected results, and to show how the human element modifies,
perhaps, the strictly logical conclusions of the geographer intent upon
physical conditions alone. It is for the statesman and the philosopher
to speculate upon the character and the permanency of such influences.
Our success as an Empire will probably depend for its continuance
upon a high level of national sagacity, watchfulness and resource,
to make up for certain disadvantages, as I think, of our geographical
position since the cutting of the Suez Canal; and it will also depend
upon the comprehensive and intelligent study of all branches of geog-
raphy, not the least important of which to my view is the Science of
Distances — the science of the merchant, the statesman and the
strategist.

54C POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS.

By HAVELOCK ELLIS.
II. NATIONALITY AND RACE.

IT is scarcely necessary to remark that nationality and race, when used
as distinguishing marks of people who all belong to the British
Islands, are not identical terms and are both vague. The races — how-
ever we may describe them* — constituting the people of Great Britain
are to be found in all the main divisions of the two islands, and the
fact that a man is English or Scotch or Irish tells us nothing positive
as to his race. Some indication of race, however, is in many cases
furnished if we know the particular district to which a man's ancestors
belonged, and this indication is further strengthened if we can ascer-
tain his physical type.

In endeavoring to ascertain the ancestral roots of these eminent
men I have almost entirely discarded the evidence of birthplace; so far
as possible I have sought to find where a man's four grandparents
belonged; if they are known to belong to four different regions it is
then necessary to insert him into four groups; when the evidence is less
complete he plays a correspondingly smaller part in the classification.
It very rarely happens that the four grandparents can all be positively
located.

I find that 76.8 per cent, of eminent British men and women are
English, 15 per cent. Scotch, 5.3 per cent. Irish and 2.9 per cent. Welsh.
The proportion of English is very large, but if we take the present
population as a basis of estimation it fairly corresponds to England's
share; this is not so, however, as regards the other parts of the United
Kingdom; Wales, and especially Ireland, have too few people of genius,
while Scotland has produced decidedly more than her share. f

•For an admirable and lucid summary of the present position of this question
see Ripley's 'Races of Europe', ch. xii.

| In a recent careful study ('Where We Get Our Best Men,' London, 1900,) Mr.
A. H. H. Maclean has shown that of some 2,500 British persons of ability belong-
ing to the nineteenth century 70 per cent, are English, 18 per cent. Scotch, 10 per
cent. Irish, and 2 per cent. Welsh. We thus find that by taking a much lower
standard of ability and confining ourselves to the most recent period, Scotland
stands higher than ever, while Ireland benefits very greatly at the expense of
both England and Wales. This is probably not altogether an unexpected result.
1 1 is on the whole confirmed by an analysis of British 'Men of the Time,' made by
Oonan Doyle ('Nineteenth Century,' Aug., 1888).

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 541

If we consider separately the eminent persons in whose ancestry two
or more of the elements of British nationality (English, Welsh, Scotch
and Irish) are mixed we find that the English proportion is only 51
per cent., the Scotch 16.8, while the Irish element has risen to equality
with the Scotch, 16.8, and the Welsh is as high as 15.4. This would
seem to indicate that the Irish and the Welsh are especially adapted for
cross-breeding in the production of genius.

If we turn to the eminent persons of partly foreign blood (those
of wholly foreign blood, like Disraeli, the elder Herschel and Romilly,
being necessarily excluded from our study) we find that they constitute
a very inconsiderable proportion of the whole. A strain of foreign blood
(not going further back than the grandparents) occurs, so far as the
'Dictionary' enables us to ascertain it, only forty-six times. In twenty-
four of these cases the element is French (at least half of them being
Huguenot), in six German, in six Dutch. The most noteworthy fact
about these elements of foreign blood is the peculiarly beneficial effect
a French strain has in producing intellectual ability.

It is somewhat remarkable that the geographical distribution of
eminent women by no means follows that of eminent men. Here, after
England, Ireland leads, and Scotland is but little ahead of Wales. The
intellectual brilliancy of Irish women is, indeed, remarkable, and has
been displayed in literature as well as on the stage.

These facts serve to indicate that on the whole British ability has
not been very unfairly distributed over Great Britain. We are still en-
titled to ask whether it is also fairly distributed among the populations
of different physical type inhabiting the British Islands.

In investigating this point I have supplemented the somewhat
scanty information contained in the 'Dictionary* by examination of
such portraits of these eminent persons as I have been able to find in the
London National Portrait Gallery, and I have confined myself almost
exclusively to the color of the hair and eyes. For various reasons the
data thus obtained are not altogether satisfactory; the imperfect and
often vague statements of the biographers, the frequently faded tones
of the pictures, sometimes badly hung, have furnished indications
which are often doubtful and not seldom conflicting. An artist is a
reliable observer in such matters, but he is liable to disregard the facts
in order to obtain his effect, as we may see in Millais's portrait of
Gladstone in the National Gallery, where the eyes are represented of
quite different colors, one blue, the other brown. The evidence in
some cases has been so conflicting that I have had to disregard it
altogether, and in many cases the results obtained are probably only an
approximation to the truth. With these allowances, however, we may
still obtain results which have some value and are not without interest.

From the point of view of hair-color and eye-color I have divided

542 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

British persons of genius into four classes: Fair (with blue or pre-
dominantly blue eyes, and light or brown hair), Mixed (with greenish,
blue-yellow or blue-orange eyes,* and brown hair), Dark (hazel or
brown eyes and brown or black hair), and a class of individuals be-
longing to the so-called 'Celtic type' (blue or gray eyes and more or
less black hair). The Fair type includes 22 per cent, cases, the Mixed
type 29 per cent., the Dark type 41 per cent., and the Celtic type 8
per cent. This result probably indicates that all the races occu-
pying Great Britain — however we may define or classify those races —
have furnished their contribution to British genius. The interesting
and somewhat unexpected fact which emerges is the undue predomi-
nance of the Dark class, a predominance by no means exclusively due to
Irish and Welsh influences, since very dark men of genius have been
furnished by the Scotch Lowlands and the English eastern counties,
where the populations are, on the whole, decidedly fair. This tendency
is the more striking when we recall that the aristocratic class shows a
tendency to fairness, and that our men of genius have been largely
drawn from that class. It would be out of place, however, to discuss
further the question of pigmentation.

While British genius is thus spread in a fairly impartial manner over
the British Islands, and while all the chief physical types appear to
have contributed men of genius, there are yet certain districts which
have been peculiarly prolific in intellectual ability. In England there
are two such centers, the most important being in Norfolk and Suffolk,
and to some extent the adjoining counties; Norfolk stands easily at the
head of British counties in the production of genius.f The other
English center is in Devonshire and Somerset. In Scotland a belt
running from Aberdeen through Forfar, Fife, the country round Edin-
burgh, Lanark (including Glasgow), Ayr and Dumfries is especially rich
in genius. In Ireland the chief center (if we leave Dublin out of consid-
eration) is in the southeastern group of counties: Kilkenny, Tipperary,
Waterford and Cork; there is a less important north-eastern center in
Antrim and Down.

*It may be necessary to point out that eyes vary in color from unpigmented
(blue) to fully pigmented (brown) ; between these two extremes we have various
mixtures of blue with yellow or brown. The so-called 'black' eye is really brown.

•j- It may be noted that the founders of New England, both on the political and
the religious sides, were mainly produced by this East Anglian center of genius.
The people of this region are racially connected with the Dutch, and have always
combined a genius for statesmanship and an aptitude for compromise with an
inflexible love of independence. I may add that I have dealt more fully with
some of the points touched on in this section in an article on the geographical
distribution of British ability, shortly to appear in the Monthly Review.

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 543

III. SOCIAL CLASS.

In considering to what social classes the 902 eminent British men
and women on our list belong, we naturally seek to ascertain the
position of the fathers. In 262 cases it has not been easy to pronounce
definitely on this point, and I have, therefore, classed these cases as
doubtful. The remaining 640 may be classed with a fair degree of cer-
tainty. I find that they fall into the following groups: Upper Classes
(or 'good family') 110 (12.2 per cent.), Yeomen and Farmers 39 (4.3
per cent.), Church 113 (12.5 per cent.), Law 49 (5.4 per cent.), Army 26
(•^.9 per cent.), Medicine 26 (2.9 per cent.), Miscellaneous Professions
80 (8.9 per cent.), Trade 113 (12.5 per cent.), Crafts 63 (7 per cent.),
Unskilled Workers 21 (2.3 per cent.), while the remaining 262 of doubt-
ful origin constitute 29 per cent, of the whole. In a very few cases (not
more than half a dozen) the status of the father is entered undt r
two heads, but, as a rule, it has seemed sufficient to state what may be
presumed to be the father's chief occupation at the time when his
eminent child was born.

In the order in which I have placed the groups they may be said
to constitute a kind of hierarchy. I place the Yeomen and Farmers
immediately after the Upper Class group. Until recent years, the man
who lived on the land which had belonged to his family for many cen-
turies occupied a position not essentially different from that of the more
noble families with somewhat larger estates around him. Even at the
present day, in remote parts of the country it is not difficult to meet
men who live on the land on farms which have belonged to their
ancestors through several centuries. Such aristocrats of the soil, thus
belonging to 'old families,' frequently have all the characteristics of
fine country gentlemen, and in former days the line of demarcation
between them and the 'upper class' must often have been difficult to
draw. I have formed my 'upper class' group in a somewhat exclusive
spirit; I have not included in it the very large body of eminent men who
are said to belong to 'old families'; these I have mostly allowed to fall
into the 'doubtful' group, but there is good reason to believe that a
considerable proportion really belong to rthe class of small country
gentlemen on the borderland between the aristocracy in the narrow
sense and the yeoman and farmer class. To this class, therefore, must
be attributed a very important part in the production of the men who
have furnished the characteristics of British civilization.

The same must be said of the clergy (including dissenting ministers
of all denominations), whom I place next because they are largely drawn
from the same ranks and have on the whole led very similar lives.
The religious movements of the past century have altogether trans-
formed the lives of the clergy, but until recent years the parson was

544 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

usually simply a country gentleman somewhat better educated, more
in touch with intellectual tastes and pursuits, than the other country
gentlemen among whom he lived. The proportion of distinguished
men and women contributed from among the families of the clergy can
only be described as enormous. In mere number the clergy can seldom
have equaled the butchers or bakers in their parishes, yet only two
butchers and three bakers are definitely ascertained to have produced
eminent children, as against 113 parsons. Even if we compare the
Church with the other professions with which it is most usually classed,
we find that the eminent children of the clergy considerably out-
number those of lawyers, doctors and army officers put together. This
preponderance is the more remarkable when we remember that (al-
though I have certainly included eminent illegitimate children of
priests) it is only within the last three and a half centuries that the
clergy have been free to compete in this field. Law, Medicine and the
Army furnish contingents which, though very much smaller than that
of the Church, are sufficiently important to be grouped separately, but
all the remaining professions I have thrown into a single group. These
are: Officials (Government officials, noblemen's stewards, clerks, etc.)
19, Artists (painters, sculptors, engravers, architects) 15, Actors, etc.,
14, Musicians, Composers, etc., 8, Naval, etc., 8, Men of Letters 5,
Schoolmasters 4, Engineers, Surveyors and Accountants 4, Men of Sci-
ence 3. Although so few of the fathers of eminent men can be de-
scribed professionally as men of letters or men of science, it must
be added that in a considerable number of cases literary or scientific
aptitudes were present.

We now reach a group of altogether different character, Trade. It
is a group of great magnitude, but its size is due to the inevitable in-
clusion of a very large number of avocations under a single heading.
These avocations range from banking to inn-keeping. The bankers evi-
dently form the aristocracy of the trading class, and a remarkable num-
ber, considering the smallness of the class (not less than 8), have been
the fathers of eminent sons. Under the rather vague heading of 'Mer-
chants' we find 16, and there are 6 manufacturers. Wine merchants,
brewers, vintners, publicans and others connected with the sale or pro-
duction of alcoholic liquors have yielded as many as 13 distinguished
sons, who have often attained a high degree of eminence, from Chaucer
to Joule. Tea and coffee are only responsible for one each. There are
8 drapers, mercers and hosiers, and 6 tailors and hatters; grocers and a
great number of other shop-keeping trades count at most 3 eminent
men each. It is, perhaps, noteworthy that at least 4 Lord Mayors of
London have been the fathers of distinguished sons; only one of them
(Gresham) attained fame in business, the others becoming men of let-
ters and scholars. It must be added in regard to this group that in a

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 545

certain number of cases the particular 'trade' or 'business' of the father
is not specified.

The group which I have denominated 'Crafts' is closely related to
that of 'Trade/ and in many cases it is difficult or impossible to decide
whether an occupation should be entered under one or the other head.
But, speaking generally, there is a very clear distinction between the
two groups. The trade avocations are essentially commercial, and
for success they involve, above all, financial ability; the crafts are
essentially manual, and success here involves more of the qualities of
the artist than of the tradesman. Just as the banker is the typical
representative of commercial transactions, so the carpenter stands at
the head of the crafts. There seems to be something peculiar in the
life or aptitudes of the carpenter especially favorable to the production
of intellectual children, for this association has occurred as many as 13
times, while there are 4 builders. No other craft approaches the car-
penter in this respect; there are 5 shoemakers, 5 cloth-workers, 5
weavers (all belonging to the early phase of industrial development be-
fore factories), 5 goldsmiths and jewelers, 4 blacksmiths, while many
other handicrafts are mentioned once or twice.

Finally, we reach the group of parents engaged in some unskilled
work, and, therefore, belonging to the very lowest social class. It
is the smallest of all the groups, and, though including some notable
persons, it can scarcely be said to be a preeminently distinguished
group. As many as 8 of the parents were common soldiers, the rest
mostly agricultural laborers.

It may be interesting to inquire whether our eminent men, when
grouped according to the station and avocation of their fathers, show
any marked group-characters; whether, in other words, the occupation
of the father exercises an influence on the nature and direction of the
intellectual aptitudes of the son. To some extent it does exercise such
an influence. It is true that there are eminent men of very various
kinds in all of these groups. But there is yet a clearly visible tendency
for certain kinds of ability to fall into certain groups. It is not surpris-
ing that there should be a tendency for the son to follow the profession
of the father. Nor is it surprising that a great number of statesmen
should be found in the upper class group. Men of letters are yielded
by every class, perhaps especially by the clergy, but Shakespeare
and, it is probable, Milton belonged to families of yeomen. The sons
of lawyers, one notes, even to a greater extent than the eminent men
of 'upper class' birth, eventually find themselves in the House of Lords,
and not always as lawyers. The two groups of Army and Medicine are
numerically identical, but in other respects very unlike. The sons
of army men form a very brilliant and versatile group, and include a
large proportion of great soldiers; the sons of doctors do not show a

VOL. LVIII.— 35

546 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

single eminent doctor, and if it were not for the presence of two men
of the very first rank — Darwin and Landor — they would constitute a
somewhat mediocre group. It is an interesting, and I think a signifi-
cant, fact that the fathers of as many as 25 artists exercised either a
craft or some trade very closely allied to a craft. Great actors and
actresses, more than any other group of eminent persons, tend to be of
low, obscure or dubious birth; 4, at least, can be definitely set down
as the children of unskilled laborers.

When we survey the field of investigation I have here very briefly
summarized, the most striking fact we encounter is the extraordinary
extent to which British men and women of genius have been produced
by the highest and smallest social classes, and the minute part which
has been played by the 'teeming masses' in building up British civiliza-
tion.' This is not altogether an unexpected result, though it has not
before been shown to hold good for the entire field of the intellectual
ability of a country.* To realize the enormous preponderance of the
aristocracy in the production of these eminent men, and the oligarchic
basis of British civilization, it must be remembered not only, as I
have already pointed out, that a very considerable proportion of the
'Doubtful' group belong to 'old families,' which are certainly often
'good families,' but also that I have excluded altogether the children
of peers, notwithstanding that they form a group which has played a
very important part indeed in the national life. As we descend the social
pyramid, although we are dealing with an ever- vaster mass of human
material, the appearance of any individual of eminent ability becomes
an ever rarer phenomenon, while the eminent persons belonging to the
lowest and most numerous class of all are, numerically at all events, an
almost negligible quantity.

One is tempted to ask how far the industrial progress of the nine-
teenth century, the growth of factories, the development of urban life,
will alter the conditions affecting the production of eminent men. It
seems clear that, taking English history as a whole, the conditions of
rural life have been most favorable to the production of genius. The
minor aristocracy and the clergy — the 'gentlemen' of England — living
on the soil in the open air, in a life of independence at once laborious
and leisurely, have been able to give their children good opportunities

*In Maclean's statistical study of the origins of British men of ability during
the nineteentli century it is shown that 26 per cent, of those of known origin
were sons of 'aristocrats, officials, etc.'; the result was almost identical when the
100 men of preeminent ability were considered separately. Mr. C. H. Cooley
('Annals of the American Academy,' May, 1897) investigated the point in regard
to a group of distinguished European poets, philosophers and men of letters, and
found that 45 belonged to the upper and upper middle classes, 24 to the lower
middle class, and only 2 to tiie lower class.

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 547

for development, while at the same time they have not been able to dis-
pense them from the necessity of work. Thus, at all events, it has been
in the past. How it will be in the future is a question which the
data before us in no way help to answer. So far as can be seen, the
changing conditions of life have as yet made no change in the conditions
required for producing genius. Life in the old towns formerly fertile
in intellectual ability — towns like Edinburgh, Norwich, Bury St. Ed-
munds and Plymouth — was altogether unlike life in our modern urban
centers, and there is yet no sign that the latter will equal the former in
genius-producing power. Nor is there any sign that the education of
the proletariat will lead to a new development of eminent men; the
lowest class in Great Britain, so far as the data before us show, has not
exhibited any recent tendency to a higher yield of genius, and what
production it is accountable for remains rural rather than urban.

54«

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

RANDOM REMARKS OF A LADY
SCIENTIST.
To the Editor: I am a lady scientist,
and I suppose you will think it very
rude in me to intrude what I think into
the grand affairs of a great scientific
magazine. But I really must say to you
that it is very shameful of you to en-
courage Mr. Starr Jordan to indulge his
fiendish delight in depreciating feminine
science — Karyokinesis. I feel his at-
tack bitterly, for after passing an ex-
amination— equal to that described by
Monsieur Arago in his Autobiography,
during which a bright young man of
more than usual assurance even for a
Frenchman was so put upon by old Mr.
Monge, the mathematician, that he
fainted and had to be carried out past
Mr. Arago and the other gentle-
men in the antechamber on a shut-
ter— in astronomy, geology, chemistry,
physics, meteorology both in the past
perfect and future indicative, mathe-
matics and sociology, I obtained my
present position as copyist at $480 per
annum in the Direction of Science, Di-
vision of Karyokinesis.

I do not believe at all in this ex-post-
facto theory of abolishing time and
space, which is unconstitutional, any-
how, because it is forbidden by the Dec-
laration of Independence and is im-
perialism. Now, I am going to take Mr.
Starr Jordan up, word for word, and
show that he is simply ridiculous.

Telepathy is a pure science. It is
pure because it was a woman who in-
vented it. No man could ever have had
the sense to get up such a science. A
man's intellect is fatally defective. You
positively can not make it comprehend
that if everybody stops doing drudgery
because the world is an oyster, things
will go on just the same, if not better.
I know there are exceptions, but such

exceptional men are really, speakiag
psychologically, women, and may for
convenience of reference be called Unter-
menschen; and probably Mr. Alexander
Dumas, fils, was describing one of these
gifted minds in his charming moral
story where Count Petit LavellSre de
Chateau-Bourbon capers about the
sleeping-apartment of Madame Revoca-
tion de la Tour de Nesle on all fours
like a spaniel, with her real point-lace
handkerchief in his mouth.

Compare the delicate suggestiveness
of this beautiful picture with the coarse
vulgarity of a vile Scot's lord at a card
party when his partner, the Viscountess
Smith, played the wrong card. "You
old bitch," roared the noble (!) lord,
"what did you play that card for?" And
then, recalled to his environment by the
look of astonishment on her ladyship's
face, he blurted out: "Your pardon's
begged, mum. I thought I was speak-
ing to me wife," just as though that
poor woman was his 'chum.'

Of course, at this stage of scientific
expansion it is impossible to rear every
man as an Untermensch, as we should be
able to rear him were we in possession
of the universities, and like he is reared
in the seraglio by the eunuchs and the
ladies of the harem so quaintly pictured
by Lord Byron, a man of strong Turkish
characteristics, in his sweet tale of Dob
Juan. When, however, advancing civ-
ilization has discredited the vague and
unsatisfactory principle of evolution or
the survival of the fittest or force sci-
ence for the immediate and visible prin-
ciple of Karyokinesis, or egg science,
which depends on hatching and not on
principle, however, then the strange no-
tion that the meaning of childhood i*
to give time to live through the history
of the race will be discarded, and it will
be openly taught that a child goe*

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

549

through this time-killing process in its
own mother's bosom, and that telepathy
is, therefore, particularly a feminine sci-
ence, as it is only a woman who can
write history based on original facts at
the rate of 40,000,000 years in nine
months. When the world has been
brought to respect the true literary
function of woman, then she will recog-
nize her duty to rescue history by prop-
erly editing her historical productions
on the part consecrated by immemorial
usage to that purpose, and not till then.

Now, I must say that I think all
this fault-finding about instrumentation
is just too silly for anything; but I
don't think Mr. Starr Jordan is as bad
as some other people I know. It al-
ways seemed to me that some of these
men, perhaps even the married ones who
live in a far, far away State, are just
put out because so many pretty girls,
and as many ugly ones as could ring
in, crowd around the telepathic savant
and never go near them. But I am not
speaking of the vanity of men, which is
simply immense; for, as in the Dark
Ages, devoted women fled from the bru-
tality of the world and vowed their
maidenhood to Heaven in a nunnery, so
I have vowed myself to science in the
Division of Karyokinesis.

Men have their principia as a start-
ing point in their 'science of brains,'
as I suppose they would call it, and it
winds up in the 'conservation of en-
ergy'; and now they are trying to find
out the meaning of a star's childhood
which it passes in the Milky Way, just
as though that wasn't the proper place
for an orphan to be born in. Women
have their Karyokinesis for a starting
point and wind up in telepathy. Where
is the difference? Our science is older
than theirs as a philosophy. What is
the meaning of chivalry but adoration
of Karyokinesis? What is the cell
theory but chivalry materialized? Well
might the genus beautifully symbolized
as the slave of the lamp in Aladdin's
Wonderful Lamp kick up such a row
when Aladdin wanted an egg put under
the skylight of his palace.

The feminine in science acknowledges
no master save caprice — whim and an
Uebermensch. Yet, while on the sur-
face it is Uebermensch enthroned, be-
neath all is an unstable equilibrium
caused by would-be Uebermenschen who
are exploiting the wide interval between
the reigning Uebermensch's promises
and his performances. This is the basis
of Karyokinetic sociology. Pious wishes,
not natural laws, is its normal motto,
and each for himself and the devil take
the hindmost is its only possible prin-
ciple of action. The 'psychology of the
mob' thus is lifted from a subordinate
to a primary social fact, and comes
to mean the same as though it read
'the psychology of fashions,' which are
supposed to be made in Paris. It is
very absurd to hear the man intellect
vaporing about the great social axioms
which a self-perpetuating society must
obey, and the rule of action which a
manly and only possibly true non-im-
perialistic people must try to follow out
if it wishes to stamp out imperialism,
and the so-called 'laws' which your
stick-in-the-mud scientists are formulat-
ing at a snail's pace — laws which 'prove'
the accuracy of these 'majestic' general-
izations of Moses and of Jesus. No, the
feminine in science demands immediate,
up-to-date facts, or, if it will afford Mr.
Starr Jordan any satisfaction, hysterical
theories for its inductions, and these are
furnished by telepathy, which, like
every dramatic science, requires scenery
and stage furniture, so as to be able
to tell the past by the actual me, the
cogito ergo sum automaton, not by the
interrogation of invaluable sequence and
stuff.

Seated upon his stage, surrounded by
a painted vale of Italian softness and
bathed in an atmosphere of amorous
music and perfumes, with soft couches
that invite the drowsy indolence that
crawls upon the intellect, the telepathic
physiological psychologist or Ueber-
mensch can not, it is true, get ahead of
the future; but he can get behind the
past; he can annihilate time, he can an-
nihilate space, for by the magic power

550

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of his resistless will he can make the
cells of the nervous system retrokaryo-
kinetate to the period when they opened
and shut a bivalve or sojourned upon
the planet Mars. This, then, is the dif-
ference between a telepath and a charla-
tan: the charlatan is a broker who
deals in futures; the telepath is a com-
mission merchant who deals in eggs.
Rebecca Shabpe.
P. S. — A.} I go over this to put in
missing commas and words, it seems to
me that it is made up crazy quilt patch-
work fashion, so I suppose it is hardly
a virtue to say that, though I first mixed
it all up and then wrote it out of my
own head, I got the woman facts from
old Mrs. Blackleg, who keeps the board-
ing-house where I lodge, and the socio-
logical facts from a poor fellow who is
madly in love with me and has proposed
ever so many times, though I have never
given him the slightest encouragement,
no, never; but he will, and he will, and
he will. Not that I am no scientist and
don't know original facts. That is not
true, for when I was studying up for
examination I noticed how the jelly-
fish Medusa could easily heal its
wounded nervous system, and the star-
fish, too, and so needed no protection, as
every part could go off on its own
hook; and then how Nature, in making
a more centralized nervous system, made
a limestone coat for the poor thing, and
so on, until I, trying to work out the
puzzle of mental fatigue, found that the
dear old lady made a clean jump to a
double nervous system for backbone ani-
mals, one set for vascular work and
the other for fighting purposes, and
brains made ribs of the entrenchment of
the clam and the cuirass of the turtle.
And without bothering you any more, I
only want to say that when man and
woman were somatically one, and
when, for purposes best known to a
wise and unscrupulous Providence, they
somatically became two, that woman
remained mankind and nearer to nature,
and man must be regarded as a mere
freak, which accounts for his ridiculous-
ness and his 'laws,' which are the dread

enemies of the worship of Karyokinesis.
But I forget all this when riding home
in the cool evening air, and the electric
car goes bobbing up and down as it
tears down the hill, and I hug up close
to that broad-shouldered social wretch
who is fighting Mrs. Blackleg and her
telepaths for my happiness.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.
To the Editor: It certainly has been
sufficiently obvioxis, by the communica-
tion of Mr. Smith in your February is-
sue, that the means of thought-com-
munication between 'material scien-
tists' and 'Christian Scientists' are by
no means easy or adequate. Not being
able to rise above 'human logic/ I am
placed along with many other worthies,
in whose company I take pride, amongst
the 'materialists,' and am accordingly
and very properly reminded that my
opinion on matters pertaining to reli-
gion and to Christianity are of little
consequence. Let it be also noted en
passant that I am not regarded as hav-
ing attacking 'Christian Science,' but
only credited with the belief that 1
thought I had. Consistently with their
own doctrines this really should
amount to the same thing. So it will
be well to disclaim any intention of at-
tacking, in the personal sense which
your correspondent gives to the discus-
sion, the upholders of this or any other
faith. It is always important to keep
in mind the admonition of Huxley that
in controversy one should not wander
from the really essential question of
what is right and what is wrong to the
entirely unimportant matter of who is
right and who is wrong.

But my main purpose in sending this
note is to protest against the assump-
tion of my critic that the representa-
tives of Christianity are arrayed with
him and against me in the advocacy of
certain doctrines which I insist are not
characteristically religious ones, and
which, if they are distorted into a re-
ligious guise, can not by that shift es-
cape the candid comment of common-
sense science. It is an injustice to the

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

55*

representatives of Christian faiths to
put them, by implication or assertion, in
the position of giving support to tend-
encies which they have an equal inter-
est with the expounders of science in
opposing. I shall content myself with
one quotation from an authoritative
source — Bishop Fallows, of Chicago —
which places this dubious attempt to
mingle religion with unscientific medi-
cal dogmas in the only light in which
right-minded persons of whatever train-
ing can complacently look upon it.

"If my good friends," says the
Bishop, "are going to start, or believe in
a professed religious system because
they have been healed through the in-
fluence of a mental law as universal as
gravitation, the people who have been
cured by patent nostrums have just as
much reason to establish a religious cult
of Christian liver pillists, Christian
Sarsaparillists, Christian Celery Com-
poundists, or Christian Cholera Mix-
turists, as had Mother Eddy to found a
church of Christian Scientists. 'By
their fruits ye shall know them.' I do
know some of the best Christians living
who believe with unshaken faith that
they were cured by these patent nos-
trums. But they have had the good
sense to remain in the church and not
claim a special dispensation for the dis-
coveries of their favorite patent medi-
cines."

Joseph Jastrow.

University of Wisconsin.

THE INVENTOR OF THE SEWING
MACHINE.

To the Editor: In the November
Popular Science Monthly the mu-
nificent gift of Miss Helen Gould for a

Hall of Fame is noticed, and thirty
names are designated as the choice of
certain prominent men (not named) for
place therein as the most eminent
Americans.

In the list given the name of Elias
Howe appears, which must produce as-
tonishment in the minds of every one
who lias a knowledge of him or of the
history of the sewing machine, upon
which alone his claim to notoriety rests.
To all who are acquainted with the ad-
vent of that machine, Howe occupies a
very minor place. Patents were granted
for such machines long before Howe en-
tered the field, and he never succeeded
in producing a practical machine, until
more than one device invented by others
was added to it.

Several inventors were striving to
make a practical sewing machine, which
was finally accomplished on different
lines by some of them. The fact that
Howe received royalties from these men.
who procured the extension of his pat-
ent, was a matter of policy that we
pass as irrelevant to the question of
the introduction of this great public ac-
quisition, in which he took no active
part.

Howe was not a first-class mechanic,
and the devices he patented wrere all
elaborated before him by others, and
not until other important devices were
added did the sewing machine come into
use. To place his name on the roll of
fame above a host of his superiors on
the records of the Patent Office would
be doing American genius a grave injus-
tice that would render the Hall of Fame
absurd. I trust no such radical mistake
will be perpetrated.

Vindicator.

5*5-

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF KNOWL-
EDGE.

Little doubt can exist longer that
the coolness which marked the relation-
ship between Science and Philosophy
from about 1840 until within the last
decade is passing away rapidly.
Thanks partly to the development of
experimental psychology, partly to the
broader training given at our colleges,
where science has won a recognized
place in the undergraduate course, the
younger men who specialize in philoso-
phy possess some acquaintance with the
scientific attitude and temper. To
them, and to the professed votary of
science, the new work, entitled 'Founda-
tions of Knowledge,' by Professor Or-
mond, of Princeton (Macmillan), can
not fail to present some attractive and
some curious considerations. In wit-
ness of his sympathy with the modern
outlook, and to a certain extent under
pressure of its demands, the 'McCosh
Professor,' of all people, has striven
hard to adopt an experiential basis.
He sees quite clearly that neither the
hide-bound empiricism of the tradi-
tional English school, nor the vaulting
a priori dialectic of Hegel and his Eng-
lish-speaking derivants, suffice to phil-
osophical salvation at present. Accord-
ingly, he has provided a sober, straight-
forward analysis of the implications
hidden under such terms as Experience,
Knowledge, Reality. This forms the
First Part of his essay. Having thus
expelled traditional subjects of conten-
tion, he proceeds to consider the various
characteristic ways in which knowledge
grows from a less to a more complex
synthesis of things. In this connection,
he deals with the same material upon
which metaphysicians have racked their
brains time out of mind — Space, Time,
Quantity, Quality, Cause, Substance,

taking the stage successively. And it
must be said that, although Professor
Ormond's style is a trifle heavy, he con-
trives to set forth some sensible, fresh
and, moreover, plain conclusions. But,
as has been hinted, these matters are
ancient history with all philosophers,
as with some scientific workers. And
so, this Second Part of the work does
not stop here. As many are aware, the
ideas just mentioned may be called
static; and the modern tendency — very
strong in science, equally strong with
the younger philosophical men — makes
its presence felt in Professor Ormond's
discussion of dynamic aspects of experi-
ence. The conception of a social mind,
leading to the ideas of relationship, in-
terdependence and unitary mental life
expressing itself in individuals, has at-
tracted his close attention. It can hardly
be said that he has embraced all the con-
clusions to which such conceptions lead
necessarily. He makes reservations, or
rather, the habit of his mind and the
influences of his education induce him
to stop short midway in his progress.
Consequently, it turns out, in the Third
Part of the book, that human experi-
ence possesses a 'transcendent or super-
ordinary element.' Here, it seems, phi-
losophy finds its peculiar work, while
science deals with the ordinary or rela-
tive. Even a superficial acquaintance
with the history of thought reminds us
that this is a very old idea; one, too,
which, like other old ideas, has been
petarded often. But Professor Ormond
presents it in a fresh way, and in as
reasonable fashion as it is capable of
assuming. Not that he justifies it, for
it cannot be justified, except by Deity.
At the same time, through its instru-
mentality he calls attention to one
aspect of knowledge that has been sub-
ject to neglect of late. From this brief

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

553

outline, the reader will gather, first,
that the book possesses a certain origi-
nality of its own, it stands for solid
work by its author and affords one the
pleasure that such work gives. Second,
it is attractive, because it marks a stage
of transition. Ten years hence, these
clean-cut distinctions within experience
will have become impossible. The work
is, therefore, to be commended as a
faithful and forthright representation
of that type of thinking which, though
well aware of the futilities of eighteenth
century dualism, has not yet awakened
to the demands of twentieth century
system. Being thus a type, it is well
worth taking into consideration.

STATIONARY RADIANTS TO SHOW-
ERS OF SHOOTING STARS.
The radiant of a shower of shooting
stars is the point or area from which
all the stars appear to move when per-
spectively projected on the celestial
vault. If the tracks of a shower of
meteors are laid down on a star map,
and if these tracks are prolonged, all of
them will intersect in a point, or, at
least, within a small area — the radiant.
The meteors are really moving in paral-
lel straight lines in space. Their paths
are perspectively projected into great
circles of the celestial sphere, and have
a common vanishing point. The case is
easily understood by that of the 'sun
drawing water,' which is often seen
about sunset. The rays of the sun are
really parallel, but they seem to radiate
in all directions from the sun's disc in
great circles that have a common van-
ishing point.

This perspective theory demands
that the radiant point of a shower of
meteors should rise, culminate and set
by the earth's diurnal motion, pre-
cisely as the sun, or a star, rises,
culminates and sets. The meteors on
any night do, in fact, radiate from
spots Avhich remain fixed among
the stars, and which rise, culmi-
nate and set as do the stars them-
selves. If the shower continues for
many nights (like the Perseid shower,

for instance) the place of the radiant
usually shifts among the stars, as it
ought to do, since its position is due
to a geometric configuration which
changes as the earth moves. The per-
spective appearances change as the place
of the spectator is altered by the earth's
motion in its orbit. Mr. W. F. Den-
ning, of Bristol, England, an experi-
enced and assiduous observer of meteors,
reports that he has found cases where
the appearances differ from these nor-
mal conditions. For certain showers
of meteors, the radiant does not change
its place among the stars as the
earth moves in its orbit, but, on the
contrary, the radiant remains sta-
tionary for weeks. A typical case of the
sort is the shower of the Orionids. This
shower persists for about two weeks
(October 10-24), and the radiant remains
stationary near the star v Orionis, in-
stead of shifting with the earth's mo-
tion as the laws of celestial perspective
demand.

No satisfactory explanation of such
stationary radiants has been forthcom-
ing; and many astronomers have doubt-
ed the correctness of Mr. Denning's ob-
servations on that account. Granting
that the observations are correct, an ex-
planation of the phenomenon has been
given by Professor von Niessl, of Briinn,
and this explanation was briefly report-
ed by Prof. Alexander Herschel at a
recent meeting of the Astronomical So-
ciety of France. From a rather meager
account of the report it appears that
M. von Niessl has sought for a path
of a meteor stream so situated in space
and so curved that the observed phe-
nomena would necessarily follow. Given
the phenomena and the fact that they
are produced by the perspective projec-
tion of the actual paths of meteors in
space, he has inquired what the paths
must be to satisfy all the conditions.
If we assume swarms of meteors, mov-
ing with small velocities in space, in
hyperbolic orbits nearly parallel, the
orbits being asymptotic to the sun, me-
teors proceeding from such swarms
would seem to have a stationary radi-

554

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

ant. Moreover, such meteors must or-
iginate in certain fixed emissive centers
in the stellar regions (beyond the solar
system). The phenomena for certain
aerolites whose fall has been observed
are accounted for by reasonable as-
sumptions as to the existence of the
cosmical centers of emission, primitive
velocity and direction.

Without seeing M. von Niessl's or-
iginal paper it is impossible to give
more than the foregoing brief report.
It is obvious that if we assume a set
of centers of emission exterior to the
solar system, and suppose that they
send out swarms of meteors which, in
time, reach the solar system, it is possi-
ble to make reasonable assumptions as
to velocity, etc., that will account for
all the observed phenomena. A geo-
metrical explanation of stationary radi-
ants can be had in this way. It is not
yet possible to say whether there is
sufficient physical evidence to make the
existence of such extra-solar emissive
centers probable. All that can now be
done is to report this essay towards a
physical explanation of a very puzzling
phenomenon.

THE UTILIZATION OF FOOD AND
ALCOHOL IN THE HUMAN BODY.
Widespread interest has been taken
in the results reported by Prof. W. O.
Atwater on the food value of alcohol.
These alcohol experiments constitute a
part of a series of experiments on the
utilization of food in the human body
which have been in progress for a num-
ber of years. A technical description
of a number of them forms a part of a
bulletin by Professor Atwater et al.
on 'The Metabolism of Matter and
Energy in the Human Body,' just
issued by the United States Department
of Agriculture. The bulletin describes
in detail fourteen experiments carried
on with human subjects in the Atwater-
Eosa respiration calorimeter. It pre-
sents additional data bearing upon th«
metabolism of matter and energy in the
human body under conditions of rest

and work, the conservation of energy
under these conditions, the action of the
ordinary food nutrients in the body,
and the effect of muscular work upon
nitrogen metabolism.

The aim in these experiments was to
furnish the subject with approximately
the quantity of nitrogen, carbon and
energy in the basal ration that would
be required to keep him in nitrogen and
carbon equilibrium. This was practical-
ly attained. Upon the addition to the
basal ration of an amount of alcohol or
sugar furnishing approximately 500 cal-
ories of energy per day, it was found
that the body appeared to store an.
amount of fat having practically an iso-
dynamic value with the alcohol or sugar
eaten. It is doubtful whether all the
energy in the sugar was actually avail-
able to the body, some los3 being sus-
tained in transferring the sugar from
the alimentary canal into the circula-
tion. Assuming 98 per cent, of the en-
ergy of the sugar to be actually avail-
able to the body, it is calculated that
this would give 505 calories of available
energy furnished by the sugar, and 477
calories of extra fat stored by the body,
as compared with the preceding experi-
ments upon the basal ration.

The close agreement between the
quantities of heat actually determined
and the theoretical amounts furnished
by the materials actually oxidized in
the body is one of the interesting fea-
tures of the experiments, and indicates
the degree of accuracy which has been
attained with the apparatus and the
methods employed.

An important scientific result of
these investigations thus far has been
to demonstrate, in a manner which has
never been done before, the application
of the law of the conservation of matter
and of energy in the human body.

The report is largely one of progress.
The authors propose in future experi-
ments to study further the metabolism
of different classes of nutrients and the
relative replacing power of the energy
as furnished by different materials.

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

555

THE PEOtUlESS OF SCIENCE.

In the numerous reviews of the nine-
teenth century published in the maga-
zines and in the daily press, science oc-
cupies the most prominent place. The
news of the world for a day, as we read
it in the newspaper, or for a month,
as given in certain journals, may con-
tain no reference to science, yet the con-
temporary events which at the time ex-
cite such general interest are forgotten,
while the quiet progress of science grad-
ually emerges in its true proportions.
The century witnessed other great
achievements — music in Germany, po-
etry in England, the novel in France,
Russia and England — but these are like
royal palaces, beautiful and complete,
more likely now to decay than to
grow. Science, on the other hand,
has laid the foundations on which the
future rests. The applications of science
to the arts and to commerce, permitting
one man to do what formerly required
ten, and giving more nearly than ever
before to each the return of his labor,
have made modern democracy possible.
The methods of science, slowly spread-
ing and exerting their control, have
made democracy comparatively safe.
The results of science will help to
make democracy worth the while.
Thus, to take an example, there
is now sufficient wealth to permit
the education of each child; scientific
methods will ultimately determine how
he shall be educated, and science offers
the material to be used in the training.
It may be that we shall some day ar-
rive at a scientific scholasticism, for
atrophy and degeneration are no less
real than growth and progress, but it
seems probable that the history of the
twentieth century will be chiefly a his-
tory of science.

The death of Queen Victoria closes
an era in the history of a great nation;

but, like the century, it is a somewhat
artificial period. The monarchy in
Great Britain is primarily a social insti-
tution, and it does not appear that the
Queen exerted any influence on the de-
velopment of science, except in so far as
her sane and kindly character tended
to maintain the peace and morality
that are favorable to science. The death
of the Prince Consort, forty years ago,
was a distinct loss to science, for lie
was interested in scientific and educa-
tional problems, and showed in the case
of the Exhibition of 1851 that he could
exert powerful influence on their behalf.
Queen Victoria was a German woman of
domestic and religious type, and she
was doubtless ignorant of the contribu-
tions to the physical sciences made by
her subjects, while she regarded with
aversion the advances in the natural
sciences due to Darwin. Still, in the
social heirarchy, of which the Queen was
the head, science was recognized to a
greater extent than ever before. Lords
Kelvin, Lister, Playfair and Avebury
were elevated to the peerage wholly or
in part for scientific wrork, and minor
titles have been conferred in many
cases. Scientific men occupy a higher
social and political position in Great
Britain than in the United States, and
this has been an outcome of the Vic-
torian Age. It is not, however, due to
the favor of a court, but to the great
men of science of the period, and to the
fact that many of these belong to the
higher social classes. King Edward
VII. will preside with dignity at scien-
tific functions, but it is not likely that
he will attempt to exert an active in-
fluence on behalf of science. Still, he
was educated under the direction of a
scientific man, Lord Playfair, and he is
said to be well informed in the sciences.
It is possible that he will not only give
the social recognition which is not with-

556

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

out value, but will, like the late Prince
Consort, favor the direct encouragement
of scienee by the Government.

A pbophet is not needed to tell us
that the relations between the Govern-
ment and science will be closer in the
twentieth century than ever before.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are now
annually spent by the leading nations
in preparing for wars which may not
oceur, while only a small provision is
made for the industrial wars continual-
ly in progress. In spite of recent events,
it is likely that wars with ships and
armies will gradually cease, and, while
they continue, the results will depend
increasingly on industrial and scientific
factors. It is not so important for us
to own warships as to know how to
build and man them. It is not so es-
sential to alter the rifle each time an
improvement is made as to be able to
invent and make the best rifle when
needed. But supremacy among the na-
tions no longer depends chiefly on per-
formance in time of war. The rivalry in
trade and manufactures, the struggle
for material success and intellectual pre-
eminence has become increasingly se-
vere. As one species has supplanted an-
other, not so much by directly opposing
it, as by fitting itself better to the en-
vironment, so that nation will now sur-
vive and supplant others which is best
able to adjust itself to existing condi-
tions. First in importance are certain
moral qualities which at present the
State can not greatly forward; but next
after these are the training and efficient
use of intellectual traits, and here much
can be accomplished by proper organiza-
tion and the offering of opportunity.
In the United States the establishment
of unrivaled scientific and educational
institutions would have an important
function in unifying the nation and
giving expression to its spirit. The
patriotism and loyalty which in
Great Britain find their emblem in the
monarch must here seek other expres-
>ion. They could take no better form

than pride in the scientific and educa-
tional institutions of the nation.

As a matter of fact, the United
States Government does make larger
provision for scientific work than any
other nation. The bills now before Con-
gress will assign to this purpose perhaps
$9,000,000. This is by no means a small
sum, yet it is only 12 cents from each
of us, and there is every reason to ad-
vocate its increase as rapidly as men
can be found to whom the money may
be safely entrusted. The Department
of Agriculture and the Geological Sur-
vey have earned the confidence of the
country, and their appropriations will
be increased. Thus the House has ap-
proved an item allotting an additional
$100,000 to the Division of Forestry. It
is probable that the arts and manufac-
tures would profit more by the estab-
lishment of a department corresponding
to the Department of Agriculture than
by the continuation of a protective
tariff. A step in this direction will
doubtless be made by this or the next
Congress in the authorization of a Na-
tional Standardizing Bureau. The bill
has been approved by committees of the
Senate and of the House, and only pres-
sure of other business is likely to in-
terfere with its immediate adoption. As
we have already explained, the United
States is in this direction far behind na-
tions with smaller resources, and it is
satisfactory to know that this state of
affairs will not long continue.

There are two directions in which
the appropriations of the Government
for scientific work should be increased,
and there are special reasons why these
should be urged by men of science not
engaged in the Government service. We
refer to proper salaries for certain of
the scientific men at Washington and
the adequate support of the United
States National Museum. It is unwise
for scientific men employed by the Gov-
ernment to ask for an increase of salary,
as they thereby lose influence and are re-
garded as self-seeking. A strong presen-

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

557

tation of the unfairness of the present
state of things should be made by those
unconnected with the Government ser-
vice. Every business man knows —
and Congress is largely composed of
able business men — that it is unwise to
pay inadequate salaries to those who
fill responsible offices. Thus the pres-
ent agricultural appropriation bill, as
approved by the House, allots $187,520
to the Division of Forestry, of which
$2,500 is for the salary of the chief.
Now the efficiency with which this large
sum is expended depends on the chief,
and it is clearly economical to secure
the services of the best man in Amer-
ica. Such men are found, attracted by
the great opportunities for advancing
science offered by the Government ser-
vice, but they are often called away to
other work of equal importance with
larger salary. Thus an officer of the
Department of Agriculture receiving
$1,800 has this year accepted a position
under the Japanese Government with a
salary of $7,000. Men from the Gov-
ernment bureaus will be found in all
our universities, while it is but seldom
that a man will go from a university po-
sition to Washington. The present ag-
ricultural appropriation bill contained
a modest increase of salary for some of
the scientific officers, but the provisions
were regarded as out of order on the
ground that they were new legislation.
It is to be hoped that a bill will be in-
troduced at once containing these pro-
visions for the reorganization of the
Department of Agriculture.

The needs of the United States Na-
tional Museum should be urged by men
of science throughout the country, be-
cause its organization is such that it
has no really responsible head, whose
duty it is to present its claims to Con-
gress. The museum has developed un-
der the Smithsonian Institution, but, as
Joseph Henry pointed out, the functions
of the two institutions are entirely dif-
ferent. It may possibly be best for the
museum to remain under the Smith-
sonian Institution, owing to administra-

tive reasons; but it should at least have
the autonomy possessed by the Bureau
of American Ethnology with an inde-
pendent director. The sheds in which
the great, though somewhat unsymmet-
rical, collections are housed at Washing-
ton are a reproach both to science and
to the Government. New York City
has spent millions of dollars on the
building for its museum, while the Na-
tional Government has done practically
nothing. Every member of Congress
takes pride in the National Library,
and no one regrets the millions of dol-
lars that it cost. It is but right to give
material expression in the best form
possible to the intellectual life of the
nation. But why should not the mu-
seum have a building equally represen-
tative, and funds for the increase of its
collections by well-organized scientific
expeditions? It will doubtless have
them if we wait long enough, but there
are more efficient ways to obtain things
than by waiting.

Senator Morgan has introduced a
bill establishing a National Observatory
of the United States on almost exactly
the lines recommended in the last issue
of this journal. There is now a real op-
portunity to secure a reform, advocated
for years by our leading astronomers,
and all interested in science should
unite in urging the passage of the pres-
ent measure. The text of Senator Mor-
gan's bill is as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assem-
bled, That the United States Naval Ob-
servatory shall hereafter be known as
the National Observatory of the United
States and shall be governed by
a director thereof, who shall re-
port directly to and be under the super-
vision of the Secretary of the Navy.

Section 2. — That the Director of the
National Observatory shall be an emi-
nent astronomer, appointed by the
President, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, at a salary of
five thousand dollars per annum, and
shall be selected from the astronomers
of the National Academy of Sciences
unless, in the judgment of the President,
an American astronomer of higher scien

558

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tific and executive qualifications shall
be found.

Section 3. — That the Secretary of the
Navy may detail for duty as astron-
omers at the National Observatory such
professors of mathematics and other of-
ficers of the Navy as he shall deem nec-
essary in the interests of the public ser-
vice; but on and after the passage of
this act no appointments shall be made
of such professors unless required for
service at the Naval Academy.

Section 4. — That there shall be a
Board of Visitors of the National Ob-
servatory, to consist of one Senator,
one member of the House of Represent-
atives, and three astronomers of emi-
nence, to be selected by the Secretary
of the Navy. The Board of Visitors
shall make an annual visitation, or
more frequent visitations, of the Observ-
atory, advise with the director thereof
as to the scientific work to be prose-
cuted, and report to the Secretary of the
Navy on the work and needs of the ob-
servatory on or before the first day of
November in- each- year. The members
of the said board may receive an allow-
ance not exceeding ten dollars per day
each during their actual presence in
the city of Washington while en-
gaged on the duty of the board, and
their necessary traveling expenses; but
no officer of the Government appointed
on the board shall receive any addition-
al compensation for such duty above
his actual expenses.

The probability that a National
Standardizing Bureau will be authorized
by the present Congress adds interest to
the plans of the National Physical Lab-
oratory recently established in Great
Britain. Experimental work, somewhat
limited in character, has for a long
while been carried on at Kew Observa-
tory, and it was hoped that the new lab-
oratories might be erected near by.
Plans were drawn up for a physical
building to cost $30,000, and an engi-
neering building to cost $20,000. There
was, however, opposition to the erection
of these buildings in the Old Deer
Park, and in October the Government
decided to assign to the laboratory
Bushey House and the surrounding
grounds, 25 acres in extent. The build-
ing as it now stands will be turned into
a laboratory for the more delicate meas-
urements, and a new laboratory for en-

gineering will be erected. The work
that it is proposed to carry out, as soon
as the buildings can be occupied, in-
cludes the connection between the mag-
netic quality and the physical, chem-
ical and electrical properties of iron and
of its alloys, the testing of steam
gauges and various kinds of springs,
standard screws and electrical meas-
uring instruments, and optic and ther-
mometric determinations. These sub-
jects have an evident connection with
trade and industry, and there is every
reason to suppose that the cost of the
laboratory will be saved many fold every
year by economies in the arts and manu-
factures, while at the same time phys-
ical measurements can be carried out
in an institution of this character which
no university would be likely to under-
take. It should be noted that the Na-
tional Physical Laboratory is under the
direct control of the Royal Society,
which insures the highest attainable de-
gree of efficiency.

A valuable contribution to the
study of the inert gases of the atmos-
phere is made by Professors Liveing and
Dewar in a paper read before the Royal
Society on December 13. The gases were
obtained by liquefying air by contact
with the walls of a vessel at atmos-
pheric pressure cooled below7 200° C.
Some 200 ccm. of liquid air were thus
condensed, and the more volatile por-
tion was then distilled over into a re-
ceiver cooled with liquid hydrogen. This
portion, consisting of about 10 ccm. was
then passed into spectrum tubes, first,
however, traversing a U-tube immersed
also in liquid hydrogen. In this man-
ner the gas was completely freed from
every trace of nitrogen, argon and
compounds of carbon. The tubes showed
the spectra of hydrogen, helium and
neon with great brilliancy, but also a
large number of lines which could not
be referred to any known origin. This
shows conclusively that a sensible pro-
portion of hydrogen exists in the earth's
atmosphere, a point which has been
much disputed in the past. If it be true,

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

559

as has been shown mathematically, that
owing to the velocity of the hydrogen
molecule, the earth cannot retain this
gas in its atmosphere, then there must
be a continued accession of hydrogen to
the atmosphere from interplanetary
space. If this is the case, it is probable
that there must be a similar transfer of
other gases, and therefore the authors
of the paper sought in the spectra evi-
dence of the presence of the characteris-
tic lines of the spectra of nebua?, of the
corona, and of the aurora. Nebular
lines were found in the tubes as above
prepared; but in one, the gas of which
had not been passed through the U-
tube, and which contained traces of ni-
trogen and argon, a line was found very
close to the principal green nebular ray,
which did not appear in the other tubes,
and which may indicate that the sub-
stance that is luminous in the nebulae is
really present in the earth's atmosphere.
Several lines were found which may pos-
sibly be referred to coronal rays, but
further study is necessary before this
can be established. Still, more doubt
attaches to the auroral rays, one of
which seems to be identical with a
strong ray of argon. The ingenious
method devised for the collection of the
gases, the demonstration of the presence
of hydrogen in the atmosphere, and the
possibilities opened up by this manner
of attack render this research notable.

The progress which has been made
in recent years in determining the useful
and injurious dairy bacteria, and the
means of controlling their growth, has
greatly promoted the intelligent produc-
tion and handling of milk for household
consumption and in butter-making. In
this work a number of the agricultural
experiment stations have taken an im-
portant part. The Storrs Experiment
Station in Connecticut is among this
number, and its twelfth annual report,
just issued, gives an interesting resume1
of the something over two hundred
types of bacteria which Professor Conn
has found in dairy products during the
ten years he has been engaged in this

work. On the basis of his studies he
proposes a classification of dairy bac-
teria. Although the total number of
species found in dairy products is large,
only a comparatively few occur witli
very great regularity. Professor Conn
concludes that those of the region repre-
sented by his investigations consist
chiefly of three groups of closely related
bacteria. Of these the most abundant
are Bacterium acidi lactici I. (Esten)
and B. acidi lactici II. (new species),
which constitute the first group. The
former occurs almost universally in milk
and cream, is nearly always present in
sour milk, and has been found by far the
most abundant in all samples of ripened
cream examined. The second form, while
very abundant in sour milk and cream,
occurs in less numbers. Several of the
pure commercial cultures for ripening
cream in butter-making consist of bac-
teria of this type. The next most im-
portant group is represented by a spe-
cies regarded as identical with B. lactis
aerogenes, and includes a number of
types of great similiarity, but with dif-
ferent physiological characters. It has
been found almost universally in milk,
but never in very great numbers. Some
of the pure cultures used in Europe for
cream ripening appear to belong to this
group. Typical sour milk, with its tend-
ency to fragmentation and its sour odor,
Professor Conn thinks, is never devel-
oped without the aid of some of the or-
ganisms of this group. The third type is
the Micrococcus lactis varians of the
author. It is common in fresh milk, and
is thought to exist in the milk ducts,
which is not the case with the preceding
types, the source of contamination with
which is believed to be entirely exter-
nal. It is commonly overgrown by the
lactic organisms and is less common in
old milk. While the classification of
dairy bacteria is regarded as necessarily
a tentative one, it is offered as a basis
for bringing together the work of
American dairy bacteriologists.

Another paper in this report bear-
ing on the subject of dairying relates to

560

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the use of milk of tuberculous cows — a
matter of more than usual interest in
view of the attention which is being
given to the general subject of tubercu-
losis and its transmission. Experiments
in using the milk of tuberculous cows
for feeding calves at the Storrs Station
have been in progress for several years.
During the first two years, when the
cows had the disease only in its earliest
stages, the you-ig cattle which received
their milk and ran with them constant-
ly, exhibited no signs of the disease as
far as could be detected by the tubercu-
lin test or physical examination. But
the result for the next year and a half
was quite different. Five calves were
fed the milk of these same cows, and all
five responded to the tuberculin test
and proved to be diseased. The physical
condition of three of the cows indicated
that during the last year the disease
had progressed decidedly in them.
While the results indicate that the
danger from the spread of tubercu-
losis to other animals through the milk
is not always as great as has been sup-
posed, they suggest the exercise of
greater precaution in excluding from
use for supplying family milk all cows
in which the disease is sufficiently ad-
vanced to be detected. Experiments at
a number of places have shown that the
milk of tuberculous cows may be pas-
teurized and safely used for raising
calves, but precautions should be taken
to insure confining its use to this pur-
pose.

Professok E. C. Pickering, director
of the Harvard College Observatory,
has been awarded the gold medal of the
Royal Astronomical Society. — The Helm-
holtz medal of the Prussian Academy of
Sciences has been conferred on Sir
George Gabriel Stokes, of Cambridge
University, this medal having been pre-
viously conferred only on Professor Vir-
chow and Lord Kelvin. — Sir Archibald
Geikie has retired from the directorship
of the Geological Survey of Great Brit-
ain and Ireland. — We note with regret

the death of Elisha Gray, the American
inventor; of M. Ch. Hermite, the French
mathematician; of Professor Max vo«
Pettenkofer, the bacteriologist; of Fred-
eric W. H. Myers, secretary of the
Society for Psychical Research; and of
Miles Rock, the American geodesist. —
The International Zoological Congress
will hold its fifth session in Berlin, be-
ginning on August 12. — The Astronomi-
cal and Astrophysical Society of Ameri-
ca will hold its next meeting in Decem-
ber.— William H. Crocker, of San Fran-
cisco, has offered to defray the expenses
of a solar eclipse expedition to be sent
by the University of California from the
Lick Observatory to Sumatra to observe
the total eclipse of the sun on May 17. —
A bill has been introduced in the House
of Representatives directing the general
Government, through the Secretary of
the Interior, to secure title to the cliff
dwellers' region of New Mexico for park
and scientific purposes, and one in the
Senate appropriating $5,000,000 for the
purchase of land in the Appalachian
Mountains for a national forest reserve.
— Mr. Joseph White Sprague has left his
estate, valued at $200,000, so that it
will ultimately revert to the Smithsoni-
an Institution. — Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity has received a conditional gift of
land for a new site valued at $700,000.
— The French and German generals have
removed from the wall of Pekin the
superb astronomical instruments erected
two centuries ago by the Jesuit fathers,
and propose to send them partly to Ber-
lin and partly to Paris. The American
general has protested against this as an
act of vandalism. — Dr. Adams Paul
sen, director of the Meteorological
Institute of Copenhagen, has gone
to North Finland to study the
aurora. He undertook a similar expedi-
tion last winter to North Iceland. —
Prof. Baldwin Spencer and Mr. Gil-
len have arranged for another expedi-
tion in continuation of their investiga-
tions into the habits and folk-lore of
the natives of Central Australia and the
Northern Territory.

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE

MONTHLY.

APRIL, 1901.

MALPIGHI, SWAMMEKDAM AND LEEUWENHOEK.

By Professor WILLIAM A. LOCY,

NORTH WKSTERN UNIVERSITY.

AS Cuvier justly remarks, the seventeenth century was a fruitful
one for science. It was then that the method of investigating
nature by direct observation and experiment was reestablished. After
the long period of intellectual decline, the mental life of mankind was
to be lifted again to the level it had attained in the age of the highest
development of Greek philosophy. The complete arrest of inquiry into
the domain of nature and the adherence to tradition had lasted so long
that the faculty of testing and experimeting seemed to be almost
extinct. The unfriendliness of the ecclesiastics and other intellectual
authorities to investigation, and the dire consequences to the individual
of a movement towards intellectual freedom, served to repress the nat-
ural desire of the human intellect for a knowledge of itself and the
universe. Any one who broke over the restraints went against every
appeal to self-interest, and deserved much credit for independence and
courage.

Nevertheless, in this untoward atmosphere the spirit of unbiased
inquiry was awakened through the efforts of a few independent minds;
among these select few, who, as pioneers in the revival of exact science,
have an enduring interest for all educated people, we must remember
Malpighi, Swammerdam and Leeuwenhoek. Although their work
marks an epoch, they were not the only pioneers, nor the first ones;
Vesalius, Galileo, Harvey and Descartes had started the reform move-
ment in which our triumvirate so worthily labored.

VOL. LVIII.— zc<

562 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

One of these men — Malpighi — was an Italian, and the other two
were Netherlands Dutchmen. Their great service "consisted chiefly in
this, that they broke away from the thraldom of book-learning, and,
relying alone upon their own eyes and their own judgment, won for
man that which had been quite lost, the blessing of independent and
unbiased observation." The importance of this step for its broad-
reaching effects even upon the intellectual life of our own time is not
easily overestimated. Much of the work of the present is built upon
the foundations they laid.

There is a singularly unappreciative attitude towards scientific work,
of the biological kind, done before 1850, and a widespread disposition
to look upon the advances of the present time as peculiarly our own,
based wholly upon 'modern' work and 'modern' methods. This some-
times takes the extreme form, in the rising generation of practical
workers, of looking upon the scientific investigations of the past ten
years as of necessarily better quality than those of any preceding period,
because they are the most recent. But this is to do injustice to our
predecessors, and it is wholesome to take a look into the past, to see
some of the fine observational work done long ago, and to be com-
pelled to recognize the continuity of biological development, both as
regards work and ideas.

If it were Johannes Midler with whom we were to deal, a marvel
could be shown, but the work of Malpighi. Swammerdam and Leeuwen-
hoek belongs to a period a century and a half before his time. For
these men it is just to claim, in addition to the service indicated above,
the possession of the true scientific spirit, the introduction of the micro-
scope and of more exact methods into scientific investigation, and,
through their work, the beginning of that better comprehension of the
natural universe that we call modern science.

It is natural that working when they did, and independently as
they did, their work overlapped in many ways. Malpighi is noteworthy
for many discoveries in anatomical science, for his monograph on the
anatomy of the silkworm, for observations on the minute structure of
plants and on the development of the chick in the hen's egg. Together
with Grew, he is regarded as the founder of plant histology. Swammer-
dam did excellent and accurate work on the anatomy and metamorpho-
sis of insects and the internal structure of mollusks, frogs and other
animals. Leeuwenhoek is distinguished for much general microscopic
work; he discovered various microscopic animalcula; he established by
direct observation a connection between arteries and veins, and exam-
ined microscopically minerals, plants and animals. To him more than
to the others the general title of miicroscopist' might be applied.

Let us, by taking them individually, look a little more closely at
the lives and labors of these men.

MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, LEEUWENHOEK. 563

MARCELLTJS MALPIGIII. 1628-1694.

There are several portraits of Malpighi extant. These, together
with the account of his personal appearance given by Atti,* enable us
to tell what manner of man he was. The portrait given here is the

Fig. 1. Marcellus Malpighi.

one painted by Tabor, and presented by Malpighi to the Eoyal Society
of London. As Pettigrew says, 'it shows a countenance highly intellec-
tual, and as a work of art is of no mean importance.' Some of the other

* Atti. 'Notizie Edite ed Inedite Delia Vita e Delle Opere Di Marcelli Mal-
pighi De Lorenzo Bellini.* Bologna, 1847; 4°: 52.5 pp.

564 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

portraits are less attractive, and give evidence of imperfect health in the
lines and wrinkles of his face. According to Atti, he was of medium
stature, with a brown skin, delicate complexion, a serious countenance
and melancholy look. T

Accounts of his life show that he was modest, quiet and of a pacific
disposition, notwithstanding the fact that he lived in an atmosphere of
acrimonious criticism, of jealousy and controversy. Under all this he
suffered acutely, and his removal from Bologna to Messina was partly
to escape the harshness of his critics. Some of his best qualities showed
under these persecutions; he was dignified under attack and moderate
in reply. In .his posthumous works his replies to his critics are free
from bitterness and written in a spirit of great moderation. This pic-
ture from Kay's correspondence shows the same control of his spirit.
Under the date of April, 1684, Dr. Tancred Kobinson writes: "Just
as I left Bononia I had a lamentable spectacle of Malpighi's house all
in flames, occasioned by the negligence of his old wife. All his pic-
tures, furniture, books and manuscripts were burnt. I saw him in the
very heat of the calamity, and methought I never beheld so much
Christian patience and philosophy in any man before; for he comforted
his wife and condoled nothing but the loss of his papers."

Malpighi was born at Crevalcuore, near Bologna, in 1694. His par-
ents were farmers, or landed peasants; enjoying a certain independence
in financial matters, they designed to give Marcellus, their eldest child,
the advantages of masters and the schools. He began a life of study,
and showed a taste for belles-lettres and for philosophy, which he
studied under Natali.

Through the death of both parents, in- 1649, Malpighi found him-
self, at the age of twenty-one, an orphan, and, as the eldest of eight
children, domestic affairs devolved upon him. He had as yet made no
choice of profession, but, through the advice of Natali, he resolved, in
1651, to study medicine, and, in 1653, at the age of twenty-five, he re-
ceived from the University of Bologna the degree of M. D.

In the course of a few years he married the sister of Massari, one'
of his teachers in anatomy, and became a candidate for a position in
the University of Bologna. This he did not immediately receive, but
about 1656 he was appointed to a post in the University, and began his
career as teacher and investigator. He must have shown aptitude for
this work, for soon he was called to the University of Pisa, where, for-
tunately for his development, he became associated with Borelli, who
was older and assisted him in many ways. They united in some work,
and together they discovered the spiral character of the heart muscles.
But the climate of Pisa did not agree with him, and after three years
he returned, in 1659, to teach in the University of Bologna, and applied
himself assiduously to anatomy.

MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, LEEUWEXHOEK. 565

Here his fame was in the ascendant, notwithstanding the machina-
tions of his enemies and detractors, led by Sbaraglia. He was soon
(1662) called to Messina to follow the famous Castelli. After a resi-
dence there of four years he again returned to Bologna. He retired to
a villa near the city, and devoted himself to anatomical studies.

Malpighi's talents were appreciated even at home. The University
of Bologna honored him Id 1686 with a Latin eulogium, the city erected
a monument to his memory, and after his death, in the city of Eome,
his body was brought to Bologna and interred with great pomp and
ceremony. He also received recognition from abroad, but that is less
remarkable. In 1668 he was elected an honorary member of the Royal
Society of London. He was very sensible of this honor; he kept in
communication with the society; he presented them with his portrait,
and deposited in their archives the original drawings illustrating the
development of the chick.

In 1691 he was taken to Rome by the newly elected Pope, Innocent
XII, as his personal physician, but under these new conditions he was
not destined to live many years. He died there, in 1694, of apoplexy.
His wife, of whom it appears that he was very fond, had died a short
time previously. Among his posthumous works is a sort of personal
psychology written down to the year 1691, in which he shows the
growth of his mind and the way in which he came to take up the
different subjects of investigation.

In reference to his discoveries and the position he occupies in the
history of natural science, it should be observed that he deserves the
title of an 'original as well as a very profound observer.' While the
ideas of anatomy were still vague 'he applied himself with ardor and
sagacity to the study of the fine structure of the different parts of the
body'; he extended his studies to the structure of plants and different
animals, and a]so to development. Entering as he did, a new and un-
explored territory, he, of course, made many discoveries, but no man
of mean talents could have done his work. He used every method at
his command for investigating the structure of tissues and animal
forms — macerating, boiling, injections of ink and colored fluids, and
also applied the microscope to the discovery of tissues.

During forty years of his life he was always busy with research.
Many of his discoveries had practical bearing on the advance of anatomy
and physiology as related to medicine. In 1661 he demonstrated the
structure of the lungs. Previously these organs had been regarded as
a sort of homogeneous parenchyma. He showed the presence of air-
cells, and had a tolerably correct idea of how the air and blood are
brought together in the lungs, the two never actuallv in contact, but
always separated by a membrane. These discoveries were first made
on the frog, and applied by analogy to the interpretation of the lungs

566 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of the human bcdy. He was the first to insist on analogies of structure
between organs throughout the animal kingdom, and to make extensive
practical use of the idea, that discoveries on simpler animals can be
utilized in interpreting the similar structures in the higher ones.

It is very interesting to note that in connection with this work, he
actually observed the passage of blood through the capillaries of the
transparent lungs of the frog, and also in the mesentery. Although
this antedates the similar observations of Leeuwenhoek, nevertheless-
the work of Leeuwenhoek was much more complete, and he is usually
recognized in physiology as the discoverer of the capillary connection
between arteries and veins. At this same period Malpighi also ob-
served the blood corpuscles.

Soon after he demonstrated the mucous layer, or pigmentary layer
of the skin, intermediate between the true and the scarf skin. He had
separated this layer by boiling and maceration, and described it as a
reticulated membrane. Even its existence was for a long time con-
troverted, but it remains in modern anatomy under the title of the
malpighian layer.

His observations on glands were extensive, and while it must be
confessed that many of his conclusions in reference to glandular struc-
ture were erroneous, he left his name connected with the malpighian
corpuscles of the kidney and the spleen. He was also the first to indi-
cate the presence of papilla? on the tongue. This is a respectable list
of discoveries, but much more stands to his credit. Those which follow
have a bearing on comparative anatomy, zoology and botany.

Monograph on the Structure ami Metamorphosis of the Silkworm.
Malpighi's work on the structure of the silkworm takes rank among
the most famous monographs on the anatomy of a single animal. Much
skill was required to give to the world this picture of minute structure.
The marvels of organic architecture were being made known in the
human body and the higher animals, but mo insect — hardly, indeed,
any animal — had then been carefully described, and all the methods
of work had to be discovered.' The delicacy, beauty and intricacy of
the organic systems in this group of animals were well calculated to
arouse wonder and admiration. He Avorked with such enthusiasm in
this new territory as to throw himself into a fever and to set up an
inflammation in the eyes. "Nevertheless," says Malpighi, "in perform-
ing these researches so many marvels of nature were spread before my
eyes that I experienced an internal pleasure that my pen could not
describe." In the words of Miall:

"We mus1 recall the complete ignorance of insect-anatomy which
then prevailed, and remember that now for the first time the dorsal
vessel, the tracheal system, the tubular appendages of the stomach,
the reproductive organs, and the structural changes which accom-

MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, LEEUWENHOEK. 567

pany transformation were observed, to give any adequate credit to
the writer of this masterly study. Treading ;i new path, he walks
steadily forward, trusting to his own sure eves and cautious judg-
ment. The descriptions are hrief and simple, the figures clear,
inn not rich in detail. There would now be much to add to
Malpighi's account, but hardly anything to correct. The only positive
mistakes which meet the eye relate to the number of spiracles and
nervous ganglia — mistakes promptly corrected by Swammerdam."

He showed that the method of breathing was neither by lungs nor
gills, but through a system of air-tubes, communicating with the exte-
rior through button-hole shaped openings, and. internally, by an infini-

Fli

"kiim Mai rii.iu'- Axatomy OF the Silkworm.

tude of branches reaching to the minutest parts of the body. Malpighi
showed an instinct for comparison; instead of confining his researches
to the species in hand, he extended his observations to other insects,
and he gives sketches of the breathing tubes, held open by their spiral
thread, taken from several species.

The nervous system he found to be a central white cord with swell-
ings in each ring of the body, from which nerves are given off to all
organs and tissue. The cord which is, of course, the central nervous
system, he found located mainly on the ventral surface of the body, but
extending by a sort of collar of nervous matter around the oesophagus
and, on the dorsal surface, appearing as a more complex mass, or brain,

568 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

from which nerves are given off to the eyes and other sense organs of
the head. As illustrations from the monograph we have, in Fig. 2, re-
duced sketches of the drawings of the nervous system and the food
canal in the adult silkworm. The sketch at the left hand illustrates the
central nerve cord, and the small one near the center shows one
ganglion enlarged, and part of the breathing tubes connected with it.
The original drawing is on a much larger scale, and reducing it takes
away some of its coarseness. All of his drawings lack the finish and
detail of Swammerdam's work.

He showed also the food canal and the tubules connected with the
intestine, which retain his name in the insect anatomy of to-day, under
the designation of malpighian tubules. The silk-forming apparatus was
also figured and described. These structures are represented, as Mal-
pighi drew them, on the right of Fig. 2.

This monograph, which was originally published in Latin in 1669,
has been several times republished. The best edition is that in French,
dating from Montpellier, in 1878, and which is preceded by an account
of the life and labors of Malpighi.

Anatomy of Plants. Malpighi's anatomy of plants constitutes one
of his best as well as one of his most extensive works. In the folio
edition of his works, 1675-79, the 'Anatome Plantarum' occupies not less
than 152 pages and is illustrated by ninety-three plates of figures. It
comprises the structure of bark, stem, roots, seeds, process of germina-
tion, treatise on galls, etc., etc.

The microscopic structure of plants is amply illustrated, and he an-
ticipated to a certain degree the ideas on the cellular structure of plants.
Burnett says of this work: "His observations appear to have been very
accurate, and not only did he maintain the cellular structure of plants,
but also declared that it was composed of separate cells, which he
designated "utricles.' ; Thus did he foreshadow the cell-theory of plants.
as developed by Schleiden in the nineteenth century. When it came
to interpretations of his observations, he made several errors. Apply-
ing his often-asserted principle of analogies, he concluded that the ves-
sels of plants are organs of respiration and of circulation from a certain
resemblance that they bear to the breathing tubes of insects. But his
observational work on structure is good, and if he had accomplished
nothing more than this work on plants he would have a place in the
history of botany.

Work in Embryology. Difficult as was his Avork in insect anatomy
and plant histology, a more difficult one remains to be mentioned, viz.,
his observations on the development of animals. He had pushed his
researches into the finer structure of organisms, and now he attempted
to answer this question: How does one of these organisms begin its
life, and by what series of stops is its body built up? He turned to

MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, LEEUWENHOEK. 569

the chick, as the most available form in which to gel an insight into
this process, but he could not extend his observations successfully into
periods earlier than about the twenty-four hour stage of develop-
ment. Two memoirs were written on this subject, both in 1672. Of all
Malpighi's work, this has received the leasi attention from reviewers,
but it is, for the time, a very remarkable piece of work. No one can

Fig. :;. Mai.piuhi's Sketchks showing thk Embryological Development or the Chick.

took over the ten folio plates without being impressed with the extent
and accuracy of his observations. His earliest sketches show an open
neural groove with an enlargement for the head end, and from this
stage onward he carries the development of the chick by sketches to
the period of hatching. These sketches are of interest not only to
.■students of embryology, but also to educated people, to see how far

570 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

observations upon the development of animals had progressed in 1672.
His are, doubtless, the earliest figures ever made showing the com-
paratively early stages of development. Harvey's observations on de-
velopment, published in 1631, were not accompanied by illustrations,
and the sketches of Fabricius, db aqua pendente, published in 1604, were-
far surpassed* by Malpighi's, the youngest stages represented being much
older than his.

Fig. 3 shows a group of selected sketches from different plates,,
but they fail to give an adequate idea of the extent of the work, taken
as a whole. It is very interesting to note the figures showing the forma-
tion of the heart and aortic arches. The execution of the figures in this
work is less coarse than those on the silkworm.

The embryological thought of his time was dominated by the theory
of preformation or pr.edelineation. Just as when we examine a seed, we
find within an embryo plantlet, so it was supposed that the minute
embryos of all animal life existed in miniature within the egg. Harvey
had expressed himself against it, and the doctrine was overthrown by
Wolff in the following century. Malpighi's position, however, was
based on actual observation; he was not able to find by examination any
stage in which there was no evidence of organization. Dareste says
that he examined eggs in a very hot August, in which there is reason
to believe that developmental changes had gone forward to a con-
siderable degree. Be this as it may, the imperfection of his instru-
ments and methods would have made it very difficult to have seen
anything definitely in stages below twenty-four hours. As a result of
his experience, he says:

"When we undertake to discover the principle of life of animals in
the egg we are astonished to find the animal already formed there; thus
our labor is vain, for as soon as we encounter the first movement of life
we are obliged to recognize parts that are visible to our eyes. * * *
On this account, it may be necessary to declare that the first beginnings
preexist in the egg," etc. In his posthumous works he "is less circum-
spect, and goes even to the point of describing the mechanism of evolu-
tion of these primitive elements."

Malpighi was a naturalist, but of a new type; he began to look
below the surface, and essayed a deeper level of analysis, in observing
and describing the internal and minute structure of animals and plants,
and when he took the further step of investigating their development
he was anticipating the work of the nineteenth century.

JOIIX* SWAMMEKDAM. 1637-1680.

Swammerdam was a different type of man — nervous, incisive, very
intense, stubborn and self-willed. Much of his character shows in the

MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, LEEUWENIWEK. 571

portrait by Rembrandt. Although its authenticity has been questioned,
it is the only portrait* known of Swammerdam.

He was born in 1637, nine years after Malpighi. His father, an
apothecary of Amsterdam, had a taste for collecting, which was shared

I'll.. 1. JAN SWAMMkKI'AM.

by many of his fellow-townsmen. "The vast commerce and extended
colonial empire of the Holland of that day fostered the formation of
private museums." The elder Swammerdam had the finest and most

I am indebted to Professor Dr. Hoffman, of Leyden, for this copy.

572 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

celebrated collection in all Amsterdam. This was stored, not only with
treasures, showing the civilization of remote countries, but, also, with
specimens of natural history, for which he had a decided liking. Thus
"from the earliest dawn of his understanding the young Swammerdam
was surrounded by zoological specimens, and from the joint influence,
doubtless, of hereditary taste and early association, he became passion-
ately devoted to the study of natural history."

His father intended him for the church, but he had no taste for
divinity, though he became a fanatic in religious matters towards the
close of his life; at this period he could brook no restraint in word or
action. He consented to study medicine, but for some reason he was
twenty-six years old before entering the University of Leyden. This
delay was very likely due to his precarious health, but. in the mean-
time, he had not been idle; he had devoted himself to observation and
study with great ardor, and had already become an expert in minute
dissection. When he went to the University, therefore, he at once took
high rank in anatomy. Anything demanding fine manipulation and
skill was directly in his line.

At Leyden he studied anatomy under the renowned Sylvius and
surgery under Van Home. He also continued his studies in Paris, and
about 1667 took his M. D. degree.

During this period of medical study he made some rather important
observations in human anatomy, and introduced the method of injec-
tion that was afterwards claimed by Kuysch. In 1664 he discovered
the values of lymphatic vessels by the use of slender glass tubes and,
three years later, first used a waxy material for injecting blood vessels.

It should be noted, in passing, that Swammerdam was the first to
observe and describe the blood corpuscles. As early as 1658 he de-
scribed them in the blood of the frog, but his observations were not
published till fifty-seven years after his death by Boerhaave, and, there-
fore, he does not get the credit of this discovery. Publication alone
establishes priority, not first observation, but there is conclusive evi-
dence that he observed the blood corpuscles before either Malpighi or
Leeuwenhoek had published their observations.

After graduating in medicine he did not practise, but followed his
st long inclination to devote himself to minute anatomy. This led to dif-
ferences with his father, who insisted on his going into practise, but the
self-willed stubbornness and firmness of his nature showed themselves.
It was from no love of ease that Swammerdam thus held out against
his father, but to be able to follow ah irresistible leading towards minute
anatomy. At last his father was planning to stop supplies, in order to
force him into the desired channel, but Swammerdam made efforts,
without success, to sell his own personal collection and preserve his
independence. Mis father died, leaving him sufficient property to live

MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, LEEUWENHOEK. 573

on, and brought the controversy to a close soon after the son had con-
sented to yield to his wishes.

Boerhaave, his fellow-countryman, gathered his complete writings
after his death and published them in 1737 under the title 'Biblia
Naturae.' This is preceded by a life of Swammcrdam, in which a
graphic account is given of his phenomenal industry, his intense ap-
plication, his methods and instruments. Most of the following passages
are selected from that work.

He was a very intemperate worker, and in finishing his treatise on
bees (1673) he broke himself down.

"It was an undertaking too great for the strongest constitution to
be continually employed by day in making observations and almost as
constantly engaged by night in recording them by drawings and suit-
able explanations. This being summer work, his daily labors began
at 6 in the morning, when the sun afforded him light enough to enable
him to survey such minute objects; and from that time till 12 he con-
tinued without interruption, all the while exposed in the open air to
the scorching heat of the sun, bareheaded, for fear of interrupting the
light, and his head in a manner dissolving into sweat under the irre-
sistible ardors of that powerful luminary. And if he desisted at noon
it was only because the strength of his eyes was too much weakened by
the extraordinary efflux of light and the use of microscopes to continue
any longer upon such small objects.

''This fatigue our author submitted to for a whole month together,
without any interruption, merely to examine, describe and represent the
intestines of bees, besides many months more bestowed upon the other
parts; during which time he spent whole days in making observations,
as long as there was sufficient light to make any, and whole nights in
registering his observations, till at last he brought his treatise on bees
to the wished-for perfection.

"For dissecting very minute objects, he had a brass table made on
purpose by that ingenious artist, Samuel Musschenbroek. To this table
were fastened two brass arms, movable at pleasure to any part of it, and
the upper portion of these arms was likewise so contrived as to be
susceptible of a very slow vertical motion, by which means the operator
could readily alter their height as he saw most convenient to his pur-
pose. The office of one of these arms was to hold the little corpuscles,
and that of the other to apply the microscope. His microscopes were
of various sizes and curvatures, his microscopical glasses being of vari-
ous diameters and focuses, and from the least to the greatest, the best
that could be procured, in regard to the exactness of the workmanship
and the transparency of the substance.

"But the constructing of very fine scissors, and giving them an ex-
treme sharpness, seems to have been his chief secret. These he made
use of to cut very minute objects, because they dissected them equably,
whereas knives and lancets, let them be ever so fine and sharp, are apt
to disorder delicate substances. His knives, lancets and styles were so
fine that he could not see to sharpen them without the assistance of
the microscope; but with them he could dissect the intestines of bees

574 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

with the same accuracy and distinctness that others do those of large
animals.

"He was particularly dexterous in the management of small tubes
of glass no thicker than a bristle, drawn to a very fine point at one end,
but thicker at the other."

These were used for inflating hollow structures and also for making
fine injections. He dissolved the fat of insects in turpentine and car-
ried on dissections under water.

An unbiased examination of his work will show that it is of a
higher quality than Malpighi's in regard to critical observation and
richness in detail. He also worked with minuter objects and displayed
a greater skill. As one writer says:

"He had in the highest degree all the attributes which mark the
eminent observer. In delicate and subtle manipulation, in contriving
new methods to meet every case, in acute and accurate perception, he
has never been surpassed and rarely equaled."

United with these exceptional talents as an observer was a mystical
quality of mind that made his interpretations less happy, and often led
him to strange ideas. It is an interesting psychological combination.
His observations are accurate, but his interpretations fanciful. For
instance, in observing the transformations of insects, he came to a stage
in which he could see the parts of the adult insect encased, as it were,
in the pupa. This led him to see, in fancy, an evidence of encasement
of one generation within another in all animals and to adhere to that
curious idea of cmboitement, which had so many believers in his time.
He even saw in this the proof, to his mind, that the germs of all forth-
coming generations of mankind were originally located in the common
mother Eve, all closely encased one within the other, like the boxes of
a Japanese juggler. The end of the world was by him conceived of as
a necessity when the last germ of this wonderful series had become
unfolded.

The last part of his life was dimmed by fanaticism. He read the
works of Antoinette Bourignon and fell under her influence; he began
to subdue his warm and stubborn temper, and to give himself up to
religious contemplation. She taught him to regard scientific research
as worldly, and, following her advice, he gave up his passionate fondness
for studying the works of the Creator, to devote himself to loving and
adoring that same Being. Always extreme and intense in everything
lie undertook, he likewise overdid this, and yielded himself to a sort of
fanatical worship until the end of his life, in 1680. Had he possessed a
more vigorous constitution, he would have been greater as a man. He
lived, in all, but forty-three years; the last six or seven years were un-
productive from his mental distractions, and before that much of his
time had been lost by sickness.

MALI'liillL swammkhdam, leeuwenhoek

575

It is time to ask, with all his talents and prodigious application, what
■did he leave to science? This is best answered by an examination of
the 'Biblia Naturae/ into which alt his work was collected. His treatise
on 'Bees and Mayflies' and a few other articles were published during
his lifetime, hut a large part of his observations remained entirely un-
known until ihey were published in this book fifty-seven years after
his death. In the folio edition it embraces 410 pages of text and fifty-
three plates, replete with figures of original observations. It "contains
about a dozen life-histories of insects worked out in more or less detail.
Of these, the Mayfly is the uiost famous; that on the lioneybee the mosl

Fig. •">. From Swammeedam's 'Bibj.ia Naturje.'

elaborate.'*' The greater amount of his work was in structural ento-
mology. It is known that he had a collection of about 3,000 different
species of insects, which for that period was a very large one. There
is, however, a considerable amount of work on other animals: the fine
anatomy of the snail, structure of the clam, the squid; observations on
the structure and development of the frog: observations on the con-
traction of muscles, etc., etc.

It is to be 7-emembered that Swammerdam was extremely exact in
all that he did. His descriptions are models of accuracy and com-
pleteness.

576 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Fig. 5 shows reduced sketches of his illustrations of the structure of
the snail, and also of the larva of an insect. The upper sketch on the
left-hand side shows the central nervous system and the nerve trunks
connected therewith, and the lower figure on the same side shows the
shell and the principal muscles. This is an exceptionally good piece of
anatomical work for the time, and is a fair sample of the fidelity with
which he worked out details in the structure of small animals. Besides
showing this, these figures also serve the purpose of pointing out that
Swammerdam's fine anatomical work was by no means confined to
insects. His work on the structure of the young frog was equally note-
worthy.

But we should have at least one illustration of his handling of insect
anatomy to com j are more directly with that of Malpighi, already given
(p. 567)- The right-hand side of Fig. 5 is a reduced sketch of the
anatomy of the larva of an ephemeras, compared with the work of Mal-
pighi; we see there a more masterly hand at the work, and a more
critical spirit back of the hand. The nervous system is very well done,
and the greater detail in other features shows a disposition to go into
the work deeper than Malpighi.

Besides work on structure and life histories, Swammerdam showed,
experimentally, the irritability of nerves and the response of muscles
after their removal from the body. He not only illustrates this quite
fully, but seems to have had a pretty good appreciation of the nature
of the problem of the physiologist. He says:

"It is evident from the foregoing observations that a great number
of things concur in the contraction of the muscles, and that one should
be thoroughly acquainted with that wonderful machine, our body, and
the elements with which we are surrounded, to describe exactly one
single muscle and explain its action. On this occasion it would be
necessary for us to consider the atmosphere, the nature of our food, the
blood, the brain marrow and nerves, that most subtle matter which in-
stantaneously flows to the fibers, and many other things, before we
could expect to attain a sight of the perfect and certain truth."

In reference to the formation of animals within the egg, Swammer-
dam was, as Malpighi, a believer in the preformation theory. The
basis for his position on this question has already been stated.

There was another question in his time upon which philosophers
and scientific men were divided, that wTas in reference to the origin
of living organisms: Does lifeless matter, sometimes, when submitted
to heat and moisture, spring into life? Did the rats of Egypt come,
as the ancients believed, from the mud of the Nile, and do frogs and
toads have a similar origin? Do insects spring from the dew on plants?
etc., etc. The famous Redi had performed his noteworthy experiments
the year after Swammerdam's birth, but opinion was divided upon the
question as to the possible spontaneous origin of life, especially among

MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, LEEUWENHOEK. S77

the smaller animals. Upon this question, Swammerdam took a positive
stand: he ranged himself on the side of the more scientific naturalists
against the spontaneous origin of life. In reference to this matter he
says:

"In attentively examining the development of insects, of animals
with blood, and vegetables, one recognizes that all these beings grow
and develop according to one law, and one feels how false is the opinion
that attributes to fortuitous causes such regular and constant effects."

Antonius A. Leeuwenhoek

ANTONY VAX LEEUWENHOEK. 1632-1723.

In Leeuwenhoek we find a composed and better balanced man.
Blessed with a vigorous constitution, he lived ninety-one years, and
worked to the end of his life, lie was born in 1632, four years after
Malpighi and five before Swammerdam; they were, therefore, strictly
speaking, contemporaries, lie stands in contrast with the other men
in being self-taught: he did not have the advantage of a university
training, and apparently never had a master in scientific studies. This
lack of S3rsteniatic training shows in the desultory character of his ex-
tensive observations. Impelled by the same gift of genius that drove

VOL. I.VITI.— 37

578 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

his confreres to study nature with such unexampled activity, he, too,
followed the path of an independent and enthusiastic investigator.

The portrait which forms a frontispiece to his 'Arcana Natural rep-
resents him at the age of sixty-three, and shows the pleasing counte-
nance of a firm man in vigorous health. Eichardson says: "In the
face peering through the big wig there is the quiet force of Cromwell
and the delicate disdain of Spinoza." "It is a mixed racial type, Semitic
and Teutonic, a Jewish-Saxon; obstinate and yet imaginative; its very
obstinacy a virtue, saving it from flying too far wild by its imagination."

There was a singular scarcity of facts in reference to Leeuwen-
hoek's life until 1885, when Dr. Richardson published in 'The As-
clepiad'* the results of researches made by Mr. A. Wynter Blyth in
Leeuwenhoek's native town of Delft. I am indebted to that article for
much that follows.

His 'Arcana Naturae' and other scientific letters contained a com-
plete record of his scientific activity, but 'about his parentage, his edu-
cation and his manner of making a living there was nothing but con-
jecture to go upon.' The few scraps of personal history were con-
tained in the 'Encyclopaedia' articles by Carpenter and others, and these
were wrong in sustaining the hypothesis that Leeuwenhoek was an
optician or manufacturer of lenses for the market. Although he
ground lenses for his own use, there was no need on his part of increas-
ing his financial resources by their sale. He held under the court a
minor office designated 'Chamberlain of the Sheriff.' The duties of
the office were those of a beadle, and were set forth in his commission,
a document still extant. The requirements were light, as was also the
salary, amounting to about £26 a year. He held this post for thirty-
nine years, and the stipend was thereafter continued to him to the
end of his life.

Van Leeuwenhoek was derived from a good Delft family. His
grandfather and great-grandfather were Delft brewers, and his grand-
mother a brewer's daughter. The family doubtless were wealthy. His
schooling seems to have been brought to a close at the age of sixteen,
when he was 'removed to a clothing business in Amsterdam, where
he filled the office of bookkeeper and cashier.' After a few years he
returned to Delft, and at the age of twenty-two he married and gave
himself up largely to studies in natural history. Six years after his
marriage he obtained the appointment designated above. He was
twice married, but left only one child, a daughter by his first wife.

He led an easy, prosperous, but withal a busy life. The micro-
scope had recently been invented, and for observation with that new in-
strument Leeuwenhoek showed an avidity amounting to a passion.

•'Leeuwenhoek and the Rise of Histology.' Aselepiad, Vol. II.; 1SS5.

MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, LEEUWENHOEK. 579

"That he was in comfortable if not affluent circumstances is clear
from the character of his writings; that he was not troubled by any
very anxious and responsible duties is certain from the continuity of
his scientific work; that he could secure the services of persons of
influence is discernible from the circumstances that, in 1673, De Graaf
sent his first paper to the Royal Society of London; that in 1680 the
same society admitted him as fellow; that the directors of the East
India Company sent him specimens of natural history, and that, in
1698, Peter the Great paid him a call to inspect his microscopes and
their revelations."

Leeuwenhoek seems to -have been fascinated bv the marvels of the
microscopic world, but the extent and quality of his work lifted him
above the level of the dilettante. He was not, like Malpighi and
Swammerdam, a skilled dissector, but turned his microscope in all
directions; in the mineral, as well as the vegetable and animal king-
doms. Just when he began to use the microscope is not known; his
first publication in reference to microscopic objects did not appear
till 1673, when he was forty-one years old. He gave good descriptions
and drawings of his instruments, and those still in existence have been
described by Carpenter and others, and, therefore, we have a very
good idea of his working equipment. During his lifetime he sent as
a present to the Eoyal Society of London twenty-six microscopes, each
provided with an object to examine. Unfortunately, these were re-
moved from the rooms of the society and lost during the eighteenth
century. His lenses were of fine quality and were ground by him-
self. ' They were nearly all simple lenses of small size, but considerable
curvature, and needed to be brought close to the object examined.
He had different microscopes for different purposes, giving a range
of magnifying powers from 40 to 270 diameters and possibly higher.
The number of his lenses is surprising; he possessed not less than 2-47
complete microscopes, two of which were provided with double lenses
and one with a triplet. In addition to the above he had 172 lenses
set between plates of metal, which gives a total of 419 lenses used by
him in his observations. Three were of quartz, or rock crystal, the
rest were of glass. More than one-half the lenses were mounted in
silver, three were in gold.

It is to be understood that all his microscopes were of simple con-
struction; no tubes, no mirror; simply pieces of metal to hold the
magnifying-glass and the objects to be examined, with screws to adjust
the position and the focus. We shall perhaps get the best idea of how
they Avere used and brought*into focus by reference to Fig. 7, which
is copied from Richardson's article in 'The Asclepiad." This shows the
way the instrument was arranged to examine the circulation of blood
in the transparent tail of a small fish. The fish was placed in water
in a slender glass tube, and tlie latter was held in a metallic frame, to

5 So

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

which a plate (marked D) was joined, carrying the magnifying glass.
The latter is indicated in the circle above the letter D, near the tail-
fin of the fish. The eye Mas applied close to this circular magnifying-
glass, which was brought into position and adjusted by means of screws.
The two small sketches show a front and a back view of another one
of his microscopes. The small circle shows the position of the lens
inserted in a metallic plate. On the opposite side was a sort of object
holder, whose position was controlled by screws. In some instances, he
had a concave reflector with a hole in the center, in which his magni-

fy ik:

./ : a

r ; m.i

Fig.

Leeuwknhukk's Microscope.

Fig v Capillary Circulation, after
Leeuwenhoek.

lying-glass was inserted, and, in this form of the instrument, the ob-
jects were illuminated by reflected and not by transmitted light.

His microscopic observations were described and sent to learned
societies in the form of letters. "All or nearly all that he did in a
literary way was after the manner of an epistle," and these were so
numerous as to justify the cognomen, 'The man of many letters.' "'Tin'
French Academy of Sciences, of which he was elected a corresponding
member in 169?', got twenty-seven; hut the lion's share fell to the
young Royal Society of London, which in fifty years — 1673-1723 — re-

MALPIGHI, SWAMMERDAM, LEEUWENHOEK. 581

ceived 375 letters and papers." "The works themselves, except that
they lie in the domain jf natural history, are disconnected and appear
in no order of systematized study. The philosopher was led by what
transpired at any moment to lead him."

In 1GS6 he observed the minute circulation and demonstrated the
capillary connection between arteries and veins. This was perhaps
his most important observation for its bearing on physiology. It must
be remembered that Harvey had not actually seen the circulation of
the blood, which he announced in 1628. He assumed on entirely suffi-
cient grounds the existence of a complete circulation, but there was
wanting in his scheme the direct ocular proof of the passage of blood
from arteries to veins. This was supplied by Leeuwenhoek. Fig. 8
si mws one of his sketches of the capillary circulation. In his efforts
to see the circulation he tried various animals; the comb of the young
cock, the ears of white rabbits, the membraneous wing of the hat were
progressively examined. The next advance came when he directed
his microscope to the tail of the tadpole. Upon examining this he
exclaims:

"A sight presented itself more delightful than any mine eyes had
ever beheld; for here I discovered more than fifty circulations of the
blood, in different places, while the animal lav quiet in the water, and
I could bring it before my microscope to my wish. For I saw not only
that in many places the blood was conveyed through exceedingly mi-
nute vessels, from the middle of the tail towards the edges, but that each
of the vessels had a curve or turning, and carried the blood back
towards the middle of the tail, in order to be again conveyed to the
heart. Hereby it plainly appeared to me that the blood-vessels which
I now saw in the animal, and which bear the names of arteries and
veins, are, in fact, one and the same; that is to say, that they are
properly termed arteries so long as they convey the blood to the
furtherest extremities of its vessels, and veins when they bring it back
to the heart. And thus it appears that an artery and a vein are one
and the same vessel prolonged or extended."

This description shows that he fully appreciated the course of the
minute vascular circulation and the nature of the communication be-
tween arteries and veins. He afterwards extended his observations to
the web of the frog's foot, the tail of young fishes and eels.

In this connection it should be remembered that Malpighi, in 1661,
observed the flow of blood in the lungs and mesentery of the frog, but
he made little of it. Leeuwenhoek did much more with his discovery,
and gave the first clear idea of the capillary circulation. Leeuwenhoek
was also anticipated by Malpighi in reference to the microscopic struc-
ture of the blood. (See also under Swammerdam.) To Malpighi the
corpuscles appeared to be globules of fat, while Leeuwenhoek noted
that the blood discs of birds, frogs and fishes were oval in outline and

582 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

those of mammals circular. He reserved the name of 'globule' for those
of the human body, erroneously believing them to be spheroidal.

Among his other discoveries bearing on physiology and medicine
may be mentioned: The branched character of heart muscles, the stripe
in voluntary muscles, the structure of the crystalline lens, the descrip-
tion ->f spermatozoa after they had been pointed out to him in 1674 by
Hamen, a medical student in Leyden, etc. Richardson dignifies him
with the title, 'The Founder of Histology,' but this, in view of the
work of his great contemporary, Malpighi, seems to me an overestimate.

Turning his microscope in all directions, he examined water and
found it peopled with minute animalcules, those simple forms of ani-
mal life, propelled through the water by innumerable hair-like cilia,
extending from the body like banks of oars from a galley, except that
in many cases they extend from all surfaces. He saw not only the
animalcules, but also the cilia that move their bodies.

His descriptions of the various forms of these animalcules are in-
teresting, and m strangely archaic language. Here is one of them,
changed from Dutch into English:

"In the year 1675 I discovered living creatures in rain-water which
had stood but four days in a new earthern pot, glazed blew within. This
invited me to view this water with great attention, especially those
little animals appearing to me ten thousand times less than those rep-
resented by Mons. Swammerdam, and by him called waterflies or water-
lice, which, may be perceived in the water with the naked eye. The
first sort by me discovered in the said water, I divers times observed
to consist of five, six, seven or eight clear globules, without being able
to discover any film that held them together or contained them. When
these animalcula, or living atoms, did move they put forth two little
horns, continually moving themselves; the place between these two
horns was flat, though the rest of the body was roundish, sharpening
a little towards the end, where they had a tayle, near four times the
length of the whole body, of the thickness (by my microscope) of a
spider's web; at the end of which appeared a globule, of the bigness of
one of those which made up the body; which tayle I could not perceive
even in very clear water to be movM by them. These little creatures,
if they chanced to light upon the least filament or string, or other
such particle, of which there are many in the water, especially after
it has stood some days, tbey stook entangled therein, extending their
body in a long round, and striving to dis-entangle their tayle; whereby
it came to pass, that their whole body lept back towards the globule of
the tayle, which then rolled together serpent-like, and after the man-
ner of copper or iron wire, that having been wound around a stick, and
unwound again, retains those windings and turnings,"* etc.

"Any one who has examined under the microscope the well-known
bull animalcule will recognize in this first description of it the stalk

* 'Kent's Manual of the Infusoria.' Vol. 1, p. 3. Taken from the 'Philosophical
Transactions' for the rear 1677.

MALPIGHI, SWAMMEBDAM, LEEUWENHOEK. 583

and its form after contraction in the 'tayle which retains those
windings and turnings.'

He discovered also the Botifers, those favorites of the amateur mi-
croscopists, made so familiar to the general puhlic in works like Gross's
'Evenings at the Microscope.' He showed their remarkable powers of
resuscitation after complete drying. He observed that when water con-
taining these animalcules evaporated they were reduced to fine dust, but
became alive again after great lapses of time by the introduction of
water.

He made many observations on the microscopic structure of plants.
Fig. 9 gives a fair sample of the extent to which he observed the
cellular construction of vegetables and anticipated the cell-theory.

....

ft?

$ "<& " l

Fig. 9. From Leei'wkxhoek's 'Arcana Nature.'

While Malpighi's work in that field was more extensive, these sketches
from Leeuwenhoek represent very well the character of the work of
the period on minute structure of plants.

It remains to say that on the two biological questions of the day
he took a decided stand. He was a believer in preformation or pre-
delineation of the embryo in an extreme degree, seeing in fancy the
complete outline of both maternal and paternal individuals in the
spermatozoa, and going so far as to make sketches of the same. But
upon the question of the spontaneous origin of life he took the side
that has been so triumphantly demonstrated in this century against
the occurrence of spontaneous generation.

We see in these three gifted contemporaries different personal char-
acteristics. Leeuwenhoek, the composed and strong, attaining an age

584 POPULAR SCIENCE' MONTHLY.

of ninety-one; Malpighi, always in feeble health, but directing his
efforts with rare capacity, reaching the age of sixty-seven; while the
great intensity of Swammerdam stopped his scientific career at thirty-
six and bnrned ont his life at the age of forty-three.

They were all original and accurate observers, but there is varia-
tion in the kind and quality of their intellectual product. The two
university-trained men showed capacity for coherent observations; they
were both better able to direct their efforts towards some definite end;
Leeuwenhoek, with the advantages of vigorous health and long work-
ing period, lacked the systematic training of the schools, and all his
life worked in discursive fashion; he left no coherent piece of work of
any extent like Malpighi's 'Anatome Plantarum' or Swammerdam's
'Anatomy and Metamorphosis of Insects.'

Swammerdam was the most critical observer of the three, if we
may judge by his work in the same field as Malpighi's on the silk-
worm. His descriptions are models of accuracy and completeness, and
his anatomical work shows a higher grade of finish and completeness
than Malpighi's. Malpighi, it seems to me, did more in the sum total
than either of the others to advance the sciences of anatomy and
physiology and through them the interests of mankind. Leeuwenhoek
had larger opportunity; he devoted himself to microscopic observation's,
but he wandered over the whole field. While his observations lose all
monographic character, nevertheless they were important in opening-
new fields and advancing the sciences of anatomy, physiology, botany
and zoology.

The combined force of their labors marks an epoch in the estab-
lishment of the scientific method and in the ushering in of a new grade
of intellectual life.

TWO PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION. 585

TWO CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION".

By Professor PAUL H. HANUS,

HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

^THWO of the important problems that the contemporary interest
J- in education has brought prominently before the public are
1. What shall we do about the elective system of studies which is daily
extending its sway over schools and colleges throughout the
country? and II. How shall we bridge the gap between the high school
and the lower grades; i. c, how shall we minimize the waste in the
pupil's school education, and make his entire school career serve con-
tinuously and progressively — as it should — his gradually expanding
interests, needs, powers, and duties?

It is well known that even those secondary schools and colleges
which do not recognize electives, as such, and cling to 'courses of study,'
permit not merely a choice between different 'courses,' but they also,
usually, permit substitutions of studies in one 'course' for studies in
another; so that, really, if not nominally, a considerable range of
choice, or election of studies, is permitted in most secondary schools
and colleges nearly everywhere throughout the country.

Both experience and observation seem to justify this wide-
spread adoption of the elective system, in some form, in secondary
schools and colleges. During the years of secondary school and col-
lege education the pupil passes through the important stage of adoles-
cence and youth. He emerges from childhood to manhood. During
these years he may be, and should lie. led to self-revelation, and he should
be aided to organize his mental life in accordance with his dominant
interests and capacities, both for vocational and extra- vocational
activities. After an individual's interests have emerged distinctly, all
voluntary effort is reserved for his preferences; and that achievement
is most productive when it is based on interests and capacity,
need not be argued. Daily experience proves that an individual's
dominant interests ultimately determine the extent of his private and
public usefulness and the sources of his pleasures — that, in short, they
determine the richness or the poverty of his life, in the broadest
sense of those words.

If this be admitted, the importance of discovering and cultivating
a youth's dominant interests is apparent. He should, therefore, choose

586 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

his own curriculum as soon as possible. He can learn to choose wisely
only by choosing repeatedly, under guidance, as wisely as possible.
Hence, although a child twelve or thirteen years old should not freely
choose his own courses of study, he is, nevertheless, entitled to have his
preferences considered in the choices which his parents and teachers
permit him to make. As he grows older, his ability to choose wisely
should be deliberately cultivated, so that usually, by the time he
has completed his secondary-school education — rarely before that time
— he may be prepared to choose his further studies without restrictions.
A youth of eighteen or nineteen, who has been learning to choose, who
has had training in foresight for five or six years, is not likely to abuse
his privileges, nor is he likely to be ignorant of the importance of wise
counsel, nor to wish to dispense with it.

But it may be said that if a youth is allowed to choose his own
studies, he is not trained to 'work against the grain.' I am not sure
that I understand the meaning attached to this phrase by those who
use it. But, in my opinion, the only sense in which any sane person, in
adult life, works 'against the grain,' is when he applies himself to a dis-
agreeable or even repulsive task for the sake of some ultimate end that
is intrinsically agreeable to him, or recognized as good by him. There
is no other working against the grain worth cultivating. No one, not
even an ascetic, habitually does disagreeable things for their own sake.

When an adult works faithfully at a disagreeable task, he does
it primarily because it is clear to him that his personal interests are
at stake — that his daily bread, or honor, or social elevation, de-
pends on the performance of his work or his duty, however disagree-
able it may be. In other words, there are strong extraneous motives,
the force of which he can appreciate, that cause him to apply himself
to the uninviting or repelling task before him. True, many a man
does live his life under just such disadvantageous conditions. But it
is a life of mere drudgery, from which he might have been saved if
he had learned in youth to choose that calling which is in harmony
with his dominant interests and capacities. His work might then have
been hardly less a pleasure than his leisure, and he would, of course,
have been a more useful member of society, and would have earned
more leisure, because of the increased efficiency of his work.

But can any one with any knowledge of boy nature assert that
faithful application to the positively and permanently uninteresting
can be cultivated by extraneous motives, even if it were desirable?
The motives which appeal to the adult are meaningless to the boy.
Moreover, he feels instinctively that consciousness was added to the
equipment of mankind, in the process of human evolution, for guidance,
and he insists as long as he can on using it for that purpose. The re-
mote reasons which apparently weigh heavily against the pupil's strong

TWO PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION. 587

disinclination in the minds of his governors do not and cannot appeal
to him as intrinsically valid. One can, of course, compel the per-
formance of disagreeable tasks, and by repetition of compulsion one can
convince a refractory youth that some achievement is always possible
and necessary, in spite of his strong aversion to a particular kind of
work. But what one usually cultivates, under such circumstances, is
not a growing strength to master difficulties, but chiefly the habit of
skilful, even of subtle evasion — the habit of calculating not how much
one can do, but how little one must do.

Again, the effect of compelling a youth to pursue a subject per-
manently uninteresting is pernicious in another way. It cultivates the
abominable habit of being satisfied with partial or inadequate achieve-
ment. Permanent lack of interest in a given field of work is an indi-
cation of corresponding incapacity; for growing interest and capacity
always go together. Under such circumstances a youth never feels the
glow of conscious mastery of the subject for its own sake; half achieve-
ment is the result of forced, half-hearted endeavor, and both become
the rule.

The result may be even worse. To be constantly baffled undermines
one's confidence in one's own powers, and ultimately imperils self-
respect. To force a youth to work against the grain for its own sake
is, therefore, futile, and worse than futile; for it not only fails to ac-
complish its purpose, but actually cultivates the evasion of school work,
the aversion to school work, and, in extreme cases, it may even destroy
the capacity for work of any sort. Morever, it must not be forgotten
that evasion of work, aversion to work, and ennui are the fertile soil in
which all the vices flourish.

Again, all such efforts to make a youth work 'against the grain,' for
its own sake, by the pursuit of uninteresting studies are artificial, and
wholly unnecessary. What we want a youth to acquire is the power of
overcoming difficulties, and the corresponding habit of adequate
achievement. This power and the corresponding habit are cultivated
oy overcoming difficulties, not by forced and unsuccessful attempts at
overcoming them. Every subject affords abundant opportunity for
overcoming difficulties, and when it is in harmony with the pupil's in-
terests and powers, those difficulties will he overcome; first, because they
lie in the way of further progress in a subject which he wishes to
master; and second, because he possesses the requisite natural capacity
for conquest, because he daily feels the sense of achievement — the strong-
est of all incentives to exertion. Hence, conquest may become the rule.
Through conquest alone comes the habit of working in spite of diffi-
culties, which is the kind of working against the grain worth trying for.

Finally, as was pointed out above, a man's life is more significant
and richer in every way, the more his dominant interests and powers-

588 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

determine both his serious pursuits and his refined pleasures. The
natural preferences of pupils during the stage of secondary education
should, therefore, be heeded, not thwarted. There is no other effective
way to cultivate the babit of 'working against the grain' in the only
sense in which such work is wise. It is no argument to say that gen-
erations of men have been trained to work against the grain under
rigidly prescribed programs of study. The sufficient reply to such an
argument is already contained in what has been said about tbe relative
effect of extraneous motives in youth and in adult life. It may be
added, therefore, that this capacity where it exists has been developed
in spite of, not because of, the rigid prescription of studies.

Of course, nothing that has been said applies to shirking. The shirk
deserves no concessions, and should have no mercy. What the pupil
has chosen to do, both the home and the school must insist that he
shall do.

The question about elective studies is, accordingly, not 'shall we
recognize electives?' That question has been answered in the affirma-
tive. The question is, 'What is the wisest administration of electives
in secondary education?'' While each school is seeking the answer
to this question in its own way, there is substantial agreement on one
point: namely, that there should be restriction on the pupil's freedom
to choose his own curriculum of studies. But opinions vary widely
as to what these restrictions shall be, and how thev shall be adminis-
tered. I hold that these restrictions should be as few as are consistent
with his permanent welfare. To prevent the harm which might result
from the pupil's ignorance and immaturity — to guard against the pos-
sibility of the pupil's cutting himself off from an illuminating ac-
quaintance with nature and her ways on the one hand, and the his-
torical culture of the race, as embodied in books, social institutions and
art, on the other, some of the secondary school pupil's work must be
prescribed. To insure that training in choice that was emphasized a
moment ago, and the best possible preparation for complete living in
the fullest sense of the term, a considerable part of the instruction
should be offered without other restrictions than those of sequence
and amount. The fundamental questions are, of course, what studies
shall we prescribe for all pupils, and when shall we permit a pupil to
•discontinue a study once undertaken?

The experience of teachers who have worked under both prescribed
and elective systems seems to point conclusively to the fact that no
study, however highly esteemed by parents or teachers, will be a real
influence in the pupil's development, and so contribute to his future
usefulness and happiness in any important way, unless it is, in some
degree at least, intrinsically interesting to him. Hence, no pupil
should be required to pursue a study after it is clear that it does not

TWO PROBLEMS IX EDUCATION. 589

appeal to him. Under most circumstances one year is enough — and it
is not too much — to ascertain whether a study does, or does not, really
challenge a youth's interest and capacity. Hence, to answer the second
of the two questions just proposed, first, I should say that, in general,
after a pupil has made his choice of a study, he should he required to
] 1 111 sue it for a year. As to the first question, namely, What studies
shall be prescribed for all? it seems to me clear that no youth should
be allowed, through ignorance or caprice, to cut himself off from any
one of the great sources of human inspiration and guidance. If we
could rely on having a varied and substantial program of studies dur-
ing the pre-high-school years, some of the prescriptions I am about to
suggest might well be omitted: notably the mathematics. But as long
as the pre-high-school grades, even those immediately preceding the
high-school grades, cannot yet be seriously regarded as the beginning
of high-school education in most school systems — among them some of
the best in the country — in order to guard against the blindness of
ignorance when pupils come up to the high school, it is necessary to
insist on a considerable amount of prescription.

I would, therefore, prescribe for every non-collegiate pupil, during
his secondary school career, at least one year of the study of his mother
tongue, giving most of the time to literature with its inspiring and
guiding influence-: at least one year of science, so taught as to show
the pupil how man is coming to master nature by understanding her,
and at the same time, also, how completely one who knows nothing of
natural science is cut off from participation in some of the most inter-
esting, profound and far-reaching problems of contemporary thought;
one year of a modern foreign language, through which he may learn to
appreciate fully his mother tongue, and through which at the same time
he may widen his mental horizon so as to include ultimately the litera-
ture, the institutional life, the ideals in a word, the intellectual re-
sources of another modern nation besides his own; one year of history-
English or American — so taught as to show the meaning of democratic
institutions and the means of safeguarding and improving them. If
American history is prescribed, I would have it so taught as to fill the
pupil's mind with the most important truths about what his country
is, and what it really stands for; not glossing over its past and present
defects and unduly exalting its merits, hut bringing into strong relief
our worthiest political ideals, and laying special emphasis on the lesson
that the approximate realization of worthy political ideals has always
been and still is possible only through the intelligent participation of
citizens in public affairs, not primarily as office holders, but still more
as alert and active private citizens; to do this, not so much by didactic
instruction or exhortation, as by the inevitable logic of events skil-
fully portrayed; I would prescribe, further, one year of the history of

590 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

industry and commerce, together with the elements of civics treated
historically, that the pupil may see the interdependence of material
prosperity and social stability, and learn to look upon contemporary
social and economic problems in the light of their historical evolution;
one year of elementary algebra and geometry that may open his mind
lo one of the most useful, the most profound, and to some minds most
fascinating systems of thought which man has developed — a result which
can never be expected to follow from what the pupil has learned in the
narrow field covered by arithmetic; one year of drawing and manual
training that will introduce the pupil, on the one hand, to the elements
of the fine arts, the decorative arts and the mechanic arts, and on the
other, lead him to a just appreciation of the importance of all three in
ministering to the aesthetic and the material interests of men, and help
him to adjust his own relation to them in thought and deed.*

That is to say, under existing conditions, I mean with the exist-
ing unsatisfactory pre-high-school education, still unsatisfactory
in spite of the well-nigh universal and decidedly creditable recent
attempts to improve it, it seems to me wise to prescribe for every high
school pupil at least one year of the language and literature of his
mother tongue; one year of American or English history (chiefly po-
litical); one year of English- and American economic history and
civics; or, when possible, one year of elementary political economy, one
year of a modern foreign language; one year of science (physical geog-
raphy, or botany and zoology); one year of algebra and geometry (to-
gether); one year of drawing and manual training; each of these
subjects with a time allotment of from three to four periods a week.f
This prescribed work includes subject matter comprising about one-
third of all the work a pupil of ordinary capacity should be required to
do during four years of the ordinary high-school program, chosen
from each of the great divisions of human culture. It thus affords a
reasonably satisfactory basis for the guidance of pupils, teachers and
parents, in the choices which they make or advise in harmony with
the pupil's real tastes and capacities. It seems to me, therefore, a safe
basis for the administration of the elective system in our secondary
schools.

* Of course, I do not mean to imply that these results can be fully realized
in a single year's instruction in the subjects named in this paragraph. I
mean that these results are to be aimed at, whatever the duration of the in-
struction may be.

t I suggest the following time schedule for these studies: English, 3; English,
History, or American History, 3; Economic History and Civics, or Political
Economy, 3; Modern Language, 4; Physical Geography, or Botany and Zoology,
4; Algebra and Geometry, or Algebra or Geometry, 4; Manual Training and
Drawing, 4. (The numbers mean so many exercises per week.)

TirO PROBLEMS IX EDUCATION. 591

II.

The other problem which I wish to discuss is closely connected with
the problem of electives. It is, in effect, how shall we overcome the
persistence of the artificial separation of the high school from the rest
of the school system — a separation that sometimes almost amounts to
isolation? Eeference was made above to the unsatisfactory condition
of our pre-high-school education in spite of the widespread endeavor to
improve it. The grammar school is still emphasizing, too much, a
very large remnant of the old formal curriculum. Arithmetic, English
grammar and political geography are still looked upon as the solid
studies of the later years of the grammar school, as they were before
the days of enriched programs. The work in foreign languages,
algebra, geometry, history, elementary science, manual training, where
any or all of these studies are recognized at all, is still looked upon in
most school systems as a new and more or less ornamental addition
to the real work of the grammar school.*

In other words, we have not yet taken the newer studies in the
grammar school program seriously. Hence, as I have already men-
tioned, most high schools do not regard the work done in these studies
in the lower grades as really done; and so, in spite of the congested
grammar school programme, due to the insertion of the new studies
without elimination of the old ones, root and branch, from the last
years of the grammar school, the high school still assumes — and prob-
ably in most cases justly — that everything below the high school is
still chiefly a drill in the school arts, just as it used to be; and that such
beginnings of a real education as have been attempted in the lower
grades are not really beginnings — they are only trifling with higb school
subjects; and that, consequently, all those subjects must be begun over
again. The result is that the separation of the high school from the

* The reluctance of some communities and some teachers to abandon the
old-time grammar school studies in the later years of the grammar school pro-
gram, and to substitute for them the studies that constitute a real education, is
largely due to the mistaken belief that the really unpractical and purely tech-
nical details of arithmetic and English grammar, and the statistical geography,
that still consume so large a share of the pupil's time and attention in the last
two or three grammar grades possess more practical utility, and have more
educational value than good courses in history, literature, foreign language, ele-
mentary algebra and geometry, manual training, sewing and cooking. It should
be said, also, that many principals and superintendents doubtless hesitate to
adopt the improved program because they have not in their corps a sufficient
number of properly equipped teachers — teachers who can be assigned to teach
both in a given high school and in the upper grades of one or more grammar
schools in its vicinity. But such teachers are not hard to find. Our colleges
-are sending t.Iiem forth by the score everv year.

592 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

lower grades — the 'gap/ as it is often called, between 'the grades' and
the high school — still exists, very much as it always has.

This curious break, in what is intended to be a thoroughly unified
educational scheme, is such a contradictory phenomenon, in spite of its
serious reality, that it would be incomprehensible if it had not fol-
lowed naturally from the different origins of our elementary and our
secondary schools. Our secondary schools originated as (Latin) grammar
schools, i. e., as college preparatory schools, designed for a particular
social class, and hence possessing no essential articulation with the pub-
lic elementary schools. The academies, although not class schools to
the same extent as the older 'grammar schools,' still concerned them-
selves little, if at all, with the elementary education of their pupils.
AVhen the high schools were founded on the combined model of the
'grammar school' and the academy, these traditions of secondary edu-
cation were perpetuated — below the high school not a real education,
only a preparation for education; education itself was deferred to-
the high school. Hence, the gap between the high school and the
lower grades — the artificial isolation of the high school from the lower
grades, which still persists in spite of our recent and contemporary
endeavor to bring them together.

Nevertheless, the remedy is really not difficult to apply. We have
already made so much progress that the final steps ought not to be
difficult to take. We shall take them when we discontinue elementary
English grammar as a distinct study, at the end of the sixth grade, and
begin there a modern foreign language; when we cut out all the arith-
metic in and after the seventh grade, and substitute elementary geom-
etry and algebra; when we similarly cut out most of the political
geography in and after the seventh grade, and gradually transform all
our nature study during the same time into elementary natural science.
"When we make these and some other equally important changes seri ms-
///, and add them to the other improvements already substantially ac-
complished in our contemporary pre-high-school grades, we shall bridge-
the gap between elementary and secondary education; and the artificial
isolation of the high school in a system of which it is really intended fo-
lic an integral part will he outgrown.

1 should like to discuss the effect of these suggested changes more
at length, but I must content myself here with touching only one of
them. It will be noticed that 1 have spoken of a modern language,
not of Latin, as a suitable foreign language for pre-high-school pupils.
The reasons for this suggestion are not far to seek. Latin is a difficult
language, and when begun at an early age. and without any previous
study of a foreign language, is not economically acquired. By
economically, I mean the minimum expenditure of time and energy
required to make substantial progress in the language. This is be-

TWO PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION. 593

coming apparent in the very stronghold of classicism itself — in Ger-
many. It may not be generally known that during the past few years
a very interesting experiment has been in progress in Germany; namely,
the experiment of cutting off the first three years of the nine years
devoted to Latin in the gymnasium and real-gymnasium, and substitut-
ing instead three years of French. Three years ago there were in Ger-
many twenty-six gymnasiums and real-gymnasiums, in which this ex-
periment was in progress. Now, I am told, there are no less than forty.
The head-masters of these schools were unwilling, in some cases that
came under my observation, to express any opinion on the probable
results of this experiment until more time had elapsed. The experi-
ments were begun not long after the celebrated conference on second-
ary education, called by the Emperor in 1890. But others were em-
phatic in their belief that the experiment would be a success in the
interests of Latin itself; and it was really chiefly on this alleged ground
that the experiment had been permitted at all. I have no doubt that
the results will justify the expectations entertained by its promoters.
In this country one of our best known classical schools* has substituted
for some years past, for the first year of a six-year course in Latin, a
year of French; and there is no disposition whatever to return to the
former regime.

A further argument for deferring Latin until after a modern lan-
guage has been studied could be derived from the analogy of the very
successful courses in elementary Greek now established in several Amer-
ican colleges — courses in which at least two years, sometimes three
years, of 'preparatory' Greek are done in a single year; and the work
is done much better than it can be done in the preparatory school, on
account of the greater maturity of the pupils, and their previous lin-
guistic training. All this points to the wisdom of deferring Latin to
the later secondary school years in the interests of the Latin.

But there is another even stronger reason why a modern language,
instead of Latin, should be begun in the grammar school. Of course,
I have in mind a serious study of the modern language — as serious as
if the language were Latin, and with a similar expectation of building
on it a superior language training later on. These reasons are, first,
that in two or three years a serious study of a modern language will
yield a result in general culture infinitely superior to what can be de-
rived from Latin at the same age — i. e., it will give the pupil the power
to enjoy and to use another literature besides his own; and especially a
literature that he can use and enjoy, whether he ever goes to school an-
other day or not; and this cannot be asserted of Latin. I need not
remind you that most pupils do not enter the high school; and hence,

* The Roxbury Latin School.
VOL. lviii.— 38

594 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

unless they have an opportunity to study a foreign language in the
grammar school, they do not get it at all.

Other arguments for such sequence of our language courses as I am
pleading for are near at hand; e. g., a pupil's knowledge of, and com-
mand over, his mother tongue gains enormously through the study of
a foreign language — a modern language is as good for this purpose, for
young pupils, as Latin, or even better than Latin; and a modern lan-
guage in itself may have a commercial value which Latin never has,
except, at present, for teachers.

Now, if we had two or three pre-high-school years of a modern
language, followed by at least one year — the first high school year —
of another modern language in the high school, and this followed by
three years of Latin and two of Greek for those who care for the ancient
languages, who can doubt that our present somewhat meager achieve-
ments in the classics in the high school would be greatly increased in
quantity and that they would be vastly better in quality? This is the
sensible language course of the future for those who study the classics
in the high school, as I conceive it, when the high school is completely
articulated to the grammar school. When that time comes I think,
also, that we shall have precisely inverted the relative emphasis we
now place on the classics and on the modern languages in pre-collegiate
education for collegiate pupils. We shall follow the pre-high-school
modern language courses by substantial high school courses in the
languages, and so continue the real education of the pupil begun in the
grammar school, instead of deferring it as we now do for the classical
student until he reaches the college. For, at present, classical educa-
tion in the secondary school, like the formal education that used to pre-
cede it in the elementary school, is, for most pupils, only an alleged
preparation for education, not education itself.

When we articulate our pre-high-school courses in history, science,
mathematics, manual training, and the rest, with the corresponding
high school course, in some such way as has just been suggested for
foreign language courses, we shall then make the pupil's school career
a real and not a deferred education at every stage of his progress; and
the historical disparity between the hind of studies pursued below the
high school and those pursued in the high school will disappear. There
will be no artificial separation of the high school from the rest of the
school system. We shall have adjusted our educational endeavor to
the real process of the pupil's unfolding development, and shall really
make our schools minister equally to all classes of pupils, whether they
have the good fortune to be born of wealthy and socially superior
parents, or whether merely equipped with ability and earnestness, they
are obliged to make the most of the brief educational career their cir-
cumstances will permit.

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 595

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS.

By HAVELOCK ELLIS.
IV. HEREDITY AND PARENTAGE.

THE heredity of intellectual genius has been very fully discussed,
with special reference to eminent persons of British birth, by Mr.
Francis Galton.* With, perhaps, even an excess of zeal — for persons of
somewhat minor degrees of ability have sometimes been taken into account
— Mr. Galton has shown that intellectual ability has frequently tended
to run in families. If this hereditary tendency is by no means omnipres-
ent, the present data prove conclusively that it is a very real factor.
Notwithstanding that the effects of hereditary position have been so
far as possible excluded, and that our lists only include persons of pre-
eminent ability, distributed over fifteen centuries, it is yet found that
among these 902 persons there are 31 groups, of two or three individuals
in each group, who are closely related. These groups include 65 per-
sons in all. The recognized relationships are father and son, brother
and brother, brother and sister, sister and sister, uncle and nephew, aunt
and nephew, uncle and niece, grandfather and grandson. Cousinship
and more remote relationships also occur, but have not been included.f
In nineteen of these groups the ability shown may be said to be of a
similar kind; in twelve it may be said to be of different kinds. There
are only three cases in which the group consists of three persons: the
Bacons, the Kembles, the Wordsworths. It is scarcely necessary to re-
mark that in a very large number of cases the preeminent persons in
our list were nearly related to other eminent persons who have not
reached the degree of distinction entitling them to appear in the list.
Of these no note has been taken.

I have, however, noted every case in which it is stated or implied
that one or other, or both, of the parents possessed an unusual amount
of intellectual ability, by no means necessarily involving any degree
whatever of 'eminence.' These cases are very numerous, and as such
ability may often have been displayed in very unobtrusive ways, it must
frequently have escaped the attention of the national biographers. In

*See especially bis 'Hereditary Genius.'

| It is quite possible, however, that such remote relationships are not without
significance. One cannot but be struck by such a fact as the relationship of
Shelley through his mother with the lyric poet Southwell, with whom he has ao
real an emotional affinity.

596 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

123 cases the father showed such ability; in 65 cases the mother is noted
as of unusual ability, or else as being closely related to some person of
eminent ability; in 20 of the 65 cases the mother was closely related
to some person of very eminent ability, and may, therefore, be fairly
presumed to have transmitted an intellectual aptitude whether or not
she showed marked signs of such aptitude herself. In 14 cases both
the father and the mother probably transmitted intellectual aptitudes.
Making allowances for this, it may be said that at least 181 men and
women of distinguished ability, or about 20 per cent, of our 902 eminent
persons, have inherited intellectual aptitudes. Bearing in mind that
in many cases the aptitudes of the parents are unknown or have passed
unnoticed, and that in other cases the national biographers have failed
to record known facts, it is not improbable that the proportion of cases
in which one or other of the parents of our 902 eminent persons dis-
played more than average intellectual ability may be at least doubled.

If we consider the eminent women separately we find that, while 8
have had fathers of unusual intellectual ability, only 2 have had moth-
ers from whom it can be said that they probably inherited. In one
further case (Fanny Burney) both parents possessed ability, the father,
however, in a more eminent degree than the mother. Moreover, the
two cases in which the mother may probably be said to have transmitted
the ability (Mrs. Siddons and Joanna Baillie) are more dubious than
those in which it was transmitted by the father. So far as the present
very limited data go, it seems probable, therefore, that women have
a still more marked tendency than men to inherit intellectual aptitudes
from their fathers.

It would be interesting to inquire into the moral and emotional
qualities, the 'character,' of the parents. This, however, is extremely
difficult and I have not attempted it. If we could do so we might find
that the mothers of eminent men have had greater influence on their
sons than the facts, so far as it has been possible to ascertain them, re-
garding the transmission of purely intellectual aptitudes would lead us
to believe. In a great many cases the mother was a woman of marked
piety, and we are frequently led to infer an unusual degree of character
on the part of the mother, if not of the father. Moral qualities are
quite as essential to most kinds of genius as intellectual qualities, and
they are, perhaps, even more highly transmissible. They form the basis
on which intellectual development may take place, and they may be
transmitted by a parent in whom such development has never occurred.
The very frequent cases in which men of eminent intellectual ability
have declared that they owed everything to their mothers* have some-

*A remark of Huxley's in a letter to the present writer — "Mentally and phys-
ically I am a piece of my mother" — may be taken as typical of such declarations.

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. S97

times been put aside as the expressions of an amiable weakness. It re-
quires some credulity, however, to believe that men of preeminent, or
even less than preeminent, intellectual acuteness are unable to estimate
the character of their own parents. The frequent sense of indebtedness
to their mothers expressed by eminent men may be taken as largely
due to the feeling that the inheritance of moral or temperamental
qualities is an even more massive and important inheritance than defi-
nite intellectual aptitudes. Such inheritance coming to intellectual
men from their mothers may often be observed where no definite intel-
lectual aptitudes have been transmitted. It is not, however, of a kind
which can well be recorded in biographical dictionaries, and I have not,
therefore, attempted to estimate its frequency in the group of pre-
eminent persons under consideration.

I have, however, attempted to estimate the frequency of one other
form of anomaly in the parents besides intellectual ability. The parents
of persons of eminent intellectual power may not themselves have been
characterized by unusual intellect; but they may have shown mental
anomaly by a lack of aptitude for the ordinary social life in which they
were placed. In at least 31 cases (or over 3 per cent.) we find that the
father was idle, drunken, brutal, extravagant, unsuccessful in business,
shiftless, or otherwise a ne'er-do-weel. In such cases, we may conclude,
the father has transmitted to his eminent child an inaptness to follow
the beaten tracks of life, but he has not transmitted any accompanying
aptitude to make new individual tracks. This list could easily be en-
larged if we included milder degrees of ineffectiveness, such as marked
the father of Dickens (supposed to be represented in Micawber). A
certain degree of inoffensive eccentricity, recalling Parson Adams, seems
to be not very uncommon among the fathers of men of eminent ability,
and perhaps furnishes a transmissible temperament on which genius
may develop. It may be noted that 5 of the ne'er-do-weel fathers (a very
large proportion) belonged to eminent women. Whether this con-
firms the conclusion already suggested as to the special frequency of
paternal transmission in the case of women of eminent ability I cannot
undertake to say. It may be added, however, that a ne'er-do-weel father,
by forcing the daughter to leave home or to provide for the family, fur-
nishes a special stimulus to her latent ability.

In 276 cases I have been able to ascertain with a fair degree of cer-
tainty the size of the families to which these persons of eminent ability
belong. A more than fair degree of certainty has not been attainable,
owing to the loose and inexact way in which the national biographers
frequently state the matter. Sometimes we are only told that the
subject of the article is 'the child' or 'the son'; this may mean the only
child, but it is impossible to accept such a statement as evidence regard-
ing the size of the family, and the number of families with only children

598 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

may possibly thus have been unduly diminished. Again, the biographers
in a very large number of cases ignore the daughters, and from this cause
again their statements become valueless. In estimating the natality of
the families producing children of ability I have never knowingly
reckoned the offspring of previous or subsequent marriages; so far as
possible, we are only concerned with the fecundity of the two parents of
the eminent persons. So far as possible, <»lso, I have reckoned the
gross fecundity, i. e., the number of children born, not the number
of children surviving; in the case of a large number of eminent men
this gross fertility is known from the inspection of parish registers; in a
certain proportion of cases it is probable, however, that we are only
dealing with the surviving children. On the whole, the ascertainable
size of the family may almost certainly be said to be under the mark.
It is, therefore, the more remarkable that the average size of genius-
producing families is found to be larger than that of normal families.
The average of the normal English family is at the very most 6;* the
average size of our genius-producing families is 7 (more exactly, 6.96).
In order to effect an exact comparison I have looked about for some
fairly comparable series of figures, and am satisfied that I have found it
in the results of an inquiry by Mr. F. Howard Collins concerning 4,390
families.! These families furnish an excellent normal standard for
comparison; they deal mainly with 'Anglo-Saxon' people (in England
and America) of the middle and upper classes; they represent, with prob-
ably but very slight errors of record, gross fertility; they are apparently
not too recent, and they betray little evidence of the artificial limitation
of families. The mean size of Collins's group of fertile families is
found by Pearson to be 4.52 children. Comparing in more detail the
composition of our genius-producing families with the normal aver-
age, we obtain the following results:

Size of family 12 3 4 5 6 7 8

Normal families 12.2 14.7 15.3 14.1 11.1 8.6 7.8 6.3

Genius-producing families . 6.2 6.2 11.0 8.4 10.6 10.2 11.7 6.9

Size of family 9 10 11 12 13 14 over 14

Normal families 3.9 2.7 1.4 1.0 .5 .2 .1

Genius-producing families.. 5.5 4.4 5.8 4.0 2.9 1.8 4.0

Unless, as is scarcely probable, the mental eccentricities of bi-
ographers lead to very frequent selection on definite lines, it will be seen
that there is a very marked tendency for genius-producing families to

* This was the average fertility of 1,700 marriages, as ascertained by Ansell,
Duncan, 'Sterility in Women,' p. 4. Galton found the mean of 204 marriages 4.65,
and Pearson the mean of 378 fertile marriages 4.70.

+As quoted by Karl Pearson, 'The Chances of Death,' Vol. I., p. 70. In passing
through Mr. Pearson's mathematical hands the 4,390 emerge as 4,444, and it is on
this number that my percentages for normal families are based.

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 599

be abnormally large.* In genius-producing families there is an in-
variable deficiency of families below the average normal size, and an
invariable excess of families above that size. In the largest size group
(over 14) the excess becomes extravagantly large; this, however, may
be partly accounted for; we may be sure that the biographers have
seldom failed to record families of this size, so this group has really
been recruited from the families of all our 902 eminent persons. Even
on this basis, however, it remains extremely large; in Denmark, for
instance, it is stated, a family of 22 children only occurs once in 34,000
marriages.f

If, as seems probable, it may be asserted that genius-producing fami-
lies are characterized by a tendency to an abnormally high birth-rate,
this is not a fact to cause surprise. It might, indeed, have been antici-
pated. The mentally abnormal classes generally belong to families with
a high birth-rate. This has been shown by Ball and Kegis (confirmed
by Marandon de Montyel) to be markedly the case as regards the insane.
Magri has found it to be the case as regards criminals, as well as regards
the epileptic, hysterical and neurasthenic.

An interesting point, and one which can scarcely be affected at all
by any twist in the biographical mind, is the fact that our men of
ability (the women are here excluded) are the offspring of predominantly
boy-producing parents. Taking the 64 families in which the number
of boys and girls in the family is clearly stated, and excluding 12 of
these as consisting only of boys, we find that there are about
6 boys to 5 girls, or more exactly, 111 boys to 100 girls. The
normal proportion of the sexes at birth at the present time in England
is about 104 boys to 100 girls. It is in accordance with the pre-
dominantly boy-producing tendency of families yielding men of genius
that the families yielding women of genius should show a predominantly
girl-producing tendency. Here, indeed, our cases are far too few to
prove much, but the results are definite enough so far as they go. Put-
ting aside the families consisting only of girls, the sexual ratio is rather
more than 3 boys to 4 girls, or more exactly, in the ratio of 85 boys to
100 girls. Putting the matter in another way, we may say that, while
in every ten families from which men of genius spring, the boys pre-

*This tendency has already been noted by Galton when investigating English
men of science, and by Yoder in studying a small miscellaneous group of eminent
men.

fin our genius-producing group there are 4 families of more than 19 children.
Doddridge was the youngest of 20 children; Popham was the youngest of his
mother's 21 children; Colet was the eldest and only surviving child of 22; Demp-
ster was, or stated himself to be, the 24th, of 29 children. There was a strong
tinge of romance about Dempster, and 1 fear that we cannot accept this statement
with such complete confidence as would be desirable.

600 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

dominate in six families, in ten families from which women of genius
spring the boys predominate only in three.

I have made a tentative effort to ascertain what position in the
family the child of genius is most likely to occupy. In a large number
of cases we are only told his position as a son, not as a child; these are, of
course, excluded. In order to investigate this point I considered the
families of at least 8 children (and subsequently those of at least 7
children) and noted where the genius child came. This showed a very
abnormally large proportion of eminent first children, and also abnor-
mally few second and third children. Suspecting that certain peculiari-
ties of the biographical mind (needless to enter into here, since we are
not investigating the psychology of biographers) may have somewhat
affected this result, I have confined myself to a simple inquiry less
likely to be affected by any mental tendencies of the biographers. In
families of different sizes, what relation do eldest genius children and
youngest genius children bear to genius children of intermediate posi-
tion? The results are very decisive. If, for instance, we take families
of 7 children, it is found that they yield 8 eldest children of ability and

3 youngest, but only 10 for all the intermediate positions. If we take
8-children families, there are 3 eldest children of ability and 3 youngest,
but only 10 intermediate. Again, 9-children families show as many as

4 eldest children of ability and 4 youngest, but only 1 intermediate
child. So with 10-children families, there are 3 eldest children of
ability and 3 youngest, but only 3 for all intermediate positions. It
is so with families of 11 children and of 13 children. The only excep-
tion I have detected is in the case of 12-children families, in which
group youngest children are wanting. So marked is the preponderance
of eldest and youngest children of ability that only in two of these seven
groups (7-children families to 13-children families) do the intermediate
children of ability exceed in number the eldest and youngest children
combined. It is evident that there is a special liability for eldest
and youngest children to be born with intellectual aptitudes, the lia-
bility being greater in the case of the former than of the latter, for there
are in the seven groups 24 eldest children to 18 youngest children, the
intermediate children numbering 40.

Here again the results, however remarkable they may appear, are
strictly such as we might have been led to expect. In the other men-
tally abnormal classes we find exactly similar phenomena. Thus, among
433 idiots Mitchell found that 138 were first-born children and 89 last-
born children; so that here not only were the eldest and youngest
children in an absolute majority over all those of intermediate position,
but the eldest had to the youngest almost the same ratio (4 to 3) as we
have found in the genius group. Shuttleworth has lately stated that
among the so-called 'Mongolian' variety of imbeciles quite 40 per cent.

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 60 1

are the youngest members of large families. Bohannon found that
youngest children tend to be exceptional and abnormal, precocity being a
specially prominent trait among them. Among the socially degenerate
classes Dugdale found first-born and last-born prominent, the former
tending to be criminals, the latter paupers.

Whenever it has been possible I have noted the age of the father
at the birth of his eminent child. It has been possible to ascertain
this in 204 cases, and the data thus obtained may be considered as fairly
free from fallacy, so far as the biographical mind is concerned. The
range of age is considerable, from 15, the age of Napier of Merchiston's
father at his birth, to 79, the age of Charles Leslie's father, the period
of potency in the case of the fathers of persons of eminent ability thus
ranging over 64 years. The 204 cases may be grouped in five-year
age-periods as follows:

Under 20 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60 and over
1 7 22 54 41 33 24 9 7 6

These figures run in a fairly smooth and regular way, and I believe
that they are very noteworthy and significant. It will be seen that
30-34 is the most frequent age of fatherhood, and that while there are
very few cases of fatherhood during the ten preceding years, when
sexual vigor is at its height, the majority of eminent persons have been
begotten by fathers who had already passed this age of most frequent
fatherhood. This result is the more significant when we remember
that we are chiefly dealing with the upper social classes (for it is in their
cases that these facts are most easily ascertained), and that we must
exclude the quite modern tendency to retardation of the age of mar-
riage. I have no figures of the age of fatherhood among normal sub-
jects quite fairly comparable with those here presented. The signifi-
cance of the age of fatherhood has been chiefly studied, so far as I am
aware, by Marro in North Italy, and we cannot assume that the condi-
tions are there quite the same. Marro divided the fathers of his normal
subjects into three classes: (1) Below 25 years of age, a stage of imma-
turity; (2) from 26 to 40 years of age, a stage of maturity; (3) over 40
years of age, a stage of decadence. He found that 8.8 per cent, fathers
of normal subjects belonged to the first group, 66.1 to the second class
and 24 to the third. The corresponding figures for the fathers of the
persons of eminent ability concerned in the present inquiry are 3.9, 57.3
and 38.7. Whatever the value of this comparison, there can be little
doubt that an abnormally high age prevails among the fathers of our
eminent persons. I have only been able to ascertain the age of the
mother in 40 instances. In these cases it is distributed as follows:

Age of mother 21-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50

Number of cases 8 13 8 5 4 1 1

Except for the one very unusual instance at 50 (Dibdin's mother),

602 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

this distribution seems to indicate that the mothers of persons of intel-
lectual ability are predominantly at the period of greatest vigor and
complete sexual maturity when they produce their distinguished chil-
dren. , Notwithstanding the tendency of first-born children to show
intellectual ability, none of the mothers are under 21.

It may be noted that in at lea«t 36 of the 276 cases in which we
have details of the family history (or in about 13 per cent.) the mother
was a second or third wife. In at least 6 cases the father was a second
husband.

It would have been instructive to compare the ages of the parents
and to ascertain the degree of disparity. I have only been able to do
this in 34 cases. There is a marked tendency to disparity which ranges
up to 49 years.* Whatever may be the normal amount of disparity
between the ages of parents, it certainly tends to range chiefly below 4
years, but in this group only 8 cases (t. c, in the proportion of about
23 per cent.) show less disparity than 4 years; the majority range be-
tween 4 and 8 years, and as many as 8 (i. e., in the proportion of over 22
per cent.) show a greater disparity than 10 years.f In 6 out of the 34
cases the mother was older than the father. In a considerable propor-
tion of cases both parents were elderly.

On the whole it would appear, so far as the evidence goes, that the
fathers of our eminent persons have been predominantly middle-aged
and to a marked extent elderly at the time of the distinguished child's
birth; while the mothers have been predominantly at the period of
greatest vigor and maturity, and to a somewhat unusual extent elderly.
There has certainly been a notable deficiency of young fathers, and, still
more notably, of young mothers.

Our data at this point are too few to be very decisive, but, so far as
they indicate anything, they enable us once again to bring men of
'genius' into line with the other mentally abnormal classes. The late
Dr. Langdon Down (who at my suggestion investigated the point some
twelve years ago) found that in the case of the parents of idiots there
was a disparity of more than ten years in 23 per cent, cases, almost the
same proportion as we have found in the parents of persons of intel-
lectual ability. Among criminals also inequality of age in the parents,
as well as elderly age of both parents, has been found by Marro to be
more common than among the normal population. Marro (in his 'Carat-

*This very exceptional case was that of the father (an eminent bishop) of
Charles Leslie, the nonjuring divine. In this case the father was 79, the
mother 30.

tin Hungary, as a table given by Korosi shows, if we take men at ages be-
tween 26 and 30, covering the most frequent normal age of marriage, in only 3
per cent, cases is the discrepancy of age as much as ten years. The disparity, of
course, tends to increase with the man's higher age at marriage.

A STUDY OF BRITISH GENIUS. 603

teri dei Delinquent!' and 'La Puberta") has investigated the whole ques-
tion of the influence of the age of the parent on the character of the
child. He has found that when both parents are in the same period
of age development elderly parents produce the highest proportion of
'very intelligent' children (though not the highest proportion of 'intel-
ligent' children). Marro has also found that, taking the fathers alone,
although 'intelligent' children are mostly the offspring of young fathers,
'very intelligent' children are mostly the offspring of middle-aged and
elderly fathers. He finds much the same result as regards mothers.
He found that the insane show an excess of elderly fathers, while mur-
derers show a deficiency of young fathers and a very great excess of
elderly fathers. The highest proportion of defectively intelligent chil-
dren (this harmonizing with Langdon Down's results) Marro also found
among the offspring of elderly fathers. Elderly fathers and very
young mothers were found by Marro to produce the largest proportion;
of 'good conduct' children, but not of intelligent children.

604 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

SUICIDE AND THE WEATHER.

By Professor EDWIN G. DEXTER,

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

MUCH has been written and rewritten on the subject of suicide. It
has long been a favorite topic with the student of social statis-
tics, and has been scientifically treated from the standpoint of race, of
nationality, of social condition, of occupation and of climate. Whole
volumes have been devoted to the problem and magazine articles almost
without number. It is not, however, my intention in this paper even to
summarize the conclusions arrived at in all this mass of literature, but
to discuss a phase of the subject which can not have escaped the reader
of the daily paper, and has long proved an enigma to the special student
of the problem of self-destruction — that is, the daily fluctuation in the
occurrence of suicide. Why is it that upon picking up our daily paper
one morning we see the heading 'Epidemic of Suicide', and find the de-
tails of six or eight or even a dozen successful or unsuccessful attempts
recorded for the previous day — a number greater than for the whole
week preceding? Yet such is often the case — so often, in fact, as not
infrequently to have been the subject of editorial comment, with vague
queries as to the cause of such a wave of emotional depression and con-
sequent self-destruction.

The answers to this query have been many and varied, among the
most frequent of which has been chance. Mimicry and suggestion have
been proposed, and without doubt have their place in the solution of
the problem of the periodical fluctuation of the suicide curve, but still
can not account for all its peculiarities. The weather has also been
suggested as the cause of the fluctuation referred to, and it is to the fol-
lowing out of this promising clew that this paper is confined.

From a priori grounds it would seem to be a good one, for of all the
environmental conditions, those of the weather are the only ones which
vary for all the individuals in a given locality simultaneously. A and B
and C all have troubles peculiarly their own, the climax of which could
not be expected to occur upon the same day; but when the east wind
blows and the sky is leaden A, B and C all feel the influence, what-
ever it may be, and an empirical study of large numbers of A's and
B's and C's, noting their behavior under such conditions, would seem to
be the surest method of discovering just what the influence is.

That weather states have a mental effect has long been recognized.
Literature is full of allusions to the fact, and not a few of the world's

SUICIDE AND THE WEATHER. 605

great thinkers have left on record their own emotional flights and de-
pressions under different meteorological conditions. But most of us
need to take no other word for the fact than our own. In all the vigor
of perfect health such influence may hardly be recognized, but when
the vital powers are depleted by the exhausting effects of a long nervous
or physical strain, then this phase of the cosmical environment is sure
to make itself felt. Then come the days when everything goes wrong.
The groundwork of forgotten quarrels is remembered, uneasy questions
arise with regard to the future; one gets tired of life. And how much
of all this can be attributed to an east wind or a leaden sky — in other
words, to weather effects? In order to answer this question we must de-
fine our use of the term 'weather effects.' From the standpoint of our
present study we should include within the category of weather effects
any marked inequality in the occurrence of suicide which may be found
to bear a fixed relation to the fluctuations of what we call weather. We
conclude that a fixed relation between a given weather state and an un-
usual prevalence of suicide is causal and not accidental. This is based
upon an inductive study of large numbers of data, and is as valid as such
studies can well be.

The problem, then, consists in discovering these fixed relations. In
order to do this with exactness, the meteorologist's analysis of weather
must be taken. To him a given weather state is a complex and not a
simple phenomenon. He reads its temperature, its barometer, its hu-
midity, its wind velocity, its sunshine or shade, and its precipitation, and
it is only to the synthesis of these conditions that he applies the term
weather. For the purpose of our present study it is not enough to say
that the weather is fine, or disagreeable, or muggy, for those terms mean
one thing to one person and something very different to another, so it
has been necessary to make use of a definite meteorological nomencla-
ture which is recognized the world over. The study is in no sense an at-
tempt to account for suicide, but for the irregularity of its occurrence.
Man always has sought and perhaps always will seek self-destruction as
the relief for sorrow, fancied or real, and the basal reason for this is not
to be found in the weather. We would not argue that the weather
drives people to suicide save in very exceptional cases, but, on the
strength of what follows, that under some weather states other things
are peculiarly liable to drive people to the act. In other words, that
some meteorological conditions so affect the mental state, so influence
the emotional balance, that ordinarily endurable things become unen-
durable, and life seems no longer worth the living.

This problem, which seems to show a causal nexus between the
weather and the mental state of the suicide, is a comparison of the oc-
currence of suicide under different meteorological conditions, with the
normal prevalence of those conditions, noting the excess or deficiency.

6o6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

The data were collected for New York City and the city of Denver, Col.,
and although the climatic conditions of the two cities are very different,
it is in no sense a comparative study for them. In fact, so few data (two
hundred and sixty suicides) were procurable for the western town that
but little weight is given to conclusions based upon them, compared
wi th the much greater number for New York City, and the study of the
former is only incidentally mentioned.

The method of procedure was as follows: In order to procure the
proper data of suicide for the city of New York the records of the
coroner for five years were carefully gone over (some 28,000 separate
death certificates), disclosing the particulars of 1,962 suicides, and the
exact number (varying from 0 to 9) tabulated for each of the 1,826 days
of those years. Next the police records for the same five years were
studied, and the number of unsuccessful attempts for each day noted.
This record is quite complete, since in the eyes of the law one attempt-
ing suicide is a criminal, and must be so branded on the books. From
these two sources were obtained the exact number of persons who for
each day of the period covered were of suicidal intent, unless some un-
successful attempt escaped the surveillance of the police. In the present
article neither age, sex, nationality, nor occupation is considered; simply
the fact that some one wished to die by his own hand — for the five years,
2,946 in all for the city of New York.

When the data of suicide had thus been tabulated, the meteorological
basis for the study was obtained from the records of the United States
Weather Bureau. At the New York station (Denver for the Denver
study) were copied the mean temperature, barometer and humidity, the
total movement of the wind, the character of the day and the precipita-
tion for each of the 1,826 days of the period considered, and placed op-
posite the already tabulated number of suicides. Then, by a somewhat
laborious process of tabulation, the exact percentage of days which were
recorded at the Weather Bureau under each of the seventy-seven definite
meteorological conditions represented by the accompanying figures was
computed. That is, the exact percentage characterized as 'clear,' as
'partly cloudy,' or 'cloudy,' as having some or no precipitation (without
considering the amount), as having had a mean temperature between
zero and five degrees F., between five and ten degrees, and so on for each
one of the designated groups for temperature, barometer, humidity and
wind. Now, it may be readily seen that these percentages represent the
normal or expected occurrence of suicide for each meteorological group
if the weather had no effect. For instance, if thirty per cent, of the days
are found to be characterized as 'clear,' we should expect that same per-
centage of suicides for 'clear' days plus or minus the percentage due to
probable error from accidental causes (which with the number of data
used would be very small) if the character of the day had no influence on

SUICIDE AND THE WEATHER.

607

their occurrence. If forty per cent, did actually occur under such condi-
tions, we should be forced to conclude that fair days were prolific of sui-
cide, as indeed they seem to be. This principle was applied to each of
the meteorological groups, and the figures show graphically the results.

For each, the general meteorological condition is indicated at the
top; the definite group readings are given in small figures upon the heavy
vertical lines which represent the occurrence of suicide for the group.
Expectancy for each group is represented by the vertical distance A — B
and excess or deficiency graphically shown in percentages of this, which
may be read by means of the scale at the left.

The method of tabulation, by means of which the actual occurrence
of suicide for each meteorological group, was determined was similar to
that for expectancy, and needs no further explanation.

DISTRIBUTION.

Iff-

-10

-n

>■
-a

2
>

c
t —

1/1

n
•a

-4

a
<

a
n
n

Fig. 1.

Monthly Distribution. — Fig. 1 indicates very wide variation in
the number of suicides occurring in the different months of the year —
generally speaking, the heated months showing excesses and the cold
ones deficiencies when compared with the normal. May and August
show the greatest numbers, with the least for February, in spite of the
fact that the shortness of the last-named month is taken into considera-
tion.

It may be seen, by an inspection of the figure, that the increase in
number for each month from February to August, and the decrease for
the other months of the year, would give an almost perfectly regular
crescendo-diminuendo to the occurrence curve were it not for the fact
that April and May are raised out of their position by unusual excesses.
Why April, which in its general weather characteristics is Elysian com-
pared with its immediate predecessor, should show one-fourth more sui-

6o8

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

cides, and May, which by common acclaim is one of the most delightful
of the calendar, should present a number surpassed only by sweltering
August, it is not easy to see. Yet such is the case for the five years
covered' by this study, and similar conditions have been demonstrated by
other students of the subject. Morselli, in his exhaustive treatise for
the European nations, finds that for thirty-two separate studies made by
him the maximum numbers were in June eighteen times and in May
eight times. In explanation of the fact he says, "Suicide is not in-
fluenced so much by the extreme heat of the advanced summer season as
by the early spring and summer, which seize upon the organism not yet
acclimatized and still under the influence of the cold season." There is
little doubt that the end of winter brings with it a depleted condition of
vitality, both nervous and physical; yet I am inclined to think that the

CHAR. OF DAY.

PRECIPITATION.

-10

1
1

-10

—10

-° A

-10

-0
t — 10

-to

-10

>■
33

i — i

— i

Fig. 2.

fact can not wholly account for the great increase in the later spring
months. In the conclusion of this paper the condition is again alluded
to, and at this point I would simply call attention to the fact that the
increase comes with the season of the year when rejuvenating Nature is
in her brightest mood.

Character of the Day and Precipitation. — The terms 'clear/
'partly cloudy' and 'cloudy,' as used by the Weather Bureau's characteri-
zation of weather states, have a definite and technical meaning. The
first is used to designate days on which the sun is obscured for three-
tenths or less of the hours from sunrise to sunset; the second from four-
tenths to seven-tenths of that period; and the third eight-tenths or more.
(See Fig. 2.)

Under precipitation I have considered separately days which were

SUICIDE AND THE WEATHER. 609

absolutely free from rainfall or snowfall, and those on which there was
either, without considering the amount.

The figure referred to discloses some unexpected facts — namely, that
the clear, dry days show the greatest number of suicides, and the wet,
partly cloudy days — the gloomiest of all weather — the least, and with
differences too great to be attributed to accident or chance; in fact,
thirty-one per cent, more on dry than on wet days, and twenty-one per
cent, more on clear days than partly cloudy. As will be seen, on cloudy
days the occurrence was about normal. What docs this mean? Must fic-
tion resign her right to ring in gloomy weather and blinding storms as a
partial excuse for ending an existence made more unendurable by these?
If such be the case, it is well that Dickens and Lytton and Poe are gone,
for they would be robbed of a large number of their tragic climaxes.
England has long been characterized as 'gloomy Britain,' and Mon-
tesquieu has called it the 'classic land of suicide,' stating that the 'ex-
cessive number of suicides for that country is due to its gloomy weather.'
Statistics have shown, however, that the number is not excessive there,
being less per million inhabitants than for any other important Eu-
ropean nation. An interesting paper, appearing in the British maga-
zine Once a Week (vol. xix.) over no signature (though the writer was
evidently not a Scotchman), has a bearing upon the subject. It says:

"The idea that the prevalence of suicide in this country (England)
is due to our bad weather is precisely one of those hasty and illogical
inferences which are characteristic of the Gallic mind. The constant
gloom of bad weather ought to acquaint us so thoroughly with moods of
depression that suicide would never occur to us. Look at Scotland, for
instance, where suicides are rare. Why are they rare? Simply because
a succession of Scotch Sundays has so accustomed the people to pro-
longed despondency that any sudden misfortune can not sink their
spirits any further. One has only to spend a dozen Sundays in Glasgow
or Edinburgh to become inoculated against suicide. So far from Lon-
don fogs driving people to jump off Waterloo Bridge, they ought to train
the mind to bear any calamity. A man who has taught himself to eat
prodigious quantities of opium feels scarcely any effect from other forms
of intoxication. We can educate our mental susceptibilities as we can
our muscles, and the more we educate them the more they are able to
bear."

There are many truths beneath the jocular vein of this quotation,
and the writer expressed more facts than perhaps he knew.

Certainly a comparison of suicides for Denver and New York City
supports his theory, for in the former city, where cloudy and partly
cloudy days are less than one-third as frequent as in the latter, we find
suicide excessive during the gloomy weather. Yet the conditions there,
both social and climatic, are so unusual as to give this fact little weight
in a comprehensive study of suicides, and we must maintain that Vile-
mais's dictum that 'nine-tenths of the suicides occur in rainy or cloudy

VOL. LVIII.— 39

6io

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

weather' is utterly unfounded upon fact, at leart for the conditions cov-
ered by this study.

Temperature. — Fig. 3 seems. to show plainly two things: (1) That
the greatest excesses of suicide are found at the two extremes of the tem-
perature scale, when the conditions entailed the maximum of actual
misery, and (2) that the next greatest excesses occur during the pleasant-
est conditions of temperature. I would here, however, call attention to
the fact that for all the figures the readings at the extremes of the con-
ditions are based upon fewer data than those nearer the middle, hence
are more liable to accidental error. For example, although the tem-
perature group zero to five degrees shows an excess of two hundred and

TEMPERATURE

Zio

—50

—40

—10

—la

—10

—ID

«/">

r-3

OJ>

~~i

Fig. ?,.

ten per cent., the condition occurred but twice in the five years studied,
and the whole number of suicides was but eight, while the excess of
fifteen per cent, for the group sixty-five to seventy degrees is based upon
two hundred and sixty-eight. For this reason the value of the readings
at the extremes of all the figures, except Fig. 1 and the upper limit of
Fig. 5, at which point there were data enough to give validity to the
findings, is lessened when compared with other points in the curves.

Taking this fact into consideration, the greatest numerical excesses
in suicide occur in the temperature group from forty-five to seventy de-
grees. This places them within the category of most agreeable tempera-
tures, for within those limits are found the monthly means of April,
May, June, September and October. The deficiencies of suicide occur

SUICIDE AND THE WEATHER.

611

in the groups from twenty to forty-five degrees, conditions which are
not generally considered most agreeable and within which are found the
monthly means for the colder months of the year.

These results, however, are corroborative of the findings for the
study of monthly occurrence which show deficiencies for those
months. The excesses for extreme conditions of heat and cold are per-
haps only what might be expected. In the thickly populated tenements
of the city great heat becomes so oppressive as hardly to be endured, and
at the other extreme of temperature, when the mercury of the ther-

BAROMETER.

[B8
—Vi

—80

— 10
— IsO
— 50
—40

—50
-10
—10

— 10
— 10

—30

— 4D

— SQ
— bQ
— 7D
—60
_QQ
—100

iei

■Vl

D
p

■j?

in
o

I
D

•0

a
a
1

p
1

o>
Cl

I
<**

□

Fig. 4

mometer is only in the bulb, both personal misery and a feeling of sym-
pathy for a dependent family might prompt one to self-destruction as
the last resource.

This curve does not differ materially from that of the Assault and
Battery,* except that in the latter it is shown that for the highest tem-
perature ever experienced those misdemeanors, as recorded by the
police, show deficiencies. For them the numbers increase regularly up

* See 'Conduct and the Weather,' Monograph Supplement No. 10, 'The Psycho-
logical Review.'

612 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

to a temperature of eighty-five degrees, but abovn that point they fall off
very rapidly. This fact, however, is not hard to account for, since a
considerable amount of energy is required to be objectionably out of
order, and at such conditions of heat this seems hardly available.

Bakometee. — Considering the liability that accidental conditions
affect the validity of our curves at their extremes, the results shown in
Fig. 4 prove conclusively that low conditions of pressure are accom-
panied by excesses in suicides, with corresponding deficiencies for the re-
verse barometrical readings. We can not, however, suppose that it is
the actual density of the atmosphere which produces this marked effect.
A difference of pressure as great as that between the two extremes for
New York City would be experienced in going to the Adirondacks, and
five times as great in a trip to Colorado, without producing tendencies
to personal annihilation, so we must look for our explanation elsewhere.
It is probably to be found in the relation which exists between atmos-
pheric pressure and some other weather states — possibly storms. The
peculiar mental and physiological conditions which prevail for a consid-
erable period just preceding violent storms or marked changes of
weather have long been recognized, and it may be that in them we have
the solution. Persons afflicted with gout or rheumatism, or even corns,
can 'feel' the approach of such meteorological conditions, and certain
mental peculiarities are probably just as prevalent. Many weather
proverbs are based upon the unusual activities of members of the animal
kingdom at such times, and as a storm is often preceded by a low condi-
tion of the barometer, we have perhaps an explanation of their cause.
More work, however, must be done to demonstrate this as a scientific
fact.

Humidity. — The results of the study of suicide for this condition
(Fig. 5) are in themselves conclusive, but directly opposite to those
found in similar studies made for Assault and Battery, Deportment in
the Public Schools and the New York City Penitentiary, and the be-
havior of the insane.* For suicide the excesses are for high humidities;
for the others mentioned they were for low.

The showing for suicides seems to be what would be naturally ex-
pected if we were to theorize on the matter, as those unendurable 'sticky'
days, when one feels it his prerogative to be 'out of sorts,' are usually of
high humidity. There are some interesting conclusions to be drawn
here by a comparison of this curve with that for precipitation. The lat-
ter showed deficiencies of suicide for rainy days, while this gives an ex-
cess for humid ones. Now, all rainy days are humid, but not all humid
days are rainy, and our logical conclusion must be that the excesses
shown by the present figure must have been for the humid variety, yet

* See 'Conduct and the Weather.'

STIC IDE AND THE WEATHER.

613

without precipitation. Such precisely is the 'sticky' weather men-
tioned, and its effect must have been deadly to produce such results.

In accounting for the unusual number of assaults and misdemeanors
in the public schools for low humidities, as discussed in the paper cited,
the electrical potential of the atmosphere for such meteorological condi-
tions was considered the cause. It is a fact conceded by scientists that
at every point upon the earth's surface there are lines of electrical force
extending off into space, and that the potential is roughly in a reverse
ratio to the humidity prevailing at a given time. This electrical condi-
tion for regions of universally low humidity, as the altitudes of our west-
ern plateaus, is very marked and productive of no slight effects. These

HUMIDITY.

— ID
—30

-10
—10
-nA

—ID

-20
—313
— 40

O
D

cn
\

O
cn

<_n

cn
Cn

cn
cn
1

er
O

0
0

cn
1

<7-

(

Fig. 5.

seem to be a mental and even physical exhilaration, productive of energy
which in the long-run generally proves to be in excess of the normal
healthy possibilities. The result is for those regions a tendency to over-
work, especially mentally, with a resulting state of collapse. Although
these conditions are not so marked for the higher humidities of the sea-
level, they nevertheless exist to a degree, and without doubt in New
York City there is less individual surplus energy when the humidity is
relatively high than when relatively low. This would lead us to infer
that, from the showing of this condition, suicide was excessive when
energy was low. This relation of occurrence to available energy is re-
versed for certain of the figures, but other conditions enter in which are
discussed in the conclusion of this paper.

614

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

Wind. — But little need be said upon the effect of this factor as
shown by Fig. 6. The regularity of the increase of suicide with increase
in movement of the wind is too marked to allow any other theory than
that of a causal nexus. This effect seems to be much greater upon the
6iiicide than upon any of the offenders mentioned in the study cited. It
is, however, shown to be as great or even greater for all classes of crime
in the Colorado climate, where wind is an important factor in the pro-
duction of high electrical states. The other study, however, showed
very slight wind effects for New York City, and their comparison with

WIND

MO
— <SD
— «»
—70
—60
-bO
—40
-3D

— :o

— 10

:oo

C
O

—10
-20
—30
-40
-5D

-to
B

</i

ri
O

lT>

a
1

a
rj

•//
CJ
C3

o
I

</l
CJ

o
t

a
i

■ji
a
a

i
o

1/1

1
c-

i
o

Fig. 6.

this would seem to prove that the mental states of the suicide and of the
street brawler are very differently influenced by it.

It is difficult, in conclusion, to summarize the results of this study in
such a manner as to be of much value or to bring forward theories which
are certain of any long tenure of life. The whole method of the study
is too new and untried, and the number of data inadequate. The bare
facts revealed in the preceding paragraphs must prove of much more
value than any hypothesis drawn from them at this stage of the investi-
tion. Still, there are a few generalizations which seem worth noting,
especially as they are based in part upon findings which are entirely con-

Sll< IDE AND THE WEATHER. 615

tradietory to popular opinion with regard to the time chosen by the
suicide for the tinal act.

The first is that suicide is excessive under those conditions of
weather which are generally considered most exhilarating and delightful
— that is, the later spring months and upon clear, dry days. Keference
to Figs. 1 and 2 proves this conclusively for the number of data and the
locality studied. It was also noted that there were the greatest numeri-
cal excesses for the most agreeable temperatures. Barometrical condi-
tions can hardly be referred to the categories agreeable and disagreeable,
but for humidity and wind the relation will hardly hold, since we have
the greatest excesses during high humidities and great wind velocities,
both of which are unpleasant. Yet these facts would not invalidate our
first statement, for neither high winds nor great humidities bring a
scowl upon the face of Nature that can be compared with that of a wet,
drizzling day. In fact, a day may be bright, and be both windy and
humid. Yet these latter conditions have effects peculiarly their own, as
shown conclusively by the study of deportment already cited. They
are, for wind, the production of a neurotic condition in which self-con-
trol is in a marked degree lessened, and for high humidities the produc-
tion of a minimum of vital energy. The former is shown especially in
the study of the school children, and the latter of the death rate. These
facts make it possible for us to amend our statement that suicides are
excessive during the most noticeably delightful conditions, by adding:
coupled with especially devitalizing ones.

But this does not in any way account for the seemingly anomalous
effect of bright weather. To me the only plausible hypothesis is that
of contrast. Investigation has seemed to prove that very few suicides
are committed on the 'spur of the moment.' The act is generally pre-
meditated, and its consummation deferred, sometimes again and again.
We can hardly doubt, either, that it is dreaded, and the hope enter-
tained, even to the end, that it may not need to be. During the winter
months that hope must be centred on the belief that when Nature smiles
with the spring sunshine all will be well; on the gloomy day, when the
morrow comes with its exhilarating brightness, the present cloud of un-
happiness will be gone. The love of life is still strong, and the grave
can not be sought while there is still hope for better things.

But spring comes with all its excess of life, and the morrow with
its brightness, but do not bring to the poor unfortunate, unable to re-
act to these forces as of yore, the hoped-for relief. He thinks of othpr
springs when the bluebirds sang happier songs, and of other sunshine
which had set his blood tingling. The drowning man had waited long
for the straw; it came and he clutched it, but it sank beneath his weight.

6i6

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

RECENT PROGRESS IN AERIAL NAVIGATION.

i;v CHARLES II. COCHRANE, M. E.

THE recent successful trips of the Zeppelin airship make it appro-
priate io review and illustrate some of the less known attempts
at aerial navigation. Somewhat similar in plan to Count von Zeppe-
lin's enormous airship is the dirigible flying-machine shown in Fig. 1,
with which at various times during 1897 and 1898 Dr. K. I. Danilew-
sky, of Charkov, Russia, made excursions. The object of making the
balloon sausage-shaped was. of course, that its forward end might be
brought toward the wind, and then, with the nose pointed upwards, as
in the illustration, its under surface served somewhat as that of a kite.
The wings were made about twelve feet in length, and it was found

Fig. 1. lH.Ni i. i:\vsky\s i.ukigiblk Balloon.

possible to handle them so as to turn the balloon entirely around in the
air. and also to keep it practically stationary in a moderate breeze.

M. de Santos Dumont has sailed about the Eiffel Tower in Paris
in the dirigible balloon shown in Fig. 2. It was 65 feet long. 25 in
diameter and contained 17,658 cubic feet of gas. He used a small
petroleum engine for controlling the rudder and aeroplane. The re-
ports are thai he was able to navigate very much at will. Fig. 3
is another form of dirigible balloon tried by M. Dumont. This was
also reasonably successful.

Fig- • represents a machine designed by Frederick P. Merritt,
with windmill sails below and on both sides of his balloon, and a
mechanism for feathering them in such a manner as to drive the craft
either forward- or backwards.

RECENT PROGRESS IN AERIAL' NAVIGATION. 617

Fig. 5 is a design of Theodore Liebrand. The cylinder is of
aluminum, and the wings transform themselves into wheels when the
machine rims along the ground. I have no record of the actual success
of either Merritt's or Liebrand's inventions, or even of their trial.

Returning to the realm of actual experiment, in Figs. 6 and 7
are shown views of Carl F. Myers's 'sky-cycle.' Of this Mr. Mvers

Fig. ■_'. Santos Dumont's Dirigible Balloon (I).

Fig. :'•. Santos Dumont's Dirigible Balloon ii<

writes, under date of February 5, 1900, with the enthusiasm of the
inventor:

''The sky-cycle, or gas-kite, is a hand and foot propelled air-ship,
provided with revolving screw-sails, vibrating wings, movable aeroplanes
and universal rudder — the objed of the entire equipage being to test

6i8

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

the relative advantages of all known systems for propulsion and guid-
ance, and to attain practical experience in manipulating air craft. The
operator and machinery are suspended below a peculiarly shaped gas-
spindle, whose fabric has been treated by a special process, original
with me, which enables it to retain hydrogen permanently during use.
It has within a limited period made upwards of one hundred flights,
embracing New York State, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine,

Fig. I. Mekritt's Flying Machine.

Fig.

Liebrand's Flying Machine.

Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia,
Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.

"Three machines only have been built, varying somewhat in form
of spindle and extent of surface handled. As used at present, the
screw, formerly fifteen feet diameter, has been reduced to eight feet,
and the wings and rudder abandoned, the universal-jointed aeroplanes
on each side haying proved in every way superior for all evolutions.

RECENT PROGRESS IN AERIAL NAVIGATION. 619

"With practice acquired by use of the sky-cycle, and with some
indicated variation in structure and equipment, including a light auto-
motor engine of best type, there should be no great difficulty in accom-
plishing an overland transcontinental journey by two or three persons
with this type of air craft in less time than the same trip could be
made by the same party on the ground."

In Fig. 6 the gas-kite shown is a concavo-convex gas-vessel, like
an upturned canoe. It is drawn forward by the screw-sail, which is
rotated by hand and foot power. The steering is done by tipping to
change the level or direction. In Fig. 7 the sky-cycle is shown tipping
downward in the act of circling to the left in a descending spiral, the
aeronaut using both screw-sail and small aeroplanes.

Jerome B. Blanchard, of Highlands, Col., patented in 1891 the
aeroplane flying-machine shown in Fig. S. He disdains the balloon

Fn.. 6. Myers's 8kv-cycle (I).

and depends entirely on the two aeroplanes and the speed of the
aviator to maintain the vessel in the air. The plan is to start the
machine along an elevated tramway until a lifting speed is acquired,
and then to depend upon the muscular exertion of the occupant.

Of a more practical character is the 'trolley flyer' of Daniel C.
Funcheon, of Valderde, Col., illustrated by Fig. 9. A drum is sup-
ported on a platform and hung from an aeroplane. Around the drum
coils a wire that may be made to convey a current of electricity for
propelling the mechanism. Of course, the machine would require pro-
pellers and balancing devices, which are not shown in the drawing.

Fig. 10 represents a machine actually built and tried by Arthur
Steutzel, of Altona, Prussia, in 1896. The wings were eleven feet
long, and were flapped by the power of a carbonic acid gas-motor in
the receptacle below. The rudder was designed to maintain the course

620 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

set, and the wire simply to support the machine at the start. When
the motor developed one and a half horse-power the stroke of the
wings was sufficient to raise it and cause a jump along the wire. The
total weight of the apparatus was about seventy-five pounds, and the
motor could be run to develop three horse-power for a little time, and
w ith that power it flew along in an interesting manner.

In studying the principles of mechanical flight, many experimenters
have made little flying toys and have launched them in the air to see
how they worked. M. Pichanconrt made a number of these, with
twisted rubber as motive power, but no one of them ever sailed more
than sixty-three feet. Prof. S. P. Langley had greater success in this

Fig. 7. Myers's Sky-cycle (II).

direction, and one of the rubber motor toys' is shown in Pig. 11. I
do not know how far it flew. Lawrence Margrave made use of a tube
of compressed air, on which were mounted wings that vibrated as long
as the air furnished enough power. Tie built one of these, seven feet
in length, that weighed only fifty-nine ounces, and it flew 350 feet.
Another form of toy, designed to be thrown from a high station, is
shown in Fig. 12. Several of these were built by James Means and
launched from the top of a lighthouse in Boston harbor. The length
was about six feet, and they sailed a considerable distance.

Mr. Beecher Moore, of Buffalo, N". Y., has originated the very in-
teresting machine shown in Fig. 13. Mr. Moore states that the
working model which he constructed was charged with a slow-burning
mixture of saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal, and would fly about 500

RECENT PROGRESS IN AERIAL NAVIGATION. 621

feet, or until the mixture was burned out. lie claims that it sails
along evenly, balancing perfectly, and that it may be steered by the
rudder. He prefers to fill the tank of the car with liquid air, on the
ground that it furnishes a maximum of stored power with light weight.
The air is exhausted and expanded through the nozzle at the top of
the pipe. Mr. Moore says:

"The nozzle is placed at the top of the pipe, so that the push will
act directly on the string of the kite and not push the car out of
plumb, nor disturb the equilibrium of the machine. The kite is at-
tached to the machine by wires, which allows it to balance itself auto-
matically. Tin's property would be destroyed if it was attached rigidly

Fig. 8. Blanchard's Flying Machine.

Fig. '.». Funcheon's ' Trolley Flyer.

to the balance of the machine. The method of attaching the wires is
original and adds to the stability of the kite. The wheels are not
necessary for the locomotion of the machine in the air, but are nec-
essary in starting and alighting. In starting the machine, it is placed
in an open road, and when the power is applied it runs along on the
ground, gathering speed and giving the kite lifting power. When the
machine has attained the necessary speed, it will leave the ground
at a slight angle and continue in the air as long as it is forced ahead
at sufficient speed to sustain its weight on the aeroplane. In alighting,
the power should be shut off slowly until the machine settles to the
ground, where it would slow down and stop."

622

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

Mr. Moore is a strong advocate of the rocket-like form of pro-
pulsion for flying machines. He admits that it is wasteful as far as
expense is concerned, but contends that it will make a machine go
where propellers will fail. He claims that the propeller "is very
wasteful of power from friction of the blades in the air, and from 'end
stroke,' or currents of air set in motion in the wrong direction." He
says further:

"I have studied and experimented extensively with small aeroplane

Fig. 10. Steutzel Flying Machine.

Fig. 11. Langley's Model for studying the Principle.-; of Mechanical Flight.

Fig. 12. Means's Model.

machines of every conceivable shape to test their balancing power, and
have concluded that it is impossible to build a compact aeroplane
machine that will balance and be under control in the air, with present
known means. The aeroplane machine of the average inventor con-
sists of aeroplanes elevated in various manners, and most of the weight
arranged below to give them stability and keep them from upsetting.

RECENT PROGRESS IN AERIAL NAVIGATION. 623

This may appear all right in theory, but actual experiments will at
once demonstrate that any compact aeroplane machine, with sufficient
aeroplane surface to support the accompanying weight, will sway, turn
sideways and upset, with all manner of erratic and unexpected move-
ments.

Some four years ago M. Ader, a French engineer, attracted a great
deal of attention with a machine styled the 'Avion.' It had a car
running on four wheels, two propellers forward to pull it along, and

Fig. 13. Beecher Moore's Flying Machine.

two enormous bat-like wings. The wings were designed to assist in
soaring and in sustaining the mechanical bird in flight, when enough
speed was secured to carry it off the ground. The machine did fly
a little, but, unfortunately, like Maxim's famous machine, described
in the Popular Science Monthly a few years ago, broke down
just as it demonstrated that it had enough lifting power to get off
the track. Fig. 14 shows the 'Avion' as it was designed to appear
in flight.

6.? 4

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

George L. 0. Davidson, an English engineer, a year or two ago
designed a bird-like machine, to be built of steel, and to sail along
with spread wings, on the principle of a Lilienthal soaring apparatus,
but I have never learned that the machine got beyond the stage of
being represented in drawings.

This article would not be complete without a reference to Prof.
S. P. Langley's aerodome, shown in Fig. 15. It has, however, been
described so fully that it is only necessary to refer to it here.

Fig. 1 ). ' The Avion.

Fig. 15. Langley's Aerodome.

The conclusion may be fairly drawn from these brief descriptions
of experiments in aerial navigation, that the aerodrome is supplanting
the balloon, but that it can not as yet be used alone successfully. All
the flying machines that depend solely upon a motive power and
supporting planes are unable to carry any large supply of fuel, and
descend after a short flight. The balloon can remain in the air a long
time, but it is unwieldy. The practical inference is that some combina-
tion of the balloon and the aeroplane is necessary to produce a ma-
chine that will be of commercial use in aerial navigation.

FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 625

THE FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES.*

By FREDERIC EMORY,

CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF FOREIGN COMMERCE.

DURING the calendar year just ended, the inundation of foreign
markets by American goods proceeded on the lines indicated in
previous issues of the 'Review of the World's Commerce/ with a con-
stantly growing volume and force which have surmounted many difficult
obstacles and offer a strong temptation to overconfidence in our capa-
bilities as an exporting nation. At the present time, the United States
may be said to be nearing the top wave of industrial eminence, and
there is ample reason for the belief that the next few years will witness
a great expansion in the sale of our more highly developed manu-
factures. But in the annual reports of our consular officers for the
year 1900, there runs, along with a common note of satisfaction, a
warning, here and there, of a more strenuous competition which,
in the end, may counterbalance our superior advantages to a consider-
able extent and check our progress in the world's markets, unless we
equip ourselves in the meantime for the ultimate phases of the struggle.

Nothing could well be more gratifying than the picture of our
foreign trade as it is to-day by comparison with the figures of very
recent years. It is all the more remarkable because our progress
has been achieved with but little effort and by means not directed
specifically to the promotion of foreign trade, but largely fortuitous,
and springing from our intense absorption, for many years, in do-
mestic industry and internal development. In other words, we have
reached a surprising eminence in the exportation of manufactured
goods, not because we were seeking that goal, but because, in de-
veloping our resources, in manufacturing for the home market, we
attained an excellence and comparative cheapness of production which,
to the astonishment of ourselves as well as of the world at large, has
suddenly made us a formidable competitor — perhaps the most formid-
able of all — in the great international rivalry for trade.

The question for the future is whether we can permanently hold
the position we seem about to gain, by means of what may be termed

* From advance proof sheets of the 'Review of the World's Commerce,' in-
troductory to 'Commercial Relations of the United States,' 1900. The 'Review'
will also be printed as a separate pamphlet. Applications for it, as also for the
two bound volumes, 'Commercial Relations,' should be addressed to the Chief
of the Bureau of Foreign Commerce, Department of State, Washington, U. S. A.

VOL. LVIII. — 40

626 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

our purely domestic advantages of economy of production, greater
labor efficiency and cheap raw materials, or whether we shall not have
to fight hard against nations now falling behind us with weapons
specially fashioned for controlling foreign trade — as, for example, more
scientific export methods, better facilities of banking and transporta-
tion, more liberal credits, and manufacturing for particular markets
with intelligent regard to climatic and race requirements. Many of
our consuls still tell us that our commercial activity abroad is almost
primitive in the details of trade competition, although of late our
exporters have begun to send capable representatives to the more im-
portant trade centers; and the past few years have witnessed the cre-
ation of important trade organizations in the United States for the
study of foreign commerce, the adoption of special courses of commerce
at a number of our colleges, and the establishment of sample rooms and
agencies for the sale of American goods at a few of the entrepots of
countries which offer a favorable field. Meanwhile, foreign manufac-
turers are introducing our labor-saving machinery or imitating it, and
European economists are urging industrial reforms or legislative en-
actments to meet our threatening competition.

GEOWTH OF MANUFACTURED EXPORTS.

During the year ended December 31, 1900, according to United
States Treasury returns,* the imports of the United States amounted
in round numbers to $830,000,000, an increase of over $30,000,000
compared with 1899, while the exports aggregated $1,478,000,000, an
increase of $202,480,000. The exports in 1900 exceeded the imports
by $648,900,000. Of the exports, the percentage of manufactured
goods rose to 31.54f for 1900, against 30.39 in 1899, 24.96 in 1898, and
24.93 in 1895. Of the imports, nearly 45 per cent., it is estimated by
the Treasury, were materials, either crude or partly made up, for use
in our manufacturing industries, an increase of over 35 per cent, in
1899 and 1900, as compared with the entire period from 1890 to 1898.
In other words, our industrial growth continued in 1900 at a rapid pace,
enabling us to take less finished goods from other countries and to fur-
nish more.

PREDOMINANCE IN IRON AND STEEL.

The most striking fact in our export development is the remarkable
growth of the foreign demand for our iron and steel, our exports
amounting to nearly $130,000,000 in 1900, against $32,000,000 in 1895.

* Preliminary figures from the Bureau of Statistics, December, 1900.

f Later returns give the percentage as 30.38. This decline is attributed to
the increase in the proportion of agricultural exports at the end of the year;
also to the decrease in exports of copper ingots and cotton cloths, the latter mainly
to the Chinese Empire.

FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 627

In an article in the New York 'Evening Post' of January 12, 1901, Mr.
Andrew Carnegie says the United States has not only supplied its own
wants, 'but is competing to supply the wants of the world, not only in
steel, but in the thousand and one articles of which steel is the chief
component part,' and expresses the opinion that the increasing demand
from the world at large 'can be met only by the United States.' "The in-
fluence of our steel-making capacity," adds Mr. Carnegie, "must be mar-
velous, for the nation which makes the cheapest steel has the other na-
tions at its feet as far as manufacturing is concerned in most of its
branches. The cheapest steel means the cheapest ships, the cheapest
machinery, the cheapest thousand and one articles of which steel is the
base."

CHEAPNESS OF AMERICAN GOODS.

It is the relative cheapness of American steel that has given it pre-
eminence, and it is the same with other products that are winning
their way abroad. Economy of production is the master key that
unlocks for us markets that seemed a little while ago to be inexorably
closed. This economy of production implies not merely low prices to
the foreign consumer, but a greater degree of excellence, a superior
adaptation to his wants. As has been pointed out in the 'Eeviews,'
as well as elsewhere, the American workingman, though receiving
higher wages, produces, with labor-saving machinery, at a lower unit of
cost, and his greater application and ingenuity enable him to avail
himself effectively of the most recent inventions and appliances for
improving the quality of his special line of work. The American fac-
tory system is highly organized and more efficient than any other, and,
if our export trade were as well developed, there would be little to
fear. The only lesson our manufacturers need to learn, it would seem,
is the necessity of manufacturing especially for foreign trade; and the
great increase of requests for information from our consuls as to the
kinds of goods wanted in particular markets, and also of manufac-
turing processes employed in this or that line of industry, encourages
the hope that there is beginning to be a general perception of this
important fact.

BRITISH ESTIMATES OF AMERICAN PROGRESS.

It is evident that foreign observers are keenly alive to the greater
efficiency of our industrial methods, and are seeking earnestly to profit
by them. A writer in the London 'Times' of December 29, 1900, attrib-
utes the American manufacturer's advantages over the British largely to
the consideration shown to young men and the willingness to utilize
their energy and enterprise. He lays stress upon the fact that it is
customary for American fathers "to discuss their business affairs with

628 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

their sons in a way that is quite surprising to an Englishman," and
adds:

A good many years ago, I spent a few evenings with some students of one
of the large American colleges. I was new to America then, and heard with
surprise these college youths discussing questions that arose out of the business
it which their fathers were engaged. If we compare this with what generally
happens when lads of our own public schools or young men at our own univer-
sities meet together — when any mention of the paternal shop would be looked on
as the worst of bad form — I think perhaps there will be seen one of the reasons
why Americans are fitted to control business at an earlier age than is usual in
this country.

The American youth, as pointed out, obtains his business educa-
tion from practical experience and social intercourse, and this form
of education is held to be 'immeasurably above the mere learning
of lessons which too often goes by the name of education.' Another
reason for the adaptability of American youth to business is stated
to be the public-school system, which is 'more truly educational, less
pedagogic' In conclusion, the 'Times' correspondent says:

To me, it appears one of the most disquieting factors in the problem before us
(industrial competition) that the United States have trained a body of young
men who are determined to make their country great, and who have been
educated to a living, practical interest in the things needful to that end.

The 'Times,' commenting editorially on these views and upon others
expressed in a previous series of articles, says: "The threatened com-
petition [of United States manufacturers] in markets hitherto our
own comes from efficiency in production such as has never before been
seen," and accepts the view that this efficiency is to be ascribed,
to a large extent, to the practical self-education of Americans, which
enables them generally to enter business 'with a stock of knowledge
of which the young Englishman fresh from the university or a public
school has not an inkling.' Further on the 'Times' says:

In the interesting analysis of the causes at work adverse to England,
something might be said of the great intelligence and zeal put into affairs. The
American man of business takes his pleasure in what he is doing, and never
fails when he is traveling to look out for hints to be applied when he returns
home. Not afraid to admit that he is 'in pork' or 'in grain,' if the fact be so,
he is curious as to all that affects his business, and he is open to new ideas
in a way which is unusual with us. 'What has succeeded in the past will not
succeed in the future' is a working maxim with the best men of business, who
are ready to throw their experience as well as their antiquated machinery on
the scrap heap. There are some signs of a change in this respect in this country;
but the idea that there is something respectable, solid and satisfactory in doing
in the mill, workshop and counting house what one's father did dies hard.

The London 'Spectator' of December 29, 1900, quotes 'a competent
writer' in a British trade paper as saying:

From a careful calculation, made after comparing notes with other observers,

FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 629

and taking the figure 1 to 1 J as representing the producing capacity of the
ordinary British workman, I consider the Swiss-German as fairly represented by
]| and the Yankee by 2£.

In an article entitled 'America's Changed International Position/
the London 'Statist' of January 5, 1901, also dwells upon the superi-
ority of our methods of production as enabling us to take advantage
of the needs of Europe and to respond to an increased demand for
manufactured goods. "All at once," says the 'Statist,' "the United
States became a keen competitor in the markets of the world with
ourselves and with our continental rivals, and, in all reasonable prob-
ability, the competition will grow more eager as the years pass." The
'Statist,' in fact, predicts 'a great outburst of new enterprise in the
United States.'

CONCENTKATION OF CAPITAL IN THE UNITED STATES.

Lord Eosebery is quoted by cable as having said in a speech before
a British Chamber of Commerce, January 16, 1901, that the chief
rivals to be feared by Great Britain 'are America and Germany.' "The
alertness of the Americans," he continued, "their incalculable natural
resources, their acuteness, their enterprise, their vast population, which
will in all probability within the next twenty years reach 100,000,000,
make them very formidable competitors with ourselves. And with the
Germans, their slow but sure persistency, their scientific methods, and
their conquering spirit, devoted as these qualities are at this moment to
preparation for trade warfare, make them also, in my judgment, little
less redoubtable than the Americans. There is one feature of the
American competition which seems to me especially formidable, and,
as I have not seen it largely noticed, perhaps you will excuse me for
calling attention to it. We are daily reminded of the gigantic for-
tunes which are accumulated in America, fortunes to which noth-
ing in this country bears any relation whatever, and which
in themselves constitute an enormous commercial force. The
Americans, as it appears, are scarcely satisfied with these indi-
vidual fortunes, but use them by combination in trusts, to make a
capital and a power which, wielded as it is by one or two minds, is
almost irresistible, and that, as it seems to me, if concentrated upon
Great Britain as an engine in the trade warfare, is a danger which
we cannot afford to disregard. Suppose a trust of many millions, of
a few men combined so to compete with any trade in this country by
xmderselling all its products, even at a considerable loss to them-
selves, and we can see in that what are the possibilities of the com-
mercial outcome of the immediate future."

It has been evident for some time that the United States, not content
with having solved that part of the problem of economy of produc-

630 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tion which relates to processes of manufacture and the utilization of
labor, has been drifting instinctively towards the larger question of
the concentration of capital as the logical development of the same
general idea of reducing cost and increasing the margin of profit.
The question is larger because it has a more direct and more general
bearing upon the economic and social life of the nation, upon the inter-
ests, real or imagined, of the whole body politic. We have to do with
it here only because of its relation to and possible effect upon our
foreign trade, and it is interesting to know that so thoughtful an
observer as Lord Eosebery perceives in the simplification of the use
of capital in the United States which is going on — it may be said
experimentally, to a large extent as yet — a tremendous power in the
commercial rivalry of the world.

GERMAN VIEWS OF AMERICAN COMPETITION.

Germany, as well as Great Britain, seems fully sensible of the
seriousness of American competition. In a recent issue, the Ham-
burger 'Fremdenblatt'* points out that the United States, which ten
years ago exported more than 80 per cent, of agricultural products
and less than a fifth of manufactured goods, to-day draws nearly
a third of its entire exports from the products of its factories. "In
other words, the Union is marching with gigantic strides towards
conversion from an agricultural to an industrial nation." "Does not
the rapid increase of the United States in the value of industrial
exports," the 'Fremdenblatt' asks, "constitute an imminent danger
from all competing nations?" Continuing, the 'Fremdenblatt' says:

If we now turn to an investigation of all the elements which have produced
this tremendous, this almost incredible, revolution in the world's situation, it is
impossible within our present limits to consider all the factors which are of
importance to German interests as well as essential to a comprehensive conclu-
sion. Competent experts, well informed as to the industrial and export condi-
tions which prevail in the United States, have established the following facts:

The steel manufactories of the United States, which two decades ago were in
their infancy, to-day control the markets of the world, dictate either directly or
indirectly the prices of iron and steel in all countries, and partly through the
richness of their supply of iron ores and coal, partly by the use of labor-
saving machinery and skilful, effective means of transportation, have attained
a position to not only compete with the older iron and steel-producing countries,
but even to profitably export their products to England.

American tools, especially hatchets, axes, files, saws, boring implements,
etc., enjoy, by reason of their excellent quality, the best reputation, and, in
spite of their higher price, stand above competition in nearly the whole world.
Also in sewing machines, bicycles and agricultural implements of every kind,
the United States has begun to drive England and Germany from the world's

* Article translated by Consul-General Mason. See 'Advance Sheets' No. 934
(January 14, 1901).

FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 631

markets, especially that of Russia, which may be partly attributed to the fact
that American firms are protected in their own market from foreign competition
and can thus sell their manufactures cheaper abroad than at home.

A remarkable change has also taken place in the field of boot and shoe
production. Hardly more than ten years ago the United States imported shoes
from Europe — especially women's footwear from Austria, while other grades
were made of leather imported from England and Germany. To-day, it not only
makes its entire supply of leather at home and exports it in considerable quan-
tities, but it floods Europe with ready-made shoe depots in Paris and even in
the principal cities of Germany.

That the United States, by reason of its richness in mineral oils and aided
by its unrivaled facilities for refining and transporting this international neces-
sity, controls the petroleum trade of the world and is held in check only by
Russia is well known, and the fact is only cited here in order to include this
weighty factor in the calculation. The experience of the past few months proves
that within a not far distant period, the coal of the United States will play
the same role in the markets of the world. The Union has reversed the old
adage, "It is ridiculous to carry coals to Newcastle," for to-day anthracite
coals from Pennsylvania are actually exported to England.

Incidentally, it may be remarked that the typewriting machine with which
this article is written, as well as the thousands — nay, hundreds of thousands
— of others that are in use throughout the world, were made in America;
that it stands on an American table, in an office furnished with American
desks, bookcases and chairs, which cannot be made in Europe of equal quality,
so practical and convenient, for a similar price. The list of such articles,
apparently unimportant in themselves, but in their aggregate number and value
of the highest significance, could be extended indefinitely. But it would seem
more interesting and characteristic to cite the fact that an American syndicate
is now planning, and has even taken the initial steps in a scheme, to take
in hand the whole sleeping-car service of Europe, to improve it and make
it cheaper than is now possible. Moreover, American manufacturers of under-
clothing, gloves and men's clothing, as well as women's cloaks — all articles which
a few years ago were exported in vast quantities from Europe to the United States
— are already beginning to calculate how they can place their surplus output
in European markets.

The 'FremdenblattV conclusion is that Europe "must fight Amer-
icanism with its own methods; the battle must be fought with their
weapons, and wherever possible their weapons must be bettered and
improved by us. Or, to speak with other and more practical words,
Germany — Europe — must adopt improved and progressive methods in
every department of industry; must use more, and more effective,
machinery. Manufacturers as well as merchants must go to Amer-
ica, send thither their assistants and workingmen, not merely to super-
ficially observe the methods there employed, but to study them thor-
oughly, to adopt them, and wherever possible to improve upon them,
just as the Americans have done and are still doing in Europe."

SERVICES OF UNITED STATES CONSULS.

Dr. Vosberg-Eekow, head of the German bureau for the preparation
of commercial treaties, attributes the remarkable growth of exports

632 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

of American manufactures to Europe, in Dart, to the activity of
our consular service. "The United States," he says, "has covered
Europe with a network of consulates and makes its consuls at the same
time inspectors of our exports and vigilant sentinels, who spy out
every trade opening or advantage and promptly report it." Dr. Vos-
berg-Eekow also dwells upon the eminently practical character of Amer-
ican industrial and business methods. "Germany's industrial advance-
ment," he says, "is principally due to the thoroughness of her tech-
nical education. It is strengthened by the continuous substituting of
machinery and machine tools for hand labor. Still, in this respect,
the English industry in some branches is ahead of us. It is worthy
of note that in this evolution, too, the United States has the foremost
place and has made gigantic strides, not only in applying machine tools,
but in inventing and manufacturing them, so that to-day she supplies
us. This signalizes in an extraordinary degree American intelligence.
Thus, the Americans, though wanting our superior technical education,
thanks to their practical eye, improve upon our methods and apparatus.
Theirs is rather the activity of an experimentalist than that of a
trained craftsman; but a clever faiseur, if he but have assurance and
luck, may distance the educated master. The Americans have no
thorough education; nor do they possess a modern industrial system as
we Europeans understand the term. The American applies himself
to a single branch or to a specialty, with utter disregard of European
methods and their results; he devotes to his work an amount of energy
which stupefies Europeans; and, for awhile, he succeeds in driving us
out of the line of articles on which he has centered his energy. Against
such peculiar activity a general trade policy is quite ineffectual; we must
put ourselves in condition to counteract this artificially forced growth
of specialized industry."

EDUCATION IN BUSINESS.

Thus we find that expert opinion in Great Britain and Germany
coincides in the conclusion that Americans, too eager to be up and
doing to apply themselves to preparatory study or to what may be
termed a general scheme of education and culture for industry and
trade, have, nevertheless, worked out in practise a degree of actual
efficiency, not learned from books, which gives them a distinct advan-
tage. It is not to be denied, upon the other hand, that technical
schools and special courses of commercial education might greatly
enhance our capabilities, if care were taken to prevent them from
usurping too far the practical business or industrial training which
seems to be the secret of our success thus far. In the more and
more strenuous competition which is evidently waiting us, our manu-
facturers, exporters and trade representatives abroad will need to be

FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 633

provided with a variety of information which cannot be acquired except
by academic instruction. The knowledge gained in the workshop or
the counting house will not suffice to meet a rivalry which is seek-
ing to equip itself, so far as it can, with our machinery, our industrial
and trade methods — with everything, in short, that now gives us
supremacy — and will add to these the mastery of details of trade con-
ditions and industrial processes throughout the world, which we are
only beginning to study.

FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES.

There is another feature of American influence in the world's mar-
kets which is, perhaps, even more notable than our industrial prog-
ress, and that is our suddenly acquired financial independence. The
'Hamburger Fremdenblatt' article previously quoted from points out
that it is the logical result of our growth in industry and trade and
especially of our successful competition in foreign markets. As soon
as American industries, through various causes, found themselves in
a favorable financial condition, "they likewise undertook the task of
freeing themselves from foreign capital — in other words, of reclaim-
ing the industrial securities which were in European hands." "The
change in the condition of the United States," adds the 'Fremdenblatt'
"can best be characterized by the statement that the industries, trade,
agriculture, railroads and finances of the Union each and all climbed,
one upon another, through and by each other, steadily upward. And
to what a height they have climbed!"

During the past year, the point was reached where the United
States became a lender of money to other countries instead of a bor-
rower from them. "Speaking roughly," says the London 'Statist'
(January 5, 1901), "the holdings of American securities in Europe
now are immensely smaller than they were ten years ago, and the pur-
chases have been made by the Americans out of the vast savings accu-
mulated, first, during the anxious period from 1890 to 1896, and, sec-
ondly, during the prosperous period that has followed. Many countries,
however, are able to buy back their own securities without being in a
position to take an important place in the international investment
market. For example, Spain has bought back a very large proportion
of her own securities. In the United States, not only has the buying
back of American securities been on the great scale indicated, but
during the past year or two, American capitalists have lent largely to
Europe. At the end of 1899, when there was great pressure in the
money markets of Europe, about four millions of gold were allowed
to be shipped from New York to London; and during the past year
it will be recollected that gold was sent in considerable amounts, while
about five millions sterling were invested in [British] Government

634 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

funds. German Government funds were also bought amounting to
about four millions sterling. Eussia was able to borrow in order to
purchase railway material. And it is understood that the United
States was willing to lend likewise to Switzerland and to other govern-
ments. This is the most dramatic change that has occurred for a very
long time."

"The succession of extraordinary creditor balances," says the 'New
York Journal of Commerce,' of January 10, 1901, "has virtually revo-
lutionized our financial relations with the European centers. In a
very important sense, we have become the creditor nation of the world.
From a chronic condition of dependence upon the banking forces of
London, Paris and Berlin, we find those centers now dependent upon
the large floating balances of the United States, subject to our lending
ability in periods of exigency, carrying the largest stock of gold in the
world and holding the largest resource for dealing with crises in inter-
national finance. Three of the foremost European governments — Eng-
land, Germany and Eussia — have found it necessary to come to New
York for importau 1 loans, and the two former have not applied in vain.
Thus, if this city i::iy not be said to have yet become the financial
center of the world, yet we may incontestably claim a foremost rank
among the few metropolitan cities which have won that distinction."

"One of the most important financial features of the year," says
'Bradstreet's' (January 5, 1901), in its review of the stock-market in
1900, "was the placing in Wall Street and with American investors
of issues of British consols, German Government bonds, and loans
by Eussia, Sweden, and other countries, giving point to the feeling
that our market has taken the lead in the financial world."

THE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION.

Summed up, therefore, the general conclusion of competent for-
eign authorities, as well as of our own, is that the commercial expan-
sion of the United States is no longer problematical, but a fact of
constantly enlarging proportions which opens up new vistas in the
struggle for ascendency among the industrial powers. Prolific as it
has been of great surprises, it is doubtful whether similar phenomena
will spring from its undemonstrated forces. It would seem, now that
the causes of our unlooked-for triumphs are known and are being care-
fully weighed and studied, that the future will be one of fruition, of
the gradual maturing of our powers, rather than of sudden blossoming
of some novel capacity of competition. The day, perhaps, is not
distant when the more intelligent of our rivals will be able to meet us
upon more nearly equal terms and when, as has already been indicated,
it will be necessary to supplement our natural advantages and our
highly developed industrial efficiency with the appliances of educa-

FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 635

tion, of special training, of technical skill, of more scientific methods of
extending trade, which have already secured rich returns — to Ger-
many, for example — in quarters of the globe where our goods, as yet,
have made but little if any headway.

GENEKAL SUMMARY OF TRADE.

When we come to survey the field of international competition, as
described by our consuls and in the light of comments by foreign
economists and trade authorities, we find some highly significant indi-
cations of the probable course of trade currents within the next few
years. As to the general march of our commercial expansion in the
immediate future, the reports of the consuls emphasize the conclusions
to be drawn from the most recent figures of the United States Treas-
ury. According to a statement issued by the Bureau of Statistics of
that Department for the decade ended with the calendar year 1900,
our imports, which in 1890 were $823,397,726, were in 1900 $829,-
052,116, an increase of less than 1 per cent, in the decade; while our
exports, which in 1890 were $857,502,548, were in 1900 $1,478,050,854,
an increase of 72.4 per cent. In 1890, the excess of exports over im-
ports was $5,654,390; in 1900, it was $648,998,738.

"In our trade relations with the various parts of the world," con-
tinues this statement, "the change is equally striking. From Europe,
we have reduced our imports in the decade from $474,000,000 to $439,-
000,000, while in the same time we have increased our exports from
$682,000,000 to $1,111,000,000. From North America, imports fell
from $151,000,000 in 1890 to $131,000,000 in 1900, while our exports
to North America increased during that time from $95,000,000 to
$202,000,000. From South America, the imports increased from $101,-
000,000 in 1890 to $102,000,000 in 1900, while to South America our
exports increased from $35,000,000 to $41,000,000. From Asia, the
imports into the United States increased from $69,000,000 in 1890 to
$123,000,000 in 1900, while to Asia our exports in the same time
increased from $23,000,000 to $61,000,000. From Oceania, the im-
portations in 1890 were $23,000,000 and in 1900 $23,000,000, while
to Oceania our exports in 1890 were $17,000,000 and in 1900 $40,000,-
000. From Africa, importations increased from $3,000,000 in 1890
to $9,000,000 in 1900, and exportations to Africa increased from
$4,500,000 in 1890 to $22,000,000 in 1900."

The changes in the movements to and from the continents are
attributed by the Bureau of Statistics to two great causes: First,
the increase at home of manufactures which were formerly drawn
chiefly from abroad; and, second, the diversification of products, by
which markets are made for many articles which formerly were pro-
duced or exported in but small quantities. "From Europe, to which

636

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

we are accustomed to look for manufactures, our imports have fallen
over $35,000,000, while Europe has largely increased her consumption
of our cotton-seed oil, oleomargarine, paraffin, manufactures of iron
and steely copper, and agricultural machinery, as well as foodstuffs and
cotton, our exports to that grand division having increased $428,000,000
since 1890. From North America, the imports have fallen $20,000,000,
due chiefly to the falling off of sugar production in the West Indies,
the imports from Cuba alone having decreased from $54,000,000 in 1890
to $27,000,000 in 1900. To North America, the exports have increased
meantime over $100,000,000, the growth being largely manufactures
and foodstuffs, a considerable portion of the latter being presumably
re-exported thence to Europe. From South America, the imports
have increased in quantity, especially in coffee and rubber, but decreased
proportionately in price, so that the total increase in value in the
decade is but $1,000,000, while in exports the increase is $6,500,000,
chiefly in manufactures. From Asia, the importations have increased
more than $50,000,000, the increase being chiefly in sugar and raw
materials required by our manufacturers, such as silk, hemp, jute and
tin; while to Asia the increase in our exports has been nearly $40,000,-
000, principally in manufactures and raw cotton. From Oceania, the
imports show little increase, though this is due in part to the absence
of statistics of importations from Hawaii in the last half of the year
1900; while to Oceania, there is an increase in our exports of more
than $20,000,000, chiefly in manufactured articles. From Africa, the
increase in imports is $6,000,000, principally in manufacturers' ma-
terials, of which raw cotton forms the most important item; while
our exports to Africa increased meantime $17,000,000, chiefly in man-
ufactures."

The following tables show the imports and exports of the United
States by grand divisions in the calendar years 1890 and 1900. In
the figures showing the distribution by continents in 1900, the De-
cember distribution is estimated, though the grand total of imports
and exports for 1900 is based upon the complete figures of the Bureau
of Statistics:

Grand Divisions.

Europe

North America
South America

Asia

Oceania

Africa

Exports from United. States

1890.

$682,585,856
95,517,863
34,722,122
22,854,028
17,375,745
4,446,934

1900.

,111,456,000
202,486,000
41,384.000
60,598,000
39,956,000
22,170,000

Imports into United States.

1890.

$474,656,257

151,490,330

100,959,799

68,340,309

23,781,018

3,169,086

1900.

$439,500,COO

131,200,000

102,000,000

122,800,000

23,400,000

9,900.000

FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 6tf

NEW CURRENTS OF TRADE.

Besides the surprising development of our sales of manufactured
goods in the most advanced industrial countries of Europe, which
may be said to have introduced an entirely new element into Old
World trade, we find other phases of commercial expansion which
were quite as unexpected and are likely to profoundly affect our
economic, and perhaps our political, future. The rapid growth of
cotton manufacturing in our Southern States, for example, could not
have been anticipated a few years ago, although it seemed probable to
those familiar with the peculiar advantages of the South for en-
gaging in this industry that some day that section would emerge
from its position of dependence upon outside markets for the con-
sumption of its cotton and create its own home markets by the erection
of mills. Within the years 1889-1899, inclusive, according to Mr. A.
B. Shepperson, of New York,* the number of spindles in the South
increased 190| per cent., against 11.4 in our Northern States, 4 1-3
per cent, in Great Britain, 30.6 per cent, in continental Europe, 71
per cent, in India. "In the percentage of increase of spindles and of
consumption of cotton" (206^ per cent, in Southern and 29 per cent,
in Northern mills), says Mr. Shepperson, "the South makes the best
showing of the countries compared, while India is a good second."f

There are now nearly 4,000,000 spindles in the South, against
1,360,000 in 1889, and new mills are constantly being built, % al-
though the past year has witnessed depression in the industry due to
the troubles in China. The entrance of the South into oriental trade
is almost as novel a feature of our expansion as any that have been
indicated, and it is one that seems likely to have a most important
bearing upon our social and political evolution, as well as upon our
influence in international trade. The South has suddenly acquired
a great stake in the affairs of the Far East, and what this may mean
in the adjustment of our relations with other countries having large

* Cotton Facts, December, 1899.

f Increase of India in number of spindles, 71 per cent.; in consumption of cot-
ton, 88^ per cent.

$ "The current year," says Prof. Henry M. Wilson, of Raleigh, N. C, in an
article in the 'Textile Manufacturers' Journal' of December 20, 1900, "has
witnessed greater strides in cotton manufacturing in the South than last year,
when the growth of the industry was considered phenomenal. New spindles and
looms have been added, new mills built, and others projected at a rate that
causes the careful observer of the South's progress to gaze with amazement
upon such activity. Nowhere in the world is the interest being taken in
cotton manufacturing as here in the South, where most of the staple is pro-
duced. From returns made to the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, the number
of new spindles added this year in old mills, new mills and in mills under con-
struction is 1,456,897. New looms added to these same mills number 27,613."

638 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

interests there and in shaping our international policies is a question
which only the future can answer. In a memorial from the cotton
manufacturers of the South addressed to the Secretary of State in
November last, commending the 'open-door' policy in China, the
statement is made that a large part of the production of the cotton
drills and sheetings manufactured in Southern mills is exported to
North China, and that "the prohibition or interference in China
by any European government would tend to seriously injure, not only
the cotton-manufacturing industries, but other important products
of the United States which are being shipped to China. For the pro-
tection and perpetuity of these commercial relations," it is added, "we
earnestly pray that the Administration will take such action as may be
proper under existing conditions. It is not only the manufacturers of
cotton goods that would be seriously affected, but the Southern planter
and cotton grower, who finds a ready cash sale for his products at
his very door; and also the thousands of employees and laboring
classes who are engaged in the cotton mills and depend on the success
of these manufacturing industries for a livelihood."

The developments of the past two years in consequence of our ac-
quisition of the Hawaiian and Philippine islands have brought another
factor into prominence in our commercial development, which may
be potential of unlooked-for results. The Pacific slope is rapidly
being converted from a mere outpost of trade into a great hive of
commerce.* Not only San Francisco, but Port Townsend, Seattle, Ta-
coma and Portland, are becoming entrepots of Oriental and South
Pacific commerce, and San Diego seems likely to be an important
factor in the development of trade with the west coast of Latin
America.

The growth of sea-borne commerce at these points means much
for the great extent of country tributary to them and promises to
work marked changes in the industrial condition of the vast region
west of the Rocky Mountains. In a similar way, our southern group
of States may find a sweeping readjustment of their economic relation
to the rest of the Union in the fact that Cuba and Porto Rico now offer
them easy and convenient stepping stones to Latin American trade.

Even in the now familiar conditions affecting the Atlantic sea-
board, which, as we have seen, have recently produced a great in-
crease in our export trade, a new element appears in the statement
of our consul in Sierra Leone, Mr. Williams, that, in a few years, West
Africa will offer a market for our goods 'only second in importance

* Exports from ports on the Pacific coast (excluding Alaska) which amounted
to some $36,800,000 in the fiscal year 1895, rose to $75,300,000 in 1898, and,
though the total fell to $57,600,000 in 1899, it rose again to $71,600,000 in 1900
(years ended June 30).

FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 639

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640 , POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

to that of China.' East Africa and South Africa have already shown
a marked preference for certain lines of American manufactures, but
West Africa is for our exporters a new and more accessible market,
the possibilities of which have heretofore attracted but little attention.

DISTRIBUTION OF OUR EXPORTS.

A glance at the accompanying map of the world, showing the
distribution of our exports of manufactures, reveals the significant
fact that, as yet, the widest range of consumption of our goods is
found in the leading industrial countries, such as Great Britain, Ger-
many, France, and their willingness conjoined with their greater ca-
pacity to take our products raises the interesting question whether
our activity in competing for neutral markets, such as China, Africa,
South America, etc., is not, for the present, restrained by the fact
that our energies are largely employed in manufacturing for the
European demand. The seriousness of our competition in the devel-
opment of trade in countries which, as yet, are but imperfectly ex-
ploited will begin to be fully felt, it would seem, only when the
European demand shall have slackened or we shall have more than
met its requirements. In that case, our exporters would undoubt-
edly address themselves more systematically and with greater energy
to trade regions which our European rivals are now so industriously
seeking to control. There is food for thought also in the possible
consequences to our European trade of a rivalry on our part which
may be so crushing as to greatly impair the purchasing power of
those who are now our best customers. If we permanently cripple
their chief industries, we deprive them, to a greater or less extent,
of the means of buying from us, and the consumption of our food sup-
plies and our raw materials, as well as of our finished goods, may
be greatly curtailed. The solution of the problem may perhaps be
found in the gradual specialization of commerce and industry, ac-
cording to the peculiar capacity of each competing nation — the sur-
vival, in other words, of the fittest conditions for this or that country —
and the gradual subsidence of competition into healthful exchange.

THE PLANET EROS. 641

THE PLANET EEOS.

By Professor SOLON I. BAILEY,

HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY.

EEOS is the name of a small planet discovered in 1898, by Witt, of
Berlin. It does not appear to be altogether certain that it really
belongs to the group of minor planets, usually known as planetoids or
asteroids. With the exception of Eros, all known asteroids move in
orbits whose mean distances are greater than that of Mars and less
than that of Jupiter. The mean distance from the sun of Mars is 141
million miles, and that of Jupiter is 483 million miles, while the dis-
tances of the asteroids vary in round numbers between 200 and 400
million miles. The mean distance of Eros, however, is only 135 million
miles, which is less than that of Mars. In spite of this very impor-
tant difference, Eros has been placed among the great band of as-
teroids, among whom he numbers 433. To belong to the celestial
400 is perhaps more of misfortune than of honor, for the number of
this plebeian band has already waxed so great that they have become
a care which threatens in the future to balance the benefits which they
bring to astronomy. Nevertheless, the history of this numerous fam-
ily is sufficiently full of interest, and throws light upon the way in
which we should regard them.

In 1772, Bode announced the so-called law which bears his name.
The law may be stated as follows: If to a series of 4's, beginning at
the second, the numbers 3, 6, 12, 24, etc., be added, the resulting
numbers divided by 10 will approximately express the distance of the
planets from the sun in terms of the distance of our earth taken as
unity. The law gave fairly well the distances of all the planets known
at that time, except that it called for a planet between Mars and
Jupiter, where nothing was then known to exist. When, a few years
later, in 1784, Uranus was discovered and was found to conform closely
to the law, the impression was deepened that the missing member
of the solar system must somehow be supplied or explained, and an
association of astronomers was formed to hunt for it. At that time
the discovery of a small body, such as one of the asteroids, was no
easy matter, and the honor of finding the first did not fall to one of
the associates, but to Piazzi, a Sicilian astronomer, who discovered
it while making a star catalogue. It was perhaps fitting that a cen-
tury which was to be signalized by the discovery of some 450 new
but small worlds, where one had been sought, should be properly

VOL. LVIII. — il

642

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

opened: Ceres, the first asteroid, was found on the first day of the
nineteenth century. Bode's law, therefore, appeared to have found
confirmation here, for, though there was no single great planet, as else-
where, nevertheless the small army of fragments seemed to point to
some abortive attempt of Nature to form a world in the usual order,
or else' to an explosion of one already formed. In either case the dis-
tance of the 'mean asteroid' might be expected to follow the law, which
it was found approximately to do. It seems a pity that the law, having
survived so many tests, should go to pieces at last on what was per-
haps the final test which remained to be applied. When Neptune was
discovered, however, in 1846, it did not conform to the law at all.
The following table gives a comparison between the true distances and
those which result from Bode's law, the distance of the earth being
taken as unity:

Planet.

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Mean Asteroid.

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Distance.

Bode.

Difference.

Period.

0.39

0.4

—0.01

3 months.

0.72

0.7

+0.02

7.4 "

1.00

1.0

0.00

1.0 years.

1.52

1.6

—0.08

1.9 "

2.65

2.8

—1.15

5.20

5.2

0.00

11 9 years.

9.54

10.0

—0.46

29.5 "

19.18

19 6

—0.42

84.0 "

30.05

38.8

—8.75

164.8 "

The discovery of asteroids has been much simplified by the in-
crease of star maps, and especially by the advances in celestial pho-
tography. One feature, which is incidental to the duration of the
photographic exposure, renders the detection of such objects compara-
tively easy. When a photographic plate is exposed to the sky in a
camera or telescope, if there is no clockwork, so that the instrument
remains at rest, the images of the stars are drawn out into lines or
trails. Ordinarily, however, the instrument is kept in motion by a
driving clock, so that it exactly follows the stars in their apparent
daily motion, and the images of the stars result as circular dots on
the plate. An asteroid, however, from its nearness has so rapid an
apparent motion among the stars that, if an exposure is made of an
hour or more, its image is spread out in a line, while the images of
stars remain circular. On some of the plates, for example, made with
the great Bruce photographic telescope at Arequipa, several hundred
thousand stars appear. On one of these plates, which had an ex-
posure of four hours, seven asteroid trails were found. If these as-
teroids had formed circular images, similar to those of the stars, their
detection among the several hundred thousand images on the plate
would have been an enormous labor and would have required other

THE PLANET EROS. 643

photographs of the same region for comparison. To pick out the trails,
however, is the work of an hour. The finding of the images on the
photographs is only a small part of the work involved. First, one
must know whether the object seen is new or old. This implies tables
giving the positions of all known asteroids, the computation of which
involves a great amount of labor, and, in most cases, the results in
themselves seem to be of small value. With the greater telescopes and
more sensitive plates of the future, it seems probable, unless some kind
Providence prevents it, that the number will become so great that
astronomers will grow weary of the enormous labor involved in making
ephemerides of them all. Twenty-two of them are, as Professor Young
expresses it, 'endowed/' These were discovered by Professor Watson,
who, at his death, left a fund to bear the expense of taking care of
them. These favored ones will evidently be followed carefully, how-
ever unobserved their less aristocratic sisters go sweeping on in their
neglected orbits.

It is probable that all the larger asteroids have already been found.
Professor Barnard has made many micrometric measurements of the
diameters of the largest of these baby worlds, using the great tele-
scopes of the Lick and Yerkes observatories. He has recently pub-
lished in the 'Monthly Notices' of the Royal Astronomical Society
the following results:

Asteroid.

Diameter.

Albedo.

477 miles.
304
120
239

0-67

Pallas

0.88

167

2.77

The albedo, or light-reflecting power, is referred to that of Mars
as unity. The values in the third column are derived from the meas-
ured diameters and the known brightness of the asteroids. Vesta,
though not the largest by the above measures, is the brightest of them
all, and is sometimes visible to the naked eye. Probably none, except
the four given above, has a diameter as great as 100 miles, and the vast
majority perhaps not more than ten or twenty miles. Eros itself, at its
nearest approach, will perhaps present a disc of sufficient size to permit
measurements in the most powerful instruments. Its diameter is prob-
ably not more than twenty-five miles, though no precise determina-
tion has yet been made. On such a world the force of superficial grav-
ity would be about one three-hundredth of that at the surface of the
earth, and a person might almost throw a stone with sufficient velocity
to make it fly off into space and become an independent planet. To

644 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

make up a world even one-hundredth as large as the earth would take
hundreds of thousands of such worlds.

On the night of August 13, 1898, Herr Witt made a photograph of
the region near /? Aquarii, with an exposure of two hours. He
wished to obtain an observation of a known asteroid which had not
been observed for nine years, and which his calculations assigned to
that region. When developed and examined on the following day,
the plate not only showed the object desired, and also a second known
asteroid, but a faint and long trail of some unknown object. From
its rapid motion it was at first thought to be a comet, but an exami-
nation on the following night with a visual telescope revealed its
true nature. As soon as the well-known computer of minor planet
orbits, Herr Berberich, had computed its approximate orbit, the as-
tonishing nature of the new planet became apparent. Of all the pre-
viously known members of the solar system, with the obvious exception
of our moon, Venus and Mars approach nearest to the earth. Venus
is distant from us at the most favorable times about twenty-five million
miles, and Mars thirty-five million miles. Eros, however, approaches
the earth at the most favorable oppositions within less than fourteen
million miles, so that he is our nearest celestial neighbor. This leads
to a solution, under better conditions perhaps than ever before
granted, of that fundamental problem in astronomy, the distance of
the sun, or, in other words, the determination of the solar parallax.
In order to determine the orbit and position of a planet, certain quan-
tities must be found, based upon at least three observations of the
planet's place in the sky. It is, however, highly desirable to have
more than three observations of the planet's position and to have them
widely separated in time.

The following elements for Eros were computed by Dr. S. C.
Chandler, and were based on the observations of 1898, combined with
those of the Harvard photographs made in the years 1893, 1894
and 1896:

EPOCH 1898, AUGUST 31.5, GREENWICH MEAN TIME.

Mean Anomaly 221° 35' 45. "6

Perihelion Distance of Ascending Node 177 37 56. CM

Longitude of Ascending Node 303 31 57. 1 > 1898.0

Inclination of Orbit to Ecliptic 10 50 11. 8)

Angle whose Sin is the Eccentricity 12 52 9. 8

Mean Daily Motion 2015."2326

Logarithm of Semi-major Axis 0.1637876

Period of Revolution around Sun 643d. 10

Later observations will doubtless slightly modify these results, but
they are sufficiently precise for our purpose. These elements were
published in December, 1898, and well illustrate the enormous pho-
tographic resources which at the present time are in the possession
of the Harvard Observatory. Twenty years ago, the present Director,

THE PLANET EROS.

645

Prof. Edward C. Pickering, began photographing the heavens, and
at the present time there are in the Observatory more than 100,000
photographs of the sky made during those years. Some of these are
on a large scale, and are of special objects, but many thousands of
them are charts on so small a scale that the entire sky has been pho-
tographed many times. On nearly all these plates stars are shown to
the tenth magnitude, and in many cases stars as faint as the fifteenth
or sixteenth magnitude appear. The early elements of Eros showed
that the planet made a close approach to the earth in 1894, and a
search was promptly instituted on the Harvard photographs. At first
the available observations were insufficient to give the elements with
the accuracy which was necessary in order to determine the planet's

icr

VICT

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so*

30°
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10'

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Fig. 1. Path of Eros in 1893 and 1894. The Circular Dots represent the Positions
which were determined from the harvard photographs.

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position in 1894. An error of 1" in the mean daily motion would
change the right ascension in 1894 by about half an hour. On this
account no image of the planet was found on the photographs first
examined. By an examination, however, of plates made in 1896 Mrs.
Fleming found several images of Eros, and Mr. Chandler then pro-
vided a corrected ephemeris, by means of which the planet was readily
found on plates made in 1893 and 1894. Thus several years' history
of this remarkable object was at once presented to the astronomical
world.

While the mean distance of Eros is 135 million miles, its aphelion
distance is 166 millions and its perihelion distance 105 millions.
Since this planet is sometimes within and sometimes without the orbit
of Mars, it might be expected that at favorable times it would approach

646 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

nearer to Mars than to the earth. Owing to the large inclination of
the planes of the two planets, and the unfavorable position of the
line in which the planes intersect, this is not the case, as was pointed
out by Mr. Crommelin. Eros does not approach Mars nearer than
twenty million miles, so that the Martians, if such exist, have no ad-
vantage in this line of research.

At his approach in 1894, the brightness of Eros was computed by
Professor Pickering to have been about the seventh magnitude. This
places it just beyond the reach of the naked eye, even at the most
favorable oppositions. During the recent opposition Eros was thirty
million miles distant, and fainter than the ninth magnitude.

E. von Oppolzer has recently announced that Eros undergoes,
within a few hours, variations in light amounting to a whole magni-

<lo*

Fig. 2. Orbits of Eros, Earth and Mars. Relative Positions of Eros and Earth.

tude. This variation has been confirmed at the Harvard Observatory,
where there are observations, visual and photographic, extending back
over eight years, sufficient to establish the period with precision. The
variability of Eros is doubtless due to its axial revolution, and may be
caused by the unequal light-reflecting power of different parts of its
surface.

From the elements and diagram, it may be seen that the distance
from perihelion, or the point nearest the sun, to the descending node,
or the point where the planet passes through the plane of the earth's
orbit, is less than three degrees. This is fortunate, for otherwise the
planet's distance would be increased. The longitude of the planet's
perihelion is 121°. The earth's longitude — or the sun's longitude, as
seen from the earth, plus 180°— is 121° on January 21. In 1894, the

THE PLANET EROS. 647

planet was in perihelion on January 22, only a few hours later than
the earth arrived at the same longitude; so that the opposition at that
time was nearly as favorable as can ever occur. Since the period of
Eros is 643d. 10, it will be easy to compute when the planet will again
come to perihelion near the date January 21. The relation between the
periods of Eros and the earth is such that a close approach will always
be followed in seven years by one not so good, but yet favorable. This
is illustrated by the near approach of 1894 and the less favorable op-
position of 1901. Seven revolutions of the earth take 2556d.8,
and four revolutions of Eros, 2572d.4. Hence every seventh year
the position of Eros will be repeated, with respect to the earth, within
156d. So that if Eros arrived at perihelion one day later than the
earth reached the same longitude in 1894, it would arrive there about
seventeen days later in 1901, thirty-two days later in 1908, etc. It is
evident that by following this series no close approach would come
again till far into the next century. This series includes one-fourth
of the perihelion returns of Eros. Three other series will include the
remainder. They may be reckoned from that of 1895, when it oc-
curred eighty-seven days earlier than the earth reached the same lon-
gitude, that of 1897, 175 days earlier, and that of 1899, 262 days
earlier. Beginning with the difference of eighty-seven days in 1895,
the number decreases by 15d.6 every seven years, so that in 1931 Eros
will arrive at perihelion about ten days ahead of the earth, and in 1938
about six days later. This pair of oppositions appear to be the best
which will occur during the next half century. The series which
begins in 1897 with a difference of 175 days would apparently give a
close approach after about three quarters of a century, and the re-
maining series much later still. It seems, therefore, that not till the
latter part of the present century can so favorable an opposition recur,
as that of 1894, which was lost except for the Harvard photographs.
These conclusions may, however, be modified by a study of the per-
turbations of Eros by the other planets, which have not been considered
in the above computations.

During the last few months great attention has been given to Eros
at fifty of the leading observatories of the world. Professor Campbell,
Director of the Lick Observatory, says that for two or three months
fully half the resources of that institution have been devoted to this
object. The positions of 700 fundamental stars have been determined
by the meridian circle, and photographs made, which will be meas-
ured at the Observatory of Columbia University under the direction
of Dr. Rees. At the Harvard Observatory several hundred photo-
graphs have been taken, and very extended photometric observations
made. Owing to the exceptional conditions which prevail at the
Arequipa branch of the observatory and the power of the Bruce pho-

648 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

tographic telescope, it is probable that Eros can Le photographed there
after it has been lost sight of at other observatories. At least, the first
determination of its position at the recent opposition was made from
a photograph obtained there by Dr. Stewart. The interest shown by
these two institutions is equaled by that of many other observatories
in Europe and the United States. The chief object of these labors is
the determination of the solar parallax, which is the angle subtended
at the sun by the earth's radius, and which is a measure of his dis-
tance. The methods which are in use for the solution of this problem
may be divided into three groups, geometrical, gravitational and phys-
ical. The present investigation belongs to the first of these. The
uatural and direct method for measuring the sun's distance would be
to select two stations on the earth, whose distance apart must be
known, and from them measure the angle which that distance sub-
tends at the sun itself. If the distance is the earth's radius the meas-
ured angle is the solar parallax. In fact, however, this apparently easy
and direct method has now no value whatever, since the angle con-
cerned is too small to give the best results, and also the sun is a very
difficult object on which to make measurements of precision. Some
other, nearer and more suitable object must be sought, and, in quest
of the most exact results possible, astronomers have observed Venus,
when in transit across the sun's face, Mars near opposition and various
asteroids. Of these different geometrical methods, observations of
the asteroids appear to have furnished the best results, so that the
discovery of Eros comes at a most fortunate time to give astronomers
an opportunity of testing this method under the most favorable con-
ditions. It must be remembered, however, that the recent opposition
of Eros was not an especially favorable one, and it is not certain that
better results will be obtained at this time than have been secured
in recent years by Dr. Gill at the Cape of Good Hope, in cooperation
with Dr. Elkins, of Yale, and others. That work depended upon
heliometric observations of the asteroids Iris, Victoria and Sappho,
whose least distances from the earth are 0.84, 0.82 and 0.84 astronom-
ical units. At the recent opposition the distance of Eros was little more
than a third as great, and this in itself gives Eros an enormous advan-
tage. It has been feared, however, that the faintness and rapid motion
of Eros would prevent observations of the highest precision, which
might be sufficient to balance the advantage which its nearness gave.
Probably the difficulties on these accounts have not proved so great
as was at first feared. Even if the present determination yields no bet-
ter results than have been obtained before, it will make a very valuable
check on previous determinations, and bring out the best methods to be
pursued at some later and more favorable opposition. In this connec-
tion it may be of interest to recall that Halley, who first pointed out the

THE PLANET EROS. 649

possibility of determining the solar parallax by observations of the
transits of Venus, well knew when he developed the methods that he
himself could not live to see the experiment tried, since he was then
sixty-three years of age, and the next transit of Venus did not come for
forty-two years. Perhaps few of the observers who are so enthusias-
tically at work on Eros at this opposition will be alive to make ob-
servations at a really close approach of that interesting body.

At the Paris meeting of the International Astrophotographic Con-
gress, in August, 1900, a committee was appointed to suggest the most
favorable course to be pursued. The committee later advised that work
be done by the micrometer, the heliometer and by photographs. The
observations in each case give the distance of Eros in seconds of arc
from adjacent stars. The simplest case is where simultaneous ob-
servations are made by observers at widely separated stations. Let A
and B (Fig. 3) be two stations on the earth. The observer at A will
see Eros projected on the celestial sphere at E1, and the observer at B, at

Fig. 3. Parallax of Eros.

E2. It is only necessary for each observer to measure the distance
in seconds of arc between Eros and some adjacent stars, as 1, 2, 3 and 4.
The positions of the stars must be known with the greatest precis-
ion, so that the observations give the value of the arc E*E2, which
equals the angle AEB. We have then the necessary material for
computing the distance of Eros from the earth in miles. Given this
and the orbit of Eros, the distances of the earth and all the other
planets from the sun in miles follow from the known laws of gravi-
tation. The distance AB may lie in a north and south direction, or
in an east and west direction, or more probably in a combination of
the two. In the first case there must be two observers, widely sep-
arated, as, for example, at Arequipa, Peru, latitude south 16°, and
Helsingfors, Finland, north 50°. In the second case there may be
two stations, as, one in Europe and the other in the United States,
or the whole work may be done at one station by allowing the earth's
diurnal motion to carry the observer to a new position. Suppose, for
example, that one observation is made when the planet is rising in the

650 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

east, and another twelve hours later, when it is about to set in the
west. In the meantime, the observer will have been carried to a
position 8,000 miles removed from that which he occupied in the
morning. Each of the three methods has certain objections and dif-
ficulties. Simultaneous observations are difficult or impossible to ob-
tain. Between the different observations both earth and Eros are
sweeping along in their orbits, and this introduces complications which
must be allowed for with great care. Also the size of the earth is not
perfectly known, nor the distance apart of any two stations upon its
surface, though the error introduced from this cause is very small.

For the determination of the position of Eros on each day during
opposition, as recommended by the Paris committee, the precise posi-
tions of very many stars must be known. A few of these have already
been determined, but most of them must be measured at the present
time. For this purpose the positions of several hundred stars will
be determined and the highest precision at different observatories with
the meridian circle, and, from these as standards, many hundreds more,
by photographs. For the positions of Eros itself with relation to these
stars, no doubt the micrometer, the heliometer and the photograph will
be used, and a comparison of the results by these three instruments will
be of the greatest interest.

Observations of Eros, made during the recent opposition, or in the
future, will doubtless give the most exact determination of the solar
parallax possible by the geometrical method, applied to any known
member of the solar system. Indeed, Eros, at the most favorable times,
is perhaps as good an object as can be desired. If it came still nearer
to the earth, its motion would doubtless be more rapid, so that little
would be gained. According to Professor Newcomb, Eros comes
'about as near to us as observations can advantageously be made.'
Nevertheless, it is doubtful whether any geometrical determination of
the solar parallax will ever be accepted as final. When the astronomical
world was preparing to observe the transit of Venus in 1874, Leverrier
refused to take any part in it, declaring that the determination by
gravitational means would make all geometrical methods of no further
value. This may be true for the future, but it will not lessen, for the
present, at least, the high value of the determinations now going on.

The solar parallax is about 8". 80, correct within approximately
0".01. That is, the distance of the sun is about 92,897,000 miles,
correct within 100,000 or 150,000 miles. It is difficult to appreciate
an angle of 0".01, within which limit the determination must come
to be of value. A foot rule forms an angle of 0".01, when placed
at a distance of 20,626,481 feet, or over 3,900 miles. If the present
work shall reduce the margin of doubt, astronomers will be well paid
for their efforts.

THE PLANET EROS. 651

Aside from the determination of the solar parallax, Professor Pick-
ering has pointed out that Eros furnishes an opportunity for the in-
vestigation of several interesting photometric problems. These are:
the determination of the planet's diameter; a test of the law that the
light varies inversely as the square of the distance; a test of the exist-
ence of an absorbing medium within the solar system, and a test of the
law connecting the phase angle of a planet with the variation in bright-
ness.

Thus Eros, the tiny asteroid, whose total area is little larger than
the State of Rhode Island, is for the moment of more importance in
the eyes of the astronomical world than the greatest planet which
moves about the sun.

652

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

WHAT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHI-
CAGO STANDS FOR.

At the time of Princeton's celebra-
tion in 1896, one of her loyal alumni un-
dertook to show what Princeton has
stood for and stands for. "The name
Princeton," he remarked, "is supposed to
be synonymous with the stiffest intellec-
tual conservatism." The philosophical
temper dominates at Princeton, just as
the literary spirit characterizes Harvard.
If the question be asked, What the Uni-
versity of Chicago stands for? one may
answer without hesitation, for the scien-
tific method!

The scientific cast of mind is ascend-
ent in the halls and laboratories of this
new university of the West ; or, at least,
one may affirm that it is becoming so.
It is due in part to the presence of so
many specialists who have received their
professional training in Germany and
have brought back something of the
German scholar's aptitude for investiga-
tive work.

Even in the Divinity School the in-
fluence of the scientific spirit is felt by
both teachers and students. In the work
of advanced students, as in the depart-
ments of physical science, the para-
mount idea or aim is the acquisition of
a method by which truth may be found,
and they are characterized by a willing-
ness to go wherever truth may lead
them. Theology is not the fixed thing
that it was formerly imagined to be.
The professed aim of the Department of
Systematic Theology is "to reduce to a
scientific system, and maintain on scien-
tific principles, the teaching of Scripture
in the light of such other sources of
theological knowledge as enter into the
progressive self- revelation of God to
mankind." Mysticism is at a discount
in Dr. Northrup's classrooms.

Of scholastic traditions Chicago has

none as yet, but it has a certain
definite purpose or policy distinct from
that of the old college. The University
of Chicago stands for another educa-
tional ideal.

The old college aimed to give the
student a liberal education, as it is
called, a wider mental horizon. Intel-
lectual discipline was emphasized. Some
good results were attained, for the man
who took the four years' course was un-
questionably benefited by the process.
There were, however, some defects in
the system. While the culture of the
old college tended to make his thinking
more clear-cut and logical, it did not
go far enough, in that no postgraduate
work was provided. Its alumni went
forth into the world and, after three
years of professional employment, they
received the degree of A. M., without
further study or even an examination.

The humanities are not neglected at
the new University of Chicago — their
disciplinary value is recognized and
prized; but at the same time research
is emphasized, and advanced students
are encouraged and assisted to engage in
original investigation. To enlarge the
borders of knowledge is the end in view.
The way chosen is through specializa-
tion. In chemistry, candidates for the
much-coveted degree of Ph.D. must take
two or three years of laboratory work
under the supervision of a university
instructor; and the thesis, embodying
the results of their researches, 'must be
a real contribution to knowledge.' A
few sentences describing the work in
geology may be quoted:

"The aim of this department is to
provide systematic training in geology.
. . . The endeavor is to furnish this
training in such a form as to contribute
to a liberal education, and at the same
time to prepare for professional and in-
vestigative work in the science. The

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

653

cultural purpose predominates in the
earlier courses, and the investigative
and professional in the later; but both
have a place in all and find their realiza-
tion in a common method of treatment.
While it is not expected that more than
a small percentage of those who take
the earlier courses will have professional
or investigative work in view, it is be-
lieved that they will derive the largest
and most distinctive returns from such
shaping of the work. That special men-
tal and moral discipline which is appro-
priate to the science can be secured
only by wrestling with its problems as
they actually present themselves to the
investigator. A radically different dis-
cipline is secured from handling the sub-
ject in the simple didactic method. It
is believed that those who enter upon
any of the courses with an intelligent
appreciation of the science as a growing
body of truth and a progressive field of
intellectual endeavor will desire to come
into touch with its working methods
and controlling spirit."

In his address before the Baptist
Social Union of Chicago, Nov. 5, 1891,
Dr. W. R. Harper set forth what might
be expected of the new University of
Chicago. Much has been accomplished
along the lines indicated. Two or three
passages in this notable utterance are
worth repeating:

"In these days of specialists, the man
who has passed through college has,
after all, but a smattering of things.
Possibly before his course is completed,
and certainly at the close of it, he
should have a chance to take some spe-
cial subject and give it the continuous
attention of months. Concentration on
a given line, before graduation, should
be encouraged. . . . The college-
system, as we all understand it, is not
intended primarily to stock the pupil's
mind with knowledge, but rather to de-
velop it, to make it able to receive and
apply truth from every source; in brief,
to open the mind. . . . But it is not
sufficient simply to be open to accept
truth when it presents itself; to adopt
new or modified methods, when they
have been suggested by others. A uni-
versity may not stop with this. Shall
you not expect contributions, and these
not small ones, to the sum of human
knowledge? Shall you not expect a
spirit pervading every department of the
university life which will lead men from
the lowest to the highest department to
investigate and to experiment ? A deal
of truth, known for ages, if it is to ex-

ert any influence to-day, must be re-
stated. Such restatement makes it
practically new truth, and the contribu-
tion of the man who has done this is
only less than that of him who first
formulated it. Old forms of statement
in every line of work have lost their
force; they have been worn smooth, till
now they are really valueless."

Hence the need, not only of specialists
and laboratories, but of an endowed
University Press for the publication of
books and periodicals. This want has
been supplied by the admirably edited
journals of the University, which con-
tain articles summing up the results of
studies and experiments pursued in nu-
merous lines of intellectual activity.
Usually the head professor of the de-
partment is the editor, aided by his as-
sociates and by eminent scholars in
other universities of America and
Europe. It is not necessary to dwell on
the merits of the 'Botanical Gazette,'
the 'Journal of Geology,' the 'Journal of
Political Economy' and the other month-
lies and quarterlies issued from the Uni-
versity of Chicago Press. The value of
this series is appreciated, and their suc-
cess is a credit to American scholarship.

The keynote of the university spirit
is devotion to the cause of truth for its
own sake. This mental attitude was
well described in Professor Chamberlin's
convocation address (April 1, 1893) on
'The Mission of the Scientific Spirit':

"Simple observation is incapable of
disentangling intricate phenomena and
of discriminating with precision the sev-
eral agencies and their varying results.
Even when it discerns the agencies, the
complexity of the combination baffles
all efforts to evaluate the measure and
degree of participation. In the varying
degrees of participation of causes lies
the greatest peril to safe conclusions.

"But by the devices of experimenta-
tion, each factor may be disentangled
from its complex associations and made
to reveal itself in its simple and naked
reality. Experimentation, by its crea-
tive processes, opens a new world of ob-
servation; a world devised and con-
trolled solely for the disentanglement of
truth. The new potency thus added to
observation and induction gave birth to
modern science. By its aid the mass of
crude facts previously gathered were

654

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

purified and perfected and increased by
manifold additions. Upon this relative-
ly pure, solid truth a trustworthy super-
structure was built by the inductive
method But even the inductive method,
potential as it is, would have fallen
shc-t of trustworthy results, were it
not furnished with facts verified by
searching experimental tests."

The investigator must be a lover not
only of the truth, but of 'the pure and
exact truth.' Hence the necessity for
the scientific method, which may be de-
fined in brief as a process for the puri-
fication of truth from error. A fuller
statement is given by Sir William
Turner in his address before the British
Association in 1900:

"Scientific method consists, therefore,
in close observation, frequently repeat-
ed so as to eliminate the possibility
of' erroneous seeing; in experiments
checked and controlled in every direc-
tion in which fallacies might arise; in
continuous reflection on the appearances
and phenomena observed, and in logic-
ally reasoning out their meaning and
the conclusions to be drawn from them.

The scientific method, then, is some-
thing more than diligence and accuracy.
It is not suddenly acquired. It has been
a slow growth in the race— a growth to
which Aristotle, Euclid, Bacon, Galileo,
Newton, Kant, Darwin and many others
contributed. And it is a slow growth
in the individual. Some persons of in-
tellectual tastes never acquire it. The
Oriental mind is weak in this direction.
It is claimed that Americans have less
of the scientific spirit than the Germans.
The work of the old college did not tend
to develop the scientific habit of mind
in the student. Said Professor Remsen,
in his convocation address (Oct. 2, 1894)
on 'The Chemical Laboratory':

"If the experience of twenty-one
years in teaching in college and univer-
sity in this country is worth anything,
your speaker, who has during that time
had to deal with many students from all
parts of the country, is justified in as-
serting that the minds of students who
enter college are very far from being
scientific, and the same can be said of
most of them fresh from the colleges.
By a scientific mind is meant one that
tends to deal with questions objectively,
to judge things on their merits, and that

does not tend to prejudge every ques-
tion by the aid of ideas formed inde-
pendently of the things themselves."

Since the scientific spirit is not
quickly and easily acquired, means are
provided to foster its development. The
laboratory is the especial place for ex-
perimentation in pure science. In other
fields data must be sought elsewhere.
In sociology it is the world of men and
women. The student who tried working
behind a counter in a big department
store made a sociological experiment
where she might learn by experience
and observation the condition of clerks
and cash-girls as she could not in the
class-room.

The aim of the scholarly investigator
is to reach results that can be expressed
in some tangible shape or tabulated
form, and his conclusions must be ac-
companied by the evidence on which
they rest. There is too much of assump-
tion in the thinking of the average
student.

It has been said that "the one factor
which has made the German university
what it is to-day is its docent system."
The docent system cannot be trans-
planted to our soil the same as it is in
Germany. The conditions are different
here. It is a factor, however, to be
counted upon to foster scientific investi-
gation among us.

Much, too, may be expected of the
fellowship plan. It serves a useful pur-
pose in affording exceptional opportuni-
ties to men possessed of the love of
science and displaying proficiency in
laboratory methods. The presence of a
large body of fellows and scholars tends
to raise the standard of intellectual
work in general to a high grade of excel-
lence. The offer of a substantial stipend
is not without effect in stimulating ef-
fort. The fellowship is also in the na-
ture of a stepping-stone to an instruc-
torship— an inducement calculated to
arouse the desire to excel.

Besides this incentive is another—
that of environment, of association with
an inspiring teacher and the companion-
ship of skilled workers. "While it is

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

655

true," says Professor Nef, "to a great
extent that the power of scientific inves-
tigation is inborn and not acquired, it
is also certain that a proper atmosphere
must exist for its development. It re-
quires inspiration and example to kindle
into flame the spark which may exist
in men beginning their life-work."

The influences of departmental clubs,
with their learned papers and discus-
sions, is a factor making for critical
scholarship. Another agency that pro-
motes the acquisition of the scientific
method is the Seminar. As it is only a
recent growth in American universities,
a fuller description of it is needed.

The professed aim of the Seminar is
'initiation into the methods of research.'
To the scientist life presents itself as a
series of problems, and these problems
are to be grappled with and solved. The
right way of attacking these problems
the graduate student learns in the
Seminar by contact with trained work-
ers. He must get a first-hand acquaint-
ance with his subject, whether literary,
historical or scientific, by going to the
sources. He must learn from instructors
the recognized tests and principles of
investigation and then apply them. He
must learn to suspend judgment until
full information is obtained.

Under the Seminar system the mem-
bers meet once a week for a two-hours'
session, usually Monday afternoons. The
student works largely by himself, spend-
ing weeks or months gathering material
for a report, which is subjected to criti-
cism by other members of the Seminar
and by the professor in charge. Thus
he learns what defective work is. While
patience and industry are necessary for
the production of a satisfactory report,
it is not enough 'to lead laborious days.'
The subject must be treated in a schol-
arly manner; and, if possible, some
new light thrown on it and old errors
corrected.

The Latin Seminar may be taken
as an illustration — The Comparative
Syntax of the Greek and Latin Verb,
under Professor Hale. The aim and
plan of procedure are thus outlined for

the autumn, winter and spring quar-
ters of 1899-1900, two hours a week:

"The principal object of the Seminar
will be the study of unsettled problems
in the syntax of the Latin verb. In
necessary connection with this object,
however, a considerable amount of
study will be given to the syntax of
the Greek verb as it appears in the
earliest Greek literature.

"Owing to the advanced character
and difficulty of syntactical problems,
the independent work of the members
of the Seminar will not begin until after
preliminary lectures and discussions
have made clear the general attitudes
and methods of various schools of work-
ers in syntax in the past and present,
and the fundamental principles that
must now be recognized as properly
governing investigation. Several books
of Homer and plays of Plautus will next
be read, with reference solely to the syn-
tax of the verb. An analysis will then
be made by each member of the Seminar
of the treatment of the syntax of the
verb in one of the more important gram-
mars or treatises, after which he will
devote himself to a special problem, or
group of problems. A considerable
amount of reading in the literature will
be expected for the systematic and ex-
haustive collection of evidence in a
definite field. Reports of the results
of work upon special problems and of
reading for the collection of materials
will be presented from time to time at
meetings of the Seminar."

So to produce scholarly workers in
the various fields of learning is the func-
tion of the University — to train spe-
cialists, to make critics in the higher
sense, to furnish investigators who will
enter fresh fields and give the world
the fruits of their researches. It is for
this kind of work that the University
of Chicago stands — not merely to im-
part what is already known, but to
seek and find new knowledge. This is
the province of a university as conceived
by President Harper. It is a high ideal
that he holds up: "The true university
is the center of thought on every prob-
lem connected with human life and
work, and the first obligation resting
upon the individual members which
compose it is that of research and in-
vestigation."

Eugene Parsons.

656

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED

STATES DURING THE NEXT
TEN CENTURIES.

Dr. H- S. Pritchett published in
the November number of the Popular
Sctence Monthly his estimate of the
future population of the United States,
based upon the past rates of increase.
He found a comparatively simple
equation which represented the census
enumerations very closely, and, apply-
ing that to the future, he finds that the
rate of increase, which was 32 per cent,
per decade in 1790 and 24 in 1880, will
be 13 in 1990, but will not have sunk
to less than 3 for another thousand
years and will not be zero for an indefi-
nite time. He does not seem to have
taken into consideration the density of
population and what we might call the
saturation point, or the maximum
population which can be fed. A pop-
ulation far below its saturation point
will increase rapidly, but when it satu-
rates the land there is no increase, and
as we approach our saturation point
our rate will rapidly diminish to zero.

We do not know what our satura-
tion point is under the present condi-
tions of food production; but we pro-
duce far more than is needed for our
twenty people per square mile. Nor can
we estimate our future saturation point,
for no one can presume to predict what
science will enable us to do in the way
of food production, other than what, by
present methods, can be forced from the
soil. We can only estimate our limit,
basing it upon the known densities in
countries which have always been pop-
ulated to their limit.

The saturation point rises with civ-
ilization just as the saturation point of
air for water rises with the tempera-
ture. Cultivated land is said to pro-
duce 1,600 times as much food as an
equal area of hunting land. Denmark,
for instance, could support but 500
paleolithic people, and when their cul-
ture rose to the level of the present
Patagonians, 1,000 could exist, and 1,500
of those on the level of the natives of
Hudson's Bay. In the pastoral stage

each family requires 2,000 acres, and
France could not support 50,000 of such
people. For centuries after the Norman
conquest the whole of Europe could not
support 100 millions, or about 25 per
square mile, while now there are 81.

When civilization is arrested, the
saturation point remains stationary.
China, for instance, is said to have had
400 millions for many centuries. When
food can be imported and paid for by
manufactured goods, the population can
go beyond the saturation point. Great
Britain, for instance, is said to import
one-third of her food, and her 300 peo-
ple per mile is supersaturation. When
the countries from which she buys food
are populated to the point that they
have no surplus for sale, her popula-
tion must decrease to the number she
can feed, which is now 200 per mile.
Should her factories fail through for-
eign competition, so that she cannot
buy, she will also decrease in popula-
tion, just as Ireland has done since the
beginning of the last century, when
England destroyed Irish industries to
strengthen her own. English supersatu-
ration is limited only by her power to
buy and import.

America was saturated by savages in
pre-Columbian times, and they were
constantly at war for more room; but
the land has always been far from satu-
ration for civilized whites. Though we
now export enough food for a large pop-
ulation, we cannot produce very much
more, for all the useful land is now
taken up. Fully 60 per cent, of the
desert lands west of the 100th degree of
longitude will never have water on it,
and that alone will forever prevent us
being as densely populated as Europe.
Perhaps we can now support fully 125
millions, or 34 per mile, a point which
Dr. Pritchett calculates we shall reach
in 1925, at our present rate. By that
time we shall have farms on 10 or 15
per cent, of the arid lands, the limit of
possible irrigation, and perhaps then we
can support 200 millions, the calculated
population for 1950; but it is difficult
to see how we can feed 500 millions, our

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE.

657

calculated numbers a little over a cen-
tury hence, for that would be a density
of about 125 per mile — far greater than
Europe.

It is also difficult to see how science
is to produce food indefinitely, for the
real basis of food production is the soil
and vegetation, such as the changing of
cellulose into starches and sugars. The
possible limit is the amount of the sun's
energy we can capture through vege-
tation. The calculated population of a
thousand years hence, 41 billions, or
11,000 per mile, is not at present con-
ceivable.

There is a law of population, that its
increase depends upon its density, ir-
respective of the birth rate; hence at
the saturation point the death rate
must equal the birth rate, as at present
in China, where the large birth rate is
compensated by frightful destruction of
life, awful pestilences, famines, univer-
sal infanticide and judicial executions
for every felony. Our civilization will
never tolerate such mortality, nor can
the surplus migrate, as it has been do-
ing from Europe for four hundred years.
Yet we need have no fear of future fam-
ines and pestilence due to overcrowding
and so necessary in India and China, for
the solution of the problem will come
of its own accord in a natural limita-
tion of the size of families by preven-
tion of conception or some other means,
a process already begun, as many have
already pointed out. The average num-
ber of children in English families is
already less than four. By the time we
have reached our maximum growth it is
quite likely that the number of children
in American families will be less than
three, or just enough to compensate for
unavoidable deaths and still keep the
population stationary. The deliberations
of the Malthusian societies may appear
very absurd, but they are merely
discussing things which are sure to
come about naturally and not artifi-
cially.

Thus Dr. Pritchett's estimates of our
future population of 11,000 per square
mile, being based upon the rates of

VOL. I.VIII.— i'2

increase in a country far below its satu-
ration point, it seems that a better for-
mula could have been obtained by tak-
ing the increases in European countries
which probably have been saturated since
the glacial times and supersaturated ever
since they became maritime powers and
could import food. Thus England had
5£ millions in 1650, and only 6i mil-
lions in 1750, and less than 9 millions
in 1800; since then, through food im-
portations due to commerce, her rate of
increase has been about i3 per cent,
per decade. Our rate, as above stated,
was 32 per cent, in 1800, 24 per cent, in
1880, and the time it will be 13 may be
long before 1990, and it is quite likely
to be zero within a century or two.

Our country will never contain more
people than it can feed, and the struggle
for existence or the stress of life will
not be a particle more severe than now.
Since the first paleolithic man appeared
on the scene, Europe has supported as
many men as she could and has thus
been at the saturation point, ever on
the verge of over-population, needing
famines, wars of expansion and other
forms of deaths, so that there has al-
ways been the same struggle for exist-
ence we see now, and that struggle can
never be more severe than it has always
been there. The course of civilization
would even iustify a prediction that life
will be made easier, so that posterity
may pity us as we pity our savage an-
cestors in their terrible struggle for
existence.

Chas. E. Woodruff, U. S. A.
Fort Riley, Kan., Jan. 30, 1901.

THE ORIGIN OF MEN OF GENIUS.
To the Editor: I have been much
interested in Havelock Ellis's 'Study of
British Genius,' for the reason that his
conclusions are so nearly paralleled by
a study of a like character for several
of the continental countries reported by
me in the latest number of the 'Con-
servative Review.' Mr. Ellis says,
among other things: "When we sur-
vey the field of investigation I have
here briefly summarized, the most strik-

658

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY

in" fact we encounter is the extraor-
dinary extent to which British men
and women of genius have been pro-
duced by the highest and smallest so-
cial classes, and the minute part which
has oeen played by the 'teeming masses'
in building up British civilization. In
the article above referred to it is shown
that 'The nobility, the office-holding
class and the liberal professions in no
community form so much as a tenth
part of the population, yet from this
small minority seventy-eight per cent,
of the primates of Italian and German
literature, eighty per cent, of Spanish
and sixty-nine per cent, of English were
descended.' The fecundity of the dif-
ferent parts of French territory, like
that of Great Britain, has been very un-'
equal. "If we examine the nativity of
French writers according to their geo-
graphical distribution . . . we find
that the northern and eastern parts
have been most prolific. (Is this the
result of the comparatively large Teu-
tonic intermixture?) Taking France by
Provinces, He de France heads the list
with 1,572 names out of a total of 5,617.
Next in order comes Normandy with
413 names. The adjacent districts of
Picardy and Artois furnish 373; Pro-
vence gives us a register of 295 names;
Lorraine, 240; Touraine, Anjou and
Maine, 207. All others fall below 200.
Except in a general way, it cannot be
known what relation these figures bear
to the total population, as no census of
France wa9 taken until comparatively
recent times. If we make an estimate
on the present basis of inhabitants, the
relation of the districts will be somewhat
changed. He de France will still stand
at the head, but the second place will
be taken by French Switzerland, the
third by Provence and the fourth by
the Orleannais."

The religious milieu is a factor of
very considerable importance. "It is
well known that among French writers
in all departments Geneva has produced
a much larger proportion than would be
expected from the number of its inhabi-
tants. For more than four centuries it

has been a Protestant city, while the
rest of French territory has been for the
most part Roman Catholic. It is worthy
of remark, too, that in Germany, includ-
ing by this designation its territory
linguistically and not politically, the
Catholic portions of Bavaria and Austria
have given birth to a relatively small
number of persons who are entitled to
the highest rank in letters. It has al-
ready been shown that, in the product
of men of science, the religion of a
country seems to play an important
part. We are justified in drawing the
same inference in regard to literature."
One more quotation that bears on the
preponderating influence of what may
be called centers of civilization, and I
have done: "Of fifty-five eminent Ital-
ian literati, twenty-three were born in
large cities, and most of the remainder
in small municipalities, though, strange
to say, not one had Rome as his birth-
place. Of the fifty Spaniards who are
generally regarded as holding the high-
est rank in the literature of Spain, six-
teen were born in Madrid, and a large
proportion of the remainder in cities
of the first rank, several of which con-
tain universities. The coryphei of Ger-
man literature seem at first sight to
make an exception to the conclusions
that naturally spring from the above-
stated facts. The great writers are
quite evenly distributed over what now
constitutes the empire and Switzerland.
Three large cities are the birthplace of
three great writers each; two. of two
each ; while the rest have produced but
one each. This calculation embraces
about thirty who stand confessedly at
the head: yet if we increase the number
the results are not widely different.
Here again the importance of the en-
vironment is strikingly made prominent.
During the last five centuries Germany
has had a large number of capitals,
many of which the reigning monarcha
tried with more or less success to make
centers of art and literature."

Chas. W. Super.

Athens, O.

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

659

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

KANT AND THE NEBULAR
HYPOTHESIS.

Pbofessor Hastie, of Glasgow, has
added to his long list of editions and
translations a book which he calls
'Kant's Cosmogony' (Macmillan). It
forms a substantial addition to our
knowledge in two distinct fields. In
the first place, on the philosophical
side, it throws important light upon
some early phases of Kant's thought
and upon the problems he was revolv-
ing years before he began the critical
philosophy. In the second place, it con-
tains a most interesting and, in many
respects, valuable apparatus dealing
with a chapter in the history of the in-
teraction between scientific investiga-
tion and metaphysical speculation. Dr.
Hastie's translation of Kant's 'Universal
Natural History and Theory of the
Heavens' forms the main central por-
tion of the book. Around this he has
grouped other material, making a most
convenient collection. His own intro-
duction contains an account of the
status of Kant's nebular hypothesis, of
its place in the lifework of this thinker,
of its relation to other cosmogonies, of
its later influence and fortunes, and the
like, while he has added appendices af-
fording useful sidelights on the whole
discussion. In one of these, Thomas
Wright, of Durham, a forgotten English
physicist, is conclusively proved to be,
so far as our present knowledge goes,
the forerunner of Kant and the other
writers, to whom we owe the first
adumbrations of the view now generally
accepted regarding the ultimate nature
of the physical universe. A portrait of
this worthy is reproduced. Dr. Hastie
shows, too, how Kant was a forerunner
of Darwin. And in this connection,
though not directly, he hints the great
difference in standpoint between the

static science of the eighteenth, and the
dynamic science of the nineteenth, cen-
tury. "Give me matter and I will build
a world out of it. Can we truly claim
such a vantage ground in speaking of
the least plant or insect? Must we not
here stop at the first step, from our ig-
norance of the real inner constitution of
the object? The structure of plants and
animals exhibits an adaptation for
which the universal and necessary laws
of nature are insufficient." So Kant
wrote, from the static standpoint. But
his own view, all unknown to him, al-
ready involved dynamic categories. For
its scholarship in the history of thought,
for its clear knowledge of the scope and
meaning of scientific advance, and for
its eminent fairness of spirit, this book
is to be strongly commended. The vol-
ume is dedicated to Lord Kelvin, as one
of the men of science who have done full
justice to Kant's attainments in the do-
main of 'the astronomical view of the
universe.'

KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF.

Judging from the author's remarks
in his preface, Mr. F. S. Turner's
'Knowledge, Belief and Certitude' (Mac-
millan) has long been in preparation.
As a result the argument is clearly
stated, the various points following upon
one another consecutively. The book
furnishes a typical specimen of English
philosophical writing. Indulging in no
flights of speculation, the writer keeps
firm grasp on what he sees, and so is
able to give an account of himself which
any intelligent reader can master. In
fact, his book commends itself as a ser
viceable introduction to the problems
with which science and philosophy deal.
It is divided into two 'Books.' The first
considers 'Abstract Knowledge.' Under
this head consciousness is distinguished

66o

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

from knowledge ; and on analysis, the
latter is found to possess three funda-
mental 'certitudes': self, other selves
and the external world. Science comes
under review next, and a most interest-
ing and, in the main, sensible, account is
given of its nature, as of its self-imposed
limitations. This fills about 180 pages.
Modern psychology is next brought to
book. Here Mr. Turner cannot be said
to achieve the same success. He makes
certain good points. For example, he
proposes the question, 'In what is called
physiological psychology, what share of
the discoveries belong to psychology
proper?' In replying he shows that, ulti-
mately, a very narrow line separates
psychology from philosophy — a truth
which some recent developments in
psychology make patent. We do not
think that in his chapter on 'Psycho-
logical Analysis' Mr. Turner preserves
his customary reserve and balance. This
appears plainly in the portion devoted to
Wundt, where sympathy Avith the his-
torical position of this psychologist
lacks decidedly. The First Book, which
is much the longer, concludes with a re-
view of philosophy. Here the author
manages to say some fresh and pertinent
things: "Philosophy is necessary monis-
tic. If philosophical speculation leads
to dualistic conclusions, these really con-
duct to the sceptical conclusion — that
the problem is insoluble." He infers that
philosophy has no better or higher
'Knowledge' than the sciences. In this
connection, his treatment of scientific
conceptions in philosophy deserves
praise. Book Second deals with 'Real
Knowledge,' knowledge of 'ends'; con-
cludes with a summary of negative in-
ferences, and a final proof that all
knowledge is, ultimately, belief. The
work is to be commended as an original

expression of its writer's own views and
difficulties. Its reception in certain cir-
cles of dogmatic philosophy ought to be
watched with interest. No scientific
man will be disposed to find much fault
with its sober methods.

UAL ART A IN ITALY.
A translation by Dr. Eyre of Pro-
fessor Celli's interesting book upon 'Ma-
laria' * has recently appeared and is
most timely. The treatise admirably
illustrates the revolution that has been
recently wrought in the theories of the
epidemiology and prophylaxis of the dis-
ease. Professor Celli not only describes
the parasites causing the various kinds
of malaria afflicting vertebrate animals,
but also considers with great fulness
the general causes of predisposition to
malaria and the various methods that
have been suggested for preventing the
access of malaria germs to the human
organism. The fact that the mosquito
has been proved guilty of inoculating
human beings with this terrible disease
has revealed many opportunities for
public sanitation. Not the least inter-
esting part of Professor Celli's book is
the portion dealing with the economic
and social aspects of malaria in Italy.
The great influence of the disease upon
the welfare of the Italian people has
never been more strikingly portrayed.
The mean mortality from malaria in
Italy is about 15,000 per year, and it
is said that from 1877 to the end of
1897 more than 300,000 cases of ma-
laria occurred in the army alone. A
specially interesting section deals with
the relation of rice fields to the par-
ticular kind of mosquito responsible for
malarial infection. It is shown that the
rice fields, with their clear and slowly
running waters and their typical swamp
vegetation, afford peculiarly favorable
localities for the breeding of Anopheles,
the malaria-bearing mosquito, and that
the cultivation of rice has done much to
render malaria endemic in certain re-
gions. The author discusses very frank-
ly certain social conditions that expose
unduly a large class of the population
to malaria. The pictures of the huts
in which the peasants of the Campagna
live (pp. 174-6) are a striking witness
to the truth of his strictures. Taking
the book as a whole, it can be fairly
claimed that the latest researches upon

* Longmans, Green & Co.

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.

66 1

malaria and the conclusions to which
they lead are presented in a clear and
popular fashion, and will be found both
interesting and intelligible by the gen-
eral reader, albeit the translation stum-
bles not a little.

BOTANY.

The Botatiische Centralblatt has
hitherto been published in two series, in
which were included original articles
and reviews without classification.
Chiefly as a result of the representations
of a committee of the Society for Plant
Physiology and Morphology, this jour-
nal announces that, beginning with
1901, the main series will contain only
reviews and notices of new literature,
while all original articles will be rele-
gated to the 'Beihefte,' each to be sub-
scribed for separately. In order to secure
more adequate notice of American pa-
pers, two associate editors from America
will be added to the staff, and similar
arrangements will probably be made in
England and other countries. The com-
mittee entrusted with the details of ar-
rangement and selection of the Ameri-
can editors consists of Drs. W. G. Far-
low, W. F. Ganong, D. T. MacDougal,
William Trelease and D. H. Campbell.
This action on the part of the Central-
blatt implies a most notable advance to-
ward securing a better bibliography of
botanical literature.

The completion of 'Die Naturlichen
Pflanzenfamilien,' under the editorship
of Dr. A. Engler, of the Berlin Botanic
Garden, is followed by the announce-
ment that he will undertake the man-
agement of a second great systematic
work, 'Das Pflanzenreich,' which will
consist of a series of monographs of the
flora of the world. All the important
literature dealing with the taxonomy,
distribution, organography, anatomy,
morphology of the flower and history of
development will be cited at the head
of the monograph of each family. Gen-
eral matter will be written in German,
but all technical descriptions will be in
Latin. Synonyms will be cited in chron-
ological order. More than thirty of the

collaborators have already taken up the
work of preparation and agreed upon
rules of nomenclature. The more recent-
ly established families will be fully illus-
trated. This great work will be pro-
duced under the auspices of the Prus-
sian Academy of Sciences by the aid of
the Department of Education of Prussia.
Monographs upon the banana family
(Musaceae), by Dr. Karl Schumann; the
screw pines (Pandanaceae), by Dr. O.
Warburg, and the cat-tail family (Ty-
phaceaej and burreeds (SparganiaceaeJ ,
by Dr. P. Graebner, have already ap-
peared. It is to be said that an ex-
amination of these papers does not carry
out the promise of the prospectus in the
matter of rigidity of rules of citation.

The noble discontent of the science
teacher in the schools with the text-
books in botany is calling out a con-
stant stream of elementary texts, the
latest of which is by Prof. L. H. Bailey
(The Macmillan Company). The subject
is taken up in three main sections, deal-
ing with the general anatomy, growth
and reproduction, relations to environ-
ment and minute structure. Much use-
ful horticultural practise is brought be-
fore the young student, but the text is
decidedly sketchy in many places, and
the book can hardly be said to place
proper stress upon exact morphology,
although with all Professor Bailey's
books it will prove interesting reading
to the beginner in botany. In the mat-
ter of introducing incidental and imma-
terial illustrations, much might be said
in the way of adverse criticism.

TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION.

The Ascent of Mt. St. Elias by
H. R. H. Luigi, Duke of the Abruzzi, a
work published by the Stokes Company,
of New York, records the accomplish-
ment of a feat in mountain climbing
which is well worth the handsome and
profusely illustrated volume brought
out in March last year. As a book, it
is almost a masterpiece of the book-
maker's art. The appendices are the
most valuable portion of the book, and
future travelers in such regions will do

662

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

well to consult the valuable hints of the
chapter upon equipment. Mr. W. D.
Wilcox, already a favorite authority
upon 'Our Switzerland,' has really given
us a continuation of his former work in
'The Rockies of Canada,' published by
the Putnams of New York. He treats
this wonderful mountain region from the
standpoint of the enthusiast, having
spent many seasons in the acquisition
of his experience. It is easy to see that
he is more of a 'mountain lover' than a
sportsman, in spite of his creditable ac-
counts of the hunting and fishing to be
found in this part of terra incognita.
Some space is also given to the charac-
ter of the Indians. It is almost a pity
that he has adopted the 'diary' style,
as it detracts somewhat from the liter-
ary character of the work.

The past year has been productive
of many volumes bearing upon the East
and its problems. The most helpful of
these works, two volumes which should
be read together, are 'China's Open
Door,' by Hon. R. Wildman, and 'The
Crisis in China,' by a group of authors,
most of them well known. The first
volume is the most readable account of
the dreary history of China that we
have had up to the present time. The
bright introduction by the Hon. Charles
Denby is a very fitting opening chapter
to the volume. It is published by Lo-
throp, of Boston. The other volume was
issued by the Harpers, and discusses the
vexed problems of China from various
points of view ; some of them, curiously
enough, having been answered by the dis-
posing power of events, others showing
a helpful insight, which it is a pity the
'powers' did not follow. Another volume
on America in the East, by W. E. Grif-
fis, published by Barnes & Co., of New
York, consists of a delightful series of

'Fourth of July' orations gathered into
book form, mainly from the 'Outlook.'
From the author's standpoint, Ameri-
cans have apparently left little for any
one else to do in China, Japan and
Korea. The last chapters are the best
because the most serious. We should re-
member that while the world moves
largely through the influence of enthu-
siasts, we shall not conquer in the East
as much by arms, as by brains and vir-
tue. Still another work published or
rather republished by Barnes & Co. is
written by an able naval officer, En-
gineer John D. Ford. Its pleasant ac-
counts of his visits to various portions
of the Asiatic coast are well worth the
new edition which is brought down to
date by a sketch of the Battle of Manila.

A valuable book on the Colombian
and Venezuelan republics, prepared by
our minister and envoy to these coun-
tries, Hon. W. L. Scruggs, is timely, be-
cause of its practical hints, its compre-
hensive study of physical conditions and
its descriptions of the magnificent moun-
tain scenery and the luxuriant tropical
life. The book will be more attractive
to the real student than to the popular
reader. Another volume of a different
character, rather more of a journalistic
effort, on the broader subject of South
America, is published by F. G. Carpenter.
It is a collection of letters, first pub-
lished in newspapers and then gathered
in more permanent form. The book is a
pleasant companion, even if the sketches
are somewhat superficial, as is apt to be
the case with the traveler away from
his authorities. The frontispiece is in
rather bad taste, as it is a composition
picture of the 'Pretty Girls of Chile.'
The volume is printed by the Saalfield
Co., of Akron, Ohio.

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

663

THE PROGRESS OE SCIENCE.

It is now possible to make a fairly
definite statement regarding the en-
forced resignation of Professor Ross
from Leland Stanford Junior University
and the subsequent events. Professors
are reappointed annually at Stanford,
and Professor Ross received his ap-
pointment last year somewhat late and
after a warning. He attributed this
to Mrs. Stanford's disapproval of his
economic teachings, and presented his
resignation, to take effect at the end
of the present academic year. The
resignation was accepted on November
14 and Professor Ross published in the
daily papers a statement attributing the
trouble to Mrs. Stanford's dissatisfac-
tion with his economic views, espe-
cially on coolie emigration and munic-
ipal ownership. Owing to this publi-
cation, Professor Ross's connection with
the university was terminated. Presi-
dent Jordan has stated that he was
not dismissed on account of his views
on Oriental immigration, or on any
economic question, but because, in the
judgment of the university authorities,
he was not the proper man for the place
he held. Unfortunately, the affair did
not terminate with the retirement of
Professor Ross. On the morning after
its announcement, Professor Howard,
of the Department of History, lectured
to his students on the subject, blaming
more or less directly the university au-
thorities for their attitude. After an
interval of two months, Professor How-
ard was asked to apologize or resign.
He resigned; and as a protest Pro-
fessor Hudson, of the Department of
English, and Professor Little, of the
Department of Mathematics, also re-
signed. These being, in brief, the facts
of the case, there has been much pri-
vate and public discussion as to whether
academic freedom has been infringed

by the authorities of Stanford Univer-
sity. Thus a committee of the San
Francisco alumni has prepared a report
upholding the action of the university,
while, with substantially the same evi-
dence before it, a committee of three
economists has published a pamphlet,
supporting Professor Ross in his claim
that he has been unjustly treated. It
is not true, as has been alleged, that
President Jordan acted against his will,
under the authority of Mrs. Stanford.
The question reduces itself to the more
general one as to whether university
authorities must retain a professor
when his methods are regarded as harm-
ful to the institution.

Professor Ross evidently has the
qualities of the reformer rather than of
the judicial expert. His stump speeches
and illustrated pamphlet supporting
free silver in the campaign of 1896 in-
jured the university, and his published
writings and his lectures before his
classes are extreme in their rhetorical
opposition to the wealth and conditions
that made Stanford University possible.
Thus, if we glance through his articles,
we find them strewn with statements
such as 'the lawlessness, the insolence
and the rapacity of private interests';
"Under the ascendency of the rich and
leisured, property becomes more sacred
than person, moral standards vary with
pecuniary status, and it is felt that
'God will think twice before he damns
a person of quality.' " The question is
not as to the truth or falsehood of
Professor Ross's views, nor as to the
desirability of having reformers and
even fanatics in the land; it is whether
the university, to its own injury, should
lend them its authority, whether the
professor should have not only the right
to investigate and communicate his re-

664

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

suits to his peers, but should also be
free to involve a university in partisan
conflicts. At Stanford the question is
complicated by the fact that Mrs. Stan-
ford has so recently given to the uni-
versity the vast fortune — twenty-seven
million dollars — collected by the late
Senator Stanford. Professor Ross's
teachings being repeated to her, perhaps
in a distorted form, she is reported to
have said: 'He calls my husband a
thief.' Now, it is evident that a uni-
versity cannot be a proprietary insti-
tution, controlled by a rich man or a
group of rich men, who dictate the
teachings of the professors. But it is
equally true that the university pro-
fessor must work in harmony with cer-
tain well-defined traditions. When
people unite to accomplish any end,
each must sacrifice something of his
own freedom. When Mr. Gladstone ap-
peared to be suddenly converted to the
advocacy of Irish home rule, his op-
ponents read his thousands of speeches
to convict him of inconsistency. Noth-
ing was found in favor of home rule,
but neither was there found anything
against it. For thirty years, apparent-
ly, Mr. Gladstone had been considering
the subject, but had been careful not
to give rise to dissensions in the Liberal
party until he was prepared to make
home rule the issue. This is simply an
illustration of the fact that the more
responsible the position of a man, the
more careful must he be in giving ex-
pression to views which the man with-
out authority may proclaim on the
street corners. When Professor Ross
says that teachers are unproductive la-
borers retained by the idle enjoyers of
a parasitic organization to intimidate,
beguile and cajole the exploited ma-
jority, it seems evident that this is no
longer academic freedom of speech, but
simply a statement of unfitness for an
academic position.

While the troubles at Stanford
University are being widely discussed
in the United States, English men of
science are disturbed by the dismissal

of a number of professors from the
Royal Engineering College at Coopers
Hill. This institution trains engineers
for the Civil Service in India, and is
under the control of the India Office.
The president is an army officer who
does not take part in the teaching, and
is supposed to act under the direction
of a board of visitors. The teaching
staff, it appears, has no control of the
curriculum or of the general conduct of
the college. Under these circum-
stances, an unsatisfactory state of af-
fairs was reported by a board of en-
quiry and more than half the teaching
staff was somewhat curtly dismissed.
Their request for an enquiry having
been refused by the Secretary of State
for India, a number of leading men of
science united in a memorial asking
for such an enquiry, and a deputation
waited upon Lord George Hamilton to
urge it. This deputation, which in-
cluded Lord Kelvin, Lord Lister, Lord
Rayleigh and other leading men of
science, called attention to the fact that
the college was self-supporting and that
there was no need, on the score of econ-
omy, for such sweeping dismissals,
whereas the abolition of professorships
of physics and chemistry would greatly
weaken the scientific standing of the
college and the training it could give to
students of engineering. Lord George
Hamilton's reply does not appear to
have satisfied the deputation or the Eng-
lish scientific press, and the matter has
been called up in Parliament.

The second annual meeting of the
Association of Universities was held at
Chicago on February 26, 27 and 28.
This association is composed of four-
teen leading American universities and
holds an annual meeting for the discus-
sion of problems of common interest, it
being expected that the president of
each university, or his representative
will be in attendance. All the univer-
sities were represented at the Chicago
meeting. Reporters and the general
public are excluded from the sessions,
and there is consequently opportunity

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

665

for free discussion. At the recent meet-
ing three topics were chiefly discussed.
Prof. Ira Remsen, of the Johns Hop-
kins University, introduced the subject
of migration among graduate students,
the general opinion being that it was
an advantage for the student to attend
more than a single university. Prof.
W. F. Magie, of Princeton University,
introduced a discussion on the type of
examination for the doctor's degree,
while Prof. W. R. Newbold, of the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, introduced the
related subject of the extent to which
the candidate should be required to
show knowledge of subjects not imme-
diately connected with his major sub-
ject. The consensus of opinion here
seemed to be that the student should
not be examined on courses he has
taken, but on the subject of his work
or research at the end of his university
residence. The third subject for discus-
sion, introduced by Prof. H. P. Jud-
son, of the University of Chicago, was
on fellowships; and here it seemed to
be the general opinion that the pro-
vision for university fellowships is so
large that there is danger that men
will proceed to investigation who are
not competent to do the best work.
The plan, suggested by a committee of
the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science, that a week be
set aside for the meetings of scientific
and learned societies was unanimously
approved. Columbia University has, in
accordance with the suggestion of this
committee, altered its schedule for next
year, so that the first full week after
Christmas may be used for a Convoca-
tion Week, and it is to be hoped that
other institutions will unite in this
movement, and that our various so-
cieties will next year meet during
the week with which the new year
begins. As Christmas occurs this
year on Wednesday, there is scarcely
time for the meetings during that week,
and it will consequently be necessary to
hold them the following week.

The bill establishing a National Bu-
reau of Standards, which was passed by
Congress in the closing hours of the
session, is a measure of unusual impor-
tance for science and for industry. As
we have already pointed out, such an
institution has long been urgently
needed. Germany expends $116,000 an-
nually on its corresponding institutions,
and it is not difficult to trace an
immediate connection between its
Reichsanstalt and the supremacy of
German scientific instruments and the
increasing manufactures and export
trade of the nation. Great Britain has
recently been persuaded by the British
Association and the Royal Society to
extend its work, and is now erecting a
new physical laboratory, while it pro-
vides $62,000 annually for the cost of
its different institutions engaged in
standardizing and experimental tests.
In the United States the sum of only
$10,400 has hitherto been set aside for
the Bureau of Standard Weights and
Measures, which has now been con-
verted into a National Bureau of Stand-
ards. For the bureau a building is to
be erected which may cost $250,000,
though only $100,000 is at present ap-
propriated; $25,000 is allowed for land
and $10,000 for equipment. The sala-
ries amount to over $27,000 annually and
the sum of $5,000 is given for current
expenses. The bureau has been inau-
gurated under the most favorable aus-
pices. Urged by scientific men and so-
cieties, on the one hand, and by en-
gineers and manufacturers, on the other,
the bill passed both Houses of Con-
gress almost without opposition. This
was in large measure due to Secretary
Gage and to the Hon. James H. South-
ard, chairman of the Committee on
Coinage, Weights and Measures, who
gave the measure careful consideration
and, impressed with its importance,
used every effort to secure its passage.
President McKinley has already ap-
pointed a most excellent director in Pro-
fessor Stratton, who has now leave of
absence from the University of Chicago
to take charge of the Bureau of Weights
and Measures, and it is certain that the

666

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

other officers will be selected with equal
wisdom.,

The establishment of a National Bu-
reau of Standards was the most impor-
tant scientific measure passed by Con-
gress, but scientific work in many di-
rections was enlarged by increased ap-
propriations, especially in the U. S.
Geological Survey and in the U. S.
Department of Agriculture. In the lat-
ter a reorganization was effected, a
number of divisions being united to
form four bureaus — Plant Industry, For-
estry, Chemistry and Soils. The chiefs
of these bureaus receive salaries of
$3,000, an increase of $500, and the sal-
aries of some of the scientific experts
are increased. Congress did not, how-
ever, find time to attend to the affairs
of the U. S. Naval Observatory. An
amendment was introduced in the naval
appropriation bill by Senator Chandler
which creates a board of visitors and
requires the superintendent to be a line
officer of the navy. So far from being
a reform, this is distinctly a backward
step. The board of visitors which has
been created has no power, and with
this board, the naval officer, who is su-
perintendent, and the astronomical di-
rector, the Observatory has no real
head. This amendment was rejected by
the House of Representatives, but, after
strenuous resistance by the House con-
ferees, was finally passed, with a proviso
that the present state of affairs should
continue only 'until further legislation
by Congress.' It is to be hoped that
this legislation will not be long delayed
and that the bill introduced by Senator
Morgan will be passed at the next ses-
sion of Congress. In the meanwhile the
unfortunate state of affairs at the Ob-
servatory is emphasized by the fact that
the superintendent has placed the as-
tronomical director under arrest for
trial by court martial, owing, it is al-
leged, to his having used influence
against the superintendent.

A new star has appeared in the
constellation Perseus. It is the most
striking object of its class which has been

seen for three centuries. Its position is,
R. A. 3h. 24m. 24s., Dec. North, 43° 33r
42", which is near that of the famous
bright variable star, Persei (Algol).
This Nova was discovered and an-
nounced by Anderson, of Edinburgh,
and when found by him on the night of
February 21 was of about the third
magnitude. By the following night it
had risen to the first magnitude and was
one of the brightest stars in the evening
sky. Such an object, in an especially well-
observed region of the sky, could not
easily escape notice, and it was independ-
ently discovered by probably a dozen
observers in different countries. At the
Harvard Observatory a careful record is
kept of the sky from week to week by
means of photographs, which are taken
at frequent intervals. Some of these
photographs are made with lenses of
such short focal length and wide field
that the wThole sky would be covered
by about fifty plates. The announce-
ment of the Nora was received there
February 22. The latest photographs
of the region of Perseus had been made
on the night of February 19. One of
these showed stars as faint as the
eleventh magnitude, but the Nova did
not appear upon it. On February 19,
therefore, it was fainter, at least, than
the eleventh magnitude. On February
21 its magnitude was 2.7, but by Feb-
ruary 25 it had fallen to 1.1. At the
present time (March 9) it is of about
the fourth magnitude and may be ex-
pected to disappear from view by the
naked eye within a few days. The as-
tronomical world is to-day so well
equipped for research in the line of spec-
trum analysis and the present object is
so suitable for such investigation that
we may expect a more satisfactory study
of this new star than has ever before
been obtained of any similar object. There
will doubtless be abundant materials for
learning the smallest changes during a
portion of the life history of this star;
but, for the period of the increase of
light, from the instant it became visible
till it reached its maximum, the obser-
vations may prove to be few. On this
account it is fortunate that at the Har-

THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

667

vard Observatory photographs of the
spectrum were obtained on February 22
and February 23. On these dates the
spectrum was not the typical one which
we have learned to expect for Nova?, but
instead was of the Orion type, consist-
ing of a strong, continuous spectrum
crossed by dark lines. Between Febru-
ary 23 and February 24, however, a
wonderful transformation took place.
Since the latter date the spectrum has
consisted in large part of the bright and
dark bands which are characteristic of
the spectra of Nova?.

The first new star of which there i9
authentic record appeared 134 B. C.
During the two thousand years which
have since elapsed, nineteen more have
been noted, making about one per cen-
tury. This can by no means represent
the true number of such stars which
have appeared during that time. Doubt-
less only a few of the brightest have
been seen. Of the twenty on record,
thirteen belong to the century just
ended, and six to the last decade, five of
which were found on Harvard photo-
graphs. Of all the stars visible in the
largest telescopes, not more than one in
ten thousand can be seen by the naked
eye. Thirteen of the Nova? were bright
enough to be seen by the unaided vision.
At the same rate for the fainter stars, if
we may assume that the number of
Nova? corresponds in some degree to the
whole number of stars for the different
magnitudes, several thousand new
stars must have escaped observation
during each century. No entirely satis-
factory explanation has yet been given
of these remarkable objects. From
dark, or at least from extremely faint
bodies, they suddenly blaze up and
slowly fade away. Any theory which
aims to explain the phenomena must at
least account for certain leading facts.
The increase of light is very sudden and
very great. The decrease is slower and
sometimes irregular, but no collision
can have occurred such as would change
a solid body into a gaseous, otherwise
ages, not weeks, would be required for

the cooling. The spectrum is generally
composite, composed of bright and dark
lines or bands. The bright bands are
displaced toward the red, the dark
bands toward the violet. If this sep-
aration is due to the relative motions
of two gaseous masses, the velocities
concerned appear to exceed those found
elsewhere in the universe. The Nova
sometimes remains as a permanent tele-
scopic object with the spectrum of a
planetary nebula. The problem might
be somewhat simplified 'f the broaden-
ing of the lines could be due to the
Zeeman effect from the presence of a
strong magnetic field. It appears prob-
able that the phenomena are due either
to some outburst in the dark world it-
self, or else to the collisions of a solid
dark world passing through a dense me-
teor swarm. It is to be hoped that a
discussion of all the materials, which
will be obtained at the different ob-
servatories during the next few weeks,
may serve to formulate a theory of new
stars which will receive the general ap-
proval of the scientific world.

The investigations on agricultural
soils which are being conducted in this
country are probably unsurpassed in
quality and extent by those of any
country, unless it be Russia, where
a very systematic and extensive line of
investigations, including a survey and
classification of the soils of the whole
country has been in progress for a num-
ber of years. The work in this country
has been carried on mainly by a number
of the agricultural experiment stations
and the Division of Soils of the National
Department of Agriculture. The report
of the Field Operations of the Division
of Soils for 1899, by Prof. Milton Whit-
ney and a number of his assistants, late-
ly issued, is a report of progress in sur-
veying the soils of the United States.
During the year areas aggregating
about 720,000 acres were studied in the
field and mapped. This work has been
largely confined to localities in New
Mexico, Utah and Colorado, and a spe-
cial feature made of studies on the ac-

668

POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

cumulation of alkali in the soil and its
causes, means of ameliorating these con-
ditions, and similar problems relating to
alkali soils. A variety of local condi-
tions were met with, which call for
specific treatment. In a number of
regions reconnoitered, the present accu-
mulation of alkali, which has frequently
nearly reached the limit of tolerance of
plants, is attributed to lack of good
natural drainage. The evaporation in
these arid or semi-arid regions is unusu-
ally great, and with insufficient rainfall
and injudicious irrigation tends to an
accumulation of the alkali salts near the
surface. With good natural drainage
and proper application of irrigation
water these salts would be in a measure
washed out of the soil and the soil
moisture maintained at nearly the same
concentration as the water supply. But,
in some cases, the irrigation water itself
has become so charged with alkali as to
call for the exercise of judgment in its
use. "It may be perfectly safe to use
water of a relatively high salt content
on certain well-drained soils, when it
would be ruinous to allow the same
water to be used on a properly-drained
soil containing a high salt content."
The maps which accompany the report
make it possible to determine the limit
of the salt content of the water which
it would be safe to use in the localities
reconnoitered. The seepage waters are
mentioned as another frequent cause
of increase of the alkali in the soil.
For instance, in the Salt Lake Valley,
the oldest of the modern irrigated dis-
tricts, the lower levels, which were for-
merly the most productive soils of the
valley, have been damaged and in some
cases ruined by seepage waters and
alkali. In general, where the conditions
are favorable and the expense would be
warranted, underdrainage with tile is
recommended as a remedy for excessive
alkali in the soil. This remedy is con-
sidered entirely practical for reclaiming
extensive areas, which at present have
become nearly or quite worthless.

We record with regret the following

deaths, which have occurred during the
month: Dr. George M. Dawson, the
eminent director of the Geological Sur-
vey of Canada, died on March 2 at the
early age of fifty-one years, after an
illness of only two days. He was well-
known for his important contributions
to the geology of Canada and for his
conduct of the geological survey and of
various commissions. Prof. G. F. Fitz-
gerald, who has held since 1881 the chair
of experimental philosophy in the Uni-
versity of Dublin, and is well known for
his researches on magnetism and in
other directions, died on February 21 at
the age of forty-nine years. Dr. Walter
Myers died from yellow fever in Brazil,
whither he had gone from the Liverpool
School of Tropical Medicine to investi-
gate the disease. He was only twenty-
nine years of age. Dr. Jacob Georg
Agardh, the eminent Swedish phycolo-
gist, died at Lund, on January 17, aged
eighty-eight years. The death is also
announced, in his seventieth year, of
Dr. Bernhardt Danckelmann, for the
last thirty-five years director of the
Prussian Royal Academy of Forestry at
Eberswalde. He was one of the first to
advocate the training of foresters in
special colleges, and was the author of
important works on forestry. — The de-
gree of LL.D. has been conferred by St.
Andrew's University on Mr. Alexander
Agassiz, of Harvard University, and by
the University of Pennsylvania on Pres-
ident Henry S. Pritchett, of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology. — The
Cullum Medal of the American Geo-
graphical Society has been conferred on
President T. C. Mendenhall, of the Wor-
cester Polytechnic Institute. — The Am-
sterdam Society for the Advancement of
Natural Science and Medicine has
awarded its gold Swammerdam medal
for 1900 to Professor Gegenbaur, of
Heidelberg. — Mr. J. E. Spurr, of
the U. S. Geological Survey, has ac-
cepted an invitation of the Turkish
Government to make an investigation
of the mineral resources of the country.

INDEX

THE NAMES OF CONTRIBUTORS ARE PRINTED IN SMALL CAPITALS.

Abruzzi, Duke of, Ascent of Mt. St.
Elias, 661.

Aerial Navigation, Recent Progress in,
Charles H. Cochrane, 616.

Agricultural, Experiment Stations, 102;
Soils, 667.

Agriculture, 101, 328; Department of,
332; Appropriations for the, 556.

Aitken's Road Making and Mainte-
nance, 438.

Alcohol, Utilization of, in the Human
Body, 554.

American, Astronomical Instruments,
331 ; Hall of Fame, 108.

Anthropological Department of the
British Association, Address before
the, T. H. Huxley, 267.

Appropriations for the Department of
Agriculture, 556.

Aquarium, The New York, Charles L.
Bristol, 405.

Artificial Propagation of Fish, 335.

Asphaltum for a Modern Street, S. F.
Peckham, 225.

Atkinson, Edward, Distribution of
Taxes, 54.

Atkinson's Edible and Poisonous Mush-
rooms, 440.

Atomic Weights, Standard for, 110.

Atwater's Experiments on the Nutri-
tive Value of Alcohol, 554.

Autonous, Story of, William Henry
Hudson, 276.

Averury, Lord, Huxley's Life and
Work, 337.

Bacteria, and Fermentation, 445; and
Dairy Products, 559.

Bacterial Life, Effect of Physical
Agents on, Allan Macfadyen, 238.

Bailey's, Cyclopedia of American Horti-
culture, 327 ; Botany, 661.

Bailey, Solon I., The Planet Eros, 641.

Battleship Building, Rapid, Waldon
Fawcett, 28.

Bibliographies of Engineering, 439.

Botany, 327, 661.

Bradley, W. P., Submarine Naviga-
tion, 156. •».

Bristol, Charles L., The New York
Aquarium, 405.

British Association for the Advance-
ment of Science, Address of the Presi-
dent, Sir William Turner, 34.

Burckhalter on the Photography of
Solar Eclipses, 214.

Camprell, W. W., James Edward

Keeler, 85.
Carpenter on South America, 662.
Carus's History of the Devil, 440.
Celli on Malaria, 660.
Century of the Study of Meteorites,

Oliver C. Farrington, 429.
Chapters on the Stars, Simon New-
comb, 3, 130, 307, 413, 449.
Cheese-making, Microbes in, H. W.

Conn, 148.
Chicago, University of, What it Stanus

for, Eugene Parsons, 652.
China, William Barclay Parsons,
69; Scientific Knowledge regarding,
107; Crisis in, 662.
China's Open Door, Wildman's, 662.
Chinese Commerce, William Barclay

Parsons, 193.
Christian Science, J. Edward Smith,

434; Joseph Jastrow, 550.
Christmas Island, 98.
Cities, Growth of, 221.
Cochrane, Charles H., Recent Prog-
ress in Aerial Navigation, 616.
Comparative Physiology, Loeb's, 328.
Conn, H. W., Microbes in Cheese-mak-
ing, 148.
Crawley, Edwin S., Geometry: An-
cient and Modern, 257.
Cuban Teachers, Height and Weight of,

Dudley Allen Sargent, 480.
Cyclopedia of American Horticulture,
Bailey's, 327.

Dairy Products, Bacteria and, 559.

Davidson's History of Education, 218.

Dephlogisticated Air, Joseph Priest-
ley, 115.

Development of Unfertilized Eggs, 443.

Devil, History of the, Carus's, 440.

Dexter, Edwin G., Suicide and the
Weather, 604.

Distances, Science of, George S. Rob-
ertson, 526.

Distribution of Taxes, Edward Atkin-
son, 54.

Eastman's Manual of Paleontology, 98.
Eclipses, Photography of Solar, 214.

51206

670

INDEX.

Economic Life of France, Edward D.

Jones, 287.
Education, 218, 329; Two Contemporary

Problems in, Paul H. Hanus, 585.
Eggs, Development of Unfertilized, 443.
Electrical Charges of Atoms, 106.
Elements, Inert, 446, 558.
Ellis, Havelock, Study of British

Genius, 372, 540, 595.
Emory, Frederic, The Foreign Trade

of the United States, 625.
Energy and Work of the Human Body,

Edward B. Rosa, 208.
Engineering, 438.
Engler's Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfami-

lien, 661.
Eros, The Planet, Solon I. Bailey, 641.
Evermann and Jordan on the Fishes of

North and Middle America, 100.
Existence of Air in the Acid of Nitre.

Antoine-Latjrent Lavoisier, 123.
Explosive, High, Throwing from Pow-
der Guns, Hudson Maxim, 493.

Fairbanks, Harold W., Pyramid

Lake, Nevada, 505.
Famines and Sun Spots, 335.
Farrington, Oliver C., A Century of

the Study of Meteorites, 429.
Fawcett, Waldon, Rapid Battleship

Building, 28.
Ferments, Inorganic, 220.
Fish, Artificial Propagation of, 335;

Commission, 334.
Fishes of North and Middle Americaj

Jordan and Evermann, 100.
Fleury's, Medicine and the Mind, 216.
Flies and Tvphoid Fever, L. O. How-
ard, 249.
Flournoy's Des Indes a la Planete Mars,

217.
Flow of Rocks, 445.
Folk-lore, 440.
Foreign, Plants, Introduction of, 332;

Trade of the United States, Frederic

Emory, 625.
Forest Reservations, 222.
Forestry, 327 : Yale School of, 221 ; and

Irrigation, 332.
Foundations of Knowledge, Ormond's.

552.
France, Economic Life of, Edward D.

Jones, 287.
Freedom and 'Free-will,' George Stu-
art FULLERTON, 183.

FrizelPs Water Power, 440.
Fullerton, George Stuart, Free-
dom and 'Free-will,' 183.

Garrison, George P., Scientific and

Literary Historians, 92.
Genius, A Study of British, Havelock

Ellis, 372, 540, 595; Men of, Origin

of, C. W. Super, 657.
•Geologist Awheel, William H. Hobbs,

515.

Geometry: Ancient and Modern, Ed-
win S. Crawley, 257.
Government, Science and the, 556.
Green's Vegetable Physiology, oil.
Growth of Cities, 221.

Habits, Formation of, in the Turtle,

Robert Mearns Yerkes, 519.
Hanus, Paul H.} Two Contemporary

Problems in Education, 585.
Hastie on Kant's Cosmogony, 659.
Height and Weight of the Cuban

Teachers, Dudley Allen Sargent,

480.
Historians, Scientific and Literary,

George P. Garrison, 92.
History, Rescue Work in, David Starr

Jordan, 81.
Hobbs, William H., The Geologist

Awheel, 515.
Howard, L. O., Flies and Typhoid

Fever, 249.
Huxley, T. H., Address before the

Anthropological Department of the

British Association, 267.
Huxley's Life and Work, Lord Ave-

bury, 337.
Hypnotism in Mental and Moral Cul-
ture, Quackenbos's, 214.

Index to Literature of Animal Industry,
Thompson's, 328.

Inert Elements, 446, 558.

Ingersoll's Nature's Calendar, 99.

Inoculation of Soils, 220.

Inorganic Ferments, 220.

Inventor of the Sewing Machine, Vin-
dicator, 551.

Irrigation, Use of Water in, 101; and
Drainage, King on, 439 : Forestry and,
332.

Jastrow, Joseph, Christian Science,
550.

Jastrow's Fact and Fable in Psychol-
ogy, 328.

Johnston and Mead on the Use of Wa-
ter in Irrigation, 101.

Jones, Edward D., Economic Life of
France, 287.

Jordan, David Starr, Rescue Work
in History, 81. •

Jordan and Evermann's Fishes of North
and Middle America, 100.

Kant and the Nebular Hypothesis, 659.
Keeler, James Edward, W. W. Camp-
bell, 85; Portrait of, 2.
King on Irrigation and Drainage, 439.
Knowledge and Belief, 659.

Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent, Exist-
ence of Air in the Acid of Nitre, 123;
Nature of Acids, 127.

Lavoisier, 219; Monument (frontis-
piece), 114.

INDEX.

671

Leeuwenhoek, Malpighi, Swammerdam,

William A. Locy, 561.
Lippincott's, Storage of Water on Gila

River, Arizona, 439.
Loeb's Comparative Physiology of the

Brain and Comparative Psychology,

328.

MacCunn's 'Making of Character,' 329.

Mackadyen, Allen, Effect of Physi-
cal Agents on Bacterial Life, 238.

Malaria. George M. Sternberg, 360;
In Italy, Celli's, 660.

Malpighi, Swammerdam and Leeuwen-
hoek, William A. Locy, 561.

Maxim, Hudson, Throwing a High Ex-
plosive from Powder Guns, 493.

Mead and Johnston's Use of Water in
Irrigation, 101.

Medicine and the Mind, Fleury's, 216.

Meteorites, A Century of the Study of,
Oliver C. Farrington, 429.

Microbes in Cheese-making, H.W. Conn,
148.

Milk of Tuberculous Cows, 559.

Mosquitoes, and Malaria, 109; Yellow
Fever and, 219.

Municipal, Government Now and a
Hundred Years Ago, Clinton Rogers
Woodruff, 60: Water- works Labora-
tories, George C. Whipple, 172.

Museum, National, 557.

Mushrooms, Edible and Poisonous, At-
kinson's, 440.

Mycology, 440.

National, Museum, 557; Physical Lab-
oratory of Great Britain, 558; Bureau
of Standards, 330, 665.

Nature's Calendar, Ingersoll's, 99.

Naval Observatory of the United States,
442, 557, 666.

Navigation, Submarine, W. P. Brad-
ley, 156.

Nebular Hypothesis, 106; Kant and the,
659.

Newcomb, Simon, Chapters on the
Stars, 3, 130, 307, 413, 449.

Newspaper Science, 447.

New York Aquarium, Charles L.
Bristol, 405.

Nobel Prizes, 107.

Observatory, Naval, 442, 557. 666.
Obscurity in Scientific Publications,

An Editor, 324.
Ormond's Foundations of Knowledge,

552.
Ornithology, 100.

Packard, Alpheus S., Prehistoric
Tombs of Eastern Algeria, 397.

Paleontology, 98.

Parsons, W. Barclay, China, 69;
Chinese Commerce, 193.

Parsons, William Barclay, China,
69; Chinese Commerce, 193.

Pearson's Grammar of Science, C. S.
Peirce, 296.

Peckham, S. F.. Asphaltum for a Mod-
ern Street, 225.

Peirce, C. S., Pearson's Grammar of
Science, 296.

Perseus, A New Star in, 666.

Philippines Two Hundred Years Ago,
E. E. Slosson, 393.

Philosophy, 103.

Physical Agents, Effect on Bacterial
Life, Allan Macfadyen, 238.

Photography of Solar Eclipses, 214.

Population of the United States dur-
ing the Next Ten Centuries, H. S.
Pritchett, 49 ; Chas. E. Woodruff,
656.

Prehistoric Tombs of Eastern Algeria,
Alpheus S. Packard, 397.

Priestley, Joseph, on Dephlogisti-
cated Air, 115.

Pritchett, H. S., Population of the
United States during the Next Ten
Centuries, 49.

Prodigies, 223.

Psychical Institute, The Proposed, 109.

Psychological Congress, The Interna-
tional, 108.

Psychology, 214: Fact and Fable in,
Jastrow;s, 328.

Pyramid Lake, Nevada, Harold W.
Fairbanks, 505.

Quackenbos's Hypnotism in Mental
and Moral Culture, 214.

Random Remarks of a Lady Scientist,
Rebecca Sharpe, 548.

Rapid Battleship Building, Waldon
Fawcett, 28.

Rate of Express Trains, 111.

Rescue Work in History, David Starr
Jordan, 81.

Retardation of Science, An Editor, 95.

Road Making and Maintenance, Ait-
ken's, 438.

Robertson, George S., Science of Dis-
tances. 526.

Rocks, Flow of, 445.

Rosa, Edward B., Energy and Work
of the Human Body, 208.

Royal Engineering College, 664.

Sargent, Dudley Allen, Height and
Weight of the Cuban Teachers, 480;

Schiaparelli, 111.

Science, and the Government, 556, 666;
in the Nineteenth Century and in the
Reign of Queen Victoria, 555; of
Distances, George S. Robertson,
526; Retardation of, An Editor, 95.

Scientific, and Literary Historians,
George P. Garrison, 92; Items, 112,
224, 336, 447, 560, 668; Societies, 443.

Scruggs on the Colombian and Venezue-
lan Republics, 662.

672

IADEX.

Sewing Machine, Inventor of, Vindi-
cator, 551.

Sharpe, Rebecca, Random Remarks
of a Lady Scientist, 548.

Shooting Stars, 553.

Slosson, E. E., The Philippines Two
Hundred Years Ago, 393.

Smith, J. Edward, Defense of Chris-
tian Science, 434.

Societies, Scientific, 443.

Soils, Inoculation of, 220.

St. Elias, Ascent of Mt., 661.

Standard for Atomic Weights, 110.

Standardizing Bureau, 330, 665.

Stanford University, 663.

Star, New, in Perseus, 667.

Stars, Chapters on the, Simon New-
comb, 3, 130, 307, 413, 449.

Stirling's What is Thought?, 103.

Sternberg, George M., Malaria, 360.

Storage of Water on Gila River, Ari-
zona, Lippincott's, 439.

Story of Autonous, William Henry
Hudson, 276.

Suicide and the Weather, Edwin G.
Dexter, 604.

Super, C. W., Origin of Men of Genius,
657.

Swammerdam, Malpighi and Leeuwen-
hoek, William A. Locy, 561.

Thurston, R. H., Law of Substance,
467.

Tillson on Street Pavements and Pav-
ing Materials, 438.

Tobacco, Sumatra, Growth of, 446.

Tombs of Eastern Algeria, Prehistoric,
Alpheus S. Packard, 397.

Topographic Surveying, Wilson on, 438.

Trade, Foreign, of the United States,
Frederic Emory, 625.

Trains, Rate of, 111.

Travel and Exploration, 661.

Tuberculous Cows, Milk of, 559.

Turner, William, Address of the
President before the British Associa-

tion for the Advancement of Science,
34.

Turner's Knowledge and Belief, 659.

Turtle, Formation of Habits in, Robert
Mearns Yerkes, 519.

Typhoid Fever, Flies and, L. 0. How-
ard, 249.

Universities, Association of, 664.
Utilization of Food and Alcohol in the
Human Body, 554.

Viereck, on Latin in the German Gym-
nasium, 218.

Vindicator, The Inventor of the
Sewing Machine, 551.

von Zittel's Manual of Paleontology,
Eastman's, 98.

Water, Use of, in Irrigation, Mead and
Johnston's, 101; Power, Frizell on,
440.

Watts, Harvey Maitland, The
Weather vs. the Newspapers, 381.

Weather, vs. the Newspapers, Harvey
Maitland Watts, 381 ; Suicide and
the, Edwin G. Dexter, 604.

Whipple, Geobge G, Municipal Wa-
ter-works Laboratories, 172.

Wilcox on the Rockies of Canada, 662.

Wildman on the Crisis in China, 662.

Wilson's Topographic Surveying, 438.

Woodruff, Chas. E., The Population
of the United States during the Next
Ten Centuries, 656.

Woodruff, Clinton Rogers, Munici-
pal Government Now and a Hundred
Years Ago, 60.

Yale Forestry School, 221.
Yellow Fever and Mosquitoes, 219.
Yerkes, Robert Mearns, Formation
of Habits in the Turtle, 519.

Zittel, von. Manual of Paleontology, 98.
Zoology, 99.

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Cleveland Abbe, Professor of Meteorology, United States Weather Bureau.

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Marcus Baker, United States Geological Survey.

J. Mark Baldwin, Professor of Psychology, Princeton University.

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William Libbey, Professor of Physical Geography, Princeton University.

Frank R. Lillie, Assistant Professor of Zoology, Chicago University.

William A. Locy, Professor of Zoology, Northwestern University.

Jacques Loeb, Professor of Physiology, University of Chicago.

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T. Mitchell Prudden, Director of the Pathological, Histological and Bacteriologi-
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versity; Curator of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History.

J. K. Rees, Director of the Columbia College Observatory.

Jacob Reighard, Professor of Zoology, University of Michigan.

Ira Remsen, Professor of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University.

Edward Renouf, Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University.

T. W. Richards, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Harvard University.

William Z. Ripley, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Economics, Massachu
setts Institute of Technology.

Ogden N. Rood, Professor of Physics, Columbia University.

Josiah Royce, Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University.

Israel C. Russell, Professor of Geology, University of Michigan.

James E. Russell, Professor of the History of Education, Teachers College, Co-
lumbia University and Dean of the College.

Rollin D. Salisbury, Professor of Geographical Geology, University of Chicago.

Charles Schuchert, Division of Stratigraphy and Paleontology, United States Na-
tional Museum.

E. A. De Schweinitz, Chief of the Bio-Chemic Division, Dept. of Agriculture.
Samuel H. Scudder, Cambridge, Mass.

William T. Sedgwick, Professor of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Tech.
N. S. Shaler, Professor of Geology, Harvard University.
Edgar F. Smith, Professor of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania.
Theobald Smith, Professor of Comparative Pathology, Harvard University.

F. Starr, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago.
M. Allen Starr, Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University.

W. Le Conte Stevens, Professor of Physics, Washington and Lee University.
George M. Sternberg, U. S. A., Surgeon-General.
J. J. Stevenson, Professor of Geology, New York University.
Charles Wardell Stiles, Bureau of Animal Industry, Washington, D. C.
H. N. Stokes, United States Geological Survey.

F. H. Storer, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, Harvard University.
George F. Swan, Professor of Civil Engineering, Mass. Institute of Technology.
Elihu Thomson, Lvnn, Mass.

R. H. Thurston, Director of Sibley College for Mechanical Engineering, Cornel;
University.

E. B. Titchener, Professor of Psychology, Cornell University.
William Trelease, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
John Trowbridge, Professor of Physics, Harvard University.
L. M. Underwood, Professor of Botany, Columbia University.

F. P. Venable, President of the University of North Carolina.
Charles D. Walcott, Director of the U. S. Geological Survey.
Henry B. Ward, Professor of Zoology, University of Nebraska.
Andrew D. White, United States Ambassador to Germany.

Burt G. Wilder, Professor of Physiology and Neurology, Cornell University.

H. W. Wiley, Division of Chemistry, United States Department or Agriculture.

Bailey Willis, United States Geological Survey.

E. B. Wilson, Professor of Zoology, Columbia University.

R. W. Wood, Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin.

R. S. Woodward, Professor of Mechanics and Mathematical Physics, Columbia

University.
Arthur W. Wright, Professor of Experimental Physics, Yale University.
Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor. T< ™- L^~* Luicail.
W. J. Youmans, lately Editor -' "\.~ jtopular Science Monthly.
C. A. Young, Director Lasted Observatory, Princeton University.

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The Fugitives

JDY MORLEY %OBERTS. A story of love and adventure in the South African War.
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Romantic Historical Tales

American Fights and Fighters

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A Filipino Novel

An Eagle Flight

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Vol. LVIII. No. 2. DECEMBER, 1900.

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE
MONTHLY

EDITED BY J. McKEEJV CAT TELL.

CONTENTS =

Lavoisier Monument Frontispiece

Oxygen and the Nature of Acids :

On Dephlogisticated Air : Joseph Priestley. Memoir on the Existence of Air in the
Acid of Nitre ; General Considerations on the Nature of Acids : Antoine-Laurent
Lavoisier 115

Chapters on the Stars. Professor Simon Newcomb 130

Microbes in Cheese-making. Professor H. W. Conn 148

Submarine Navigation. Professor W. P. Bradley 156

Municipal Water-works Laboratories. Dr. George C. Whipple.... 172
Freedom and ' Free-will.' Professor George Stuart Fullerton . . . 183
Chinese Commerce. William Barclay Parsons 193

Discussion and Correspondence :

Energy and Work of the Human Body : Professor Edward B. Rosa 208

Scientific Literature :

Photography of Solar Eclipses ; Psychology as Literature and Fiction ; Educa-
tion 214

The Progress of Science :

Lavoisier ; Yellow Fever and Mosquitoes ; Inorganic Ferments ; The Inoculation
of Soils ; The Growth of Cities ; The Yale Forestry School ; Forest Reserva-
tions ; Prodigies ; Scientific Items 219

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McClure'f Magazine

for 1901

From its first inception, this magazine has been designed by the editor
to present to its readers :

The best record ot human achievements.

The best literature in fiction or otherwise.

The most entertaining and instructive articles.

The best historical papers.

The best illustrations to illumine and explain the text.

To include all that is wholesome, to provide all that makes for the best
in the intellectual life, and to present it in the most attractive form.

How well this has been accomplished the unexampled prosperity of the
magazine sufficiently demonstrates. For the coming year new ideas, new
subjects, and new writers will be found in our pages, and we confidently assure
our readers of better things than ever before. A few of our forthcoming
features follow :

KIM — A Great Novel of Life in India

By RA/DYARJ3 KIPLING

MR. KIPLING'S work has made
in the past a stronger and wider im-
pression than that of any other story-
teller of his time. Yet it has always
struck the world as youthful work, it
has always aroused expectation of
greater things to come, and there
vibrates in many minds a keen interest
as to how his full maturity may flower.

" KIM " which begins in this issue
answers that question. With a large-
ness and a beauty beyond his former
achievements, with no loss of power
in its sweeter strength, " Kim" fulfills
the pledge of long ago, and comes as
a "ship of the line."

In its basic outlines it is a simple
story, almost as simple as " Robinson
Crusoe," although so greatly more'
complicated in its workings. It is a
tale of a young Irish street-waif and an
old religious pilgrim who come together
in their poverty and helplessness in
India, who love each other from the

"AT THE RAILWAY STATION."

Bv Ed

Lord Weeks.

start, and whose adventures entangle them in the far-reaching net. of the great secret service of
India. The plot develops within these lines, it occupies itself with little bevond the bov's concern
with that service, that Great Game, the most fascinating game of mystery and power that a prosaic-
age has left in - the world, and the complications of these concerns with the devout wanderings of
the marvelous old lama.

Bi * what a wealth of gifts has gone to enrich this classicallv simple outline! what people we
meet : soldiers and horse-traders ; priests and scholars ; a babu quoting Spencer and fearing magic ;
veiled women whom we have never seen but whom we should recognize if we did, so sharplv has
their personality been bitten into our consciousness ; a strange polished gentleman "doctoring pearls"
amid scenes like an Arabian Nights' palace ; savages as uncanny as if they had stepped out of
Herodotus ; and everv creature of the crowding throng warm and solid, a human being whom we
meet and know.

Here is character indeed, a wealth of it, not superficially smart, but such character as only a
knowledge of life deep and true could produce. Indeed, in "Kim," for the first time, Mr. Kip-
ling has united in a story the militant strength that has always stamped his prose with the rarer and
profounder insight of his poetry.

In the World of Graft

Result of a Painstaking Journey
through the Haunts of Thieves
and Tramps.

m / i

those of the
crime could
to the public

By JOSIAH FLYNT

What does the criminal think of society?

What are his relations to the constituted
authorities ?

Can he be held in efficient control ?

What measures are necessary to relieve
societv of much ot the danger and loss
from the criminal classes ?

These questions are discussed and an-
swered by Mr. Flvnt with candor. For
fifteen Years he has studied the criminal
classes all over the world and is recog-
nized as the highest authority on this sub-
ject. His methods of investigation are
original. He lives among criminals and
is generally supposed by them to be a
" shover of the queer" or distributor of
counterfeit money. It is because he has
their confidence that he learns their real
attitude to the problems above pro-
pounded. What he saw and what he
earned during a long tour of investigation
in Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadel-
phia, and elsewhere in the spring ot 1900
will be told in McClure's Magazine
during the coming year. The papers
will give not only his own views but
criminals, who tell what thev do, how they arc able to do it, and how they think
be suppressed. This is the first time the criminal has had a chance to speak his mind
, though he do;s so unwittingly.

TYP1C \l. " UK AFTER

PROFESSOR HAECKEL IN HIS LABORATORY

TKe Newest Science

The very latest discoveries
in science, the newest improve-
ments, and the most important
application in novel ways, all
that represents the progress of
the world in this great branch
of human endeavor will be found
in our pages.

UNSOLVED
PROBLEMS IN
CHEMISTRY.

By PROFESSOR. IRA

REMSEN. of Johns Hop-
kins University.

THE REICHSANSTALT. — Germany's Laboratory of Applied Science.

THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA.

From material furnished by SIR JOHN MURRAY.

THE NEW NIAGARA.

By ROLLIN LYNDE HARTT. The wonders in mechanics achieved by the falling
waters.

More
Dolly
Dialogues

ANTHONY HOPE

Dainty, adorable Dolly is
born again! Rarely does an
author make a success so sudden,
so complete, and so permanent
as that of Anthony Hope in the
"Dolly Dialogues." Now the
writer has returned to his al-
legiance, and in "More Dollv
Dialogues" we find that delight-
ful woman and her clever inter-
locutor— not more, for that were
impossible — but just as brilliant,
justaselliptic, just as spontaneous,
just as piquant, as amusing and
demure, — in a word, just as
fascinating as of old. The series
will be illustrated throughout by
Howard Chandler Christy, a
master in depicting society scenes.

DETAIL FROM DRAWING BY CHRISTY

JEFFERSON DAVIS

UnpviblisKed Chap-
ters of History

A Series of Papers about Important Events
which are now Published for the First
Time.

This nation of ours has made a marvelous amount
of historv. In the bulk of material much of chief
importance has remained undiscovered. From new
sources McClure's Magazine will publish a series of
papers on subjects of paramount interest. The first
of these will be

THE FLIGHT FROM RICHMOND

From Papers left by Stephen R. Mallory, Secretary of the Confederate Navy.

This member of the Confederate Cabinet, during his days of imprisonment at Fort Lafayette,
wrote a record from his own personal observation, in which he has given an intimate narrative of
the curious life led bv the flving President and his Cabinet.

THE CAPTURE OF PRESIDENT DAVIS

In a second article the author carries on his account through the last thrilling days. He tells
of the final flight, of the surrender of the Southern Army, of the capture of President Davis.

Adventvires of a Merry Monarch.

By ROBERT BAHH

The theme and the author are well mated, for here is a writer whose work is full of delightful
humor recounting a series of droll episodes in the life of that most whimsical of monarchs, James V.
of Scotland. The series is as quaint as it is amusing. These have been announced as the "Jimmy"
stories because the King was known colloquially to the common people as "Jimmy."

WaJl Street Stories

By EDWIN LEFEVRE

Money is a power, therefore Wall Street is a lever of the world. Here are stories of that
mighty area, stories wherein are depicted, by an author who knows his field, events abounding
with the vital interests of the "Street." All the emotions are found therein, for nowhere is there
more play of passion in its every phase than in this vortex of the money market.

Stories of Chicago

By EDITH WYATT

The central metropolis is, of all places on earth, the home of precocious development, the
scene of diverse characters in one environment. This group of stories illustrates subtly, # yet
distinctly, some striking peculiarities that belong to certain citizens of Chicago.

Within tKe Gectes

By ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS

It is long since Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (Mrs. Ward) stirred the hearts of men and women
by her study of immortality, "The Gates Ajar." But the vital interest of the subject to every
thinking being has waxed rather than waned. To-day, perhaps, as never before, many question
and doubt as to what the future may bring to the soul. Mrs. Ward has developed her maturer
ideas in a new work. In a drama entitled " Within the Gates," she treats with profound power
a theme of dominating importance : the life lived beyond the tomb. This work will win the
thoughtful attention of all readers.

Dramatic Episodes in our History

A Series of Papers about Great Men and Events Written with Vividness

and Dramatic Intensity.

By IDA M. TARBELL

Author of "A Life of Napoleon Bonaparte,'''' "A Life of Lincoln," etc.

The first of these articles will deal with the << MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION."
It tells simply and clearly the story of the Great Struggle which for more than three months of the
summer of 1789 went on in the city of Philadelphia when some of the greatest men this
countrv has produced sought to adjust the conflicting interests of the thirteen states in the con-
federation and their no less conflicting individual opinions of how a free government should be
administered so that a more solid Union, ensuring life, liberty; and the pursuit of happiness, might
be obtained. A more critical battle was never fought in any land. It abounds in dramatic
moments when all seems lost, in moments of peril when freedom seems doomed. Great sacrifices,
noble compromises, brilliant strategv characterize it. Miss Tarbell's article traces the struggle
through its whole exciting course and shows how finally triumph was achieved.

Trial of Aaron Bvirr

No state trial in the History of the
United States hastcalled together so many and
so varied a company of personages or hung on
such romantic and varied schemes as that of
Aaron Burr. The astounding conspiracv as it
came out in the trial before Chief Justice
Marshall in Richmond, Virginia, is reviewed
in a vivid narrative by Miss Tarbell.

" Next to the

Ground"

By MARTHA McCULLOCH-
WILLIAMS

These stories carry to the reader the
atmosphere of the earth, thev are redolent of
the soil ; they breathe of the fields and the
woods, and the life therein. In them we
grow to know in detail the real being of the
creatures about us. The writing is surcharged with a wonderful sympathy. One knows that the
author is true in her every word, and one realizes that she speaks out of an experience long-continued
and very tender, in which she was the dear friend of bees and birds, of hounds and horses, of the
ground and its tillers.

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN MARSHALL

Disbanding tKe Armies

Two Popular Articles on a Critical Period in our History
By IDA M. TARBELL

THE GRAND REVIEW AT WASHINGTON, 1S55

The Union Army

We are apt to forget that one of the greatest feats in history was performed by the Govern-
ment of the United States. At the close of the Civil War the Administration in Washington
disbanded the Federal Forces. The armv numbered a million of men and that vast body of soldiers
laid down their arms and returned to the pursuits of peace, without any disturbance, without
unseemly confusion. That event is unique in history and it will receive treatment, thorough and
full of interest, in a forthcoming issue of the magazine.

mSmt -

THSV

CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS GOING HOME.

From a •tuaf-titiie sketch*

TKe Confederate Army

A theme of equal interest, but a theme of infinite sadness, is that which tells of the Confed-
erates' return home at the close of the war. The broken remnant of an army that fought for vears
with unsurpassed skill and bravery was finally disbanded after Appomattox, and the men of the
South, war-worn and sick at heart, went back to find at home, under another guise, a continuation
of war's rigors. Miss Tarbell has written an affecting story of these soldiers and their return to
desolate homes.

People of tKe Woods

By W. D. HULBERT

These are the stories of
animal life by one who has
lived long in the woods and
has been the playfellow of
some, and the keen observer
of others. Mr. Hulbert

not onlv knows his friends intimately, but he writes of
them with inimitable charm. His stories are not only
absolutely correct, but they hold an intellectual mirror up
to nature wherebv we may know them from their own
standpoint so far as this is possible.

THE LOON.
THE DEER,

THE BEAVER,
AND OTHERS

Great ChaLraLcter Sketches

A Series of Papers dealing in a masterly way with the Personality of Leading
Men of our time by those most competent to write them.

SOME FORTHCOMING ARTICLES

ANDREW D. WHITE

{By courtesy of Harper Bros.)

JACOB RJIS"

The Most Useful Citizen of New York.

By GOVERNOR. THEODORE

ROOSEVELT

COUNT TOLSTOY

By ANDREW D. WHITE, LL.D.,
Ambassador to Germany

PROFESSOR HAECKEL

The Germain Darwin.

By RAY STANNARD BAKER

JOHN WILKES BOOTH

By CLARA MORRIS

RICHARD CROKER

By WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE

CloLrac Morris* Memoirs

Some Recollections of a Distinguished Career by America 's Greatest Actress.

It is seldom that one person is master of two arts. Miss Morris is not only a great actress
but writes with extraordinary power and charm.

Her rise was full of hardships and against obstacles almost insurmountable. How this trail,
friendless girl made her way from the lowest round of the ladder to the highest rank in her
profession is one of the most remarkable records in dramatic history. . She tells the storv of htr
trials and triumphs with dramatic power. Her reminiscences of great men and women of her
profession will be found of extraordinary interest. She will tell of John Wilkes Booth, Lawrence
Barrett, Joseph Jefferson, Mrs. Gilbert, and other great stars in the dramatic firmament.

The Best Short Stories

We have secured a large number of short stories from the most popular fiction-writers of the
day. There will be stories of all kinds. Stories of the railroads, stories of love, stories of
adventure, stories of character, stories of humor, and everv other kind of good storv that is
written. Some of these writers are :

ROBERT BARR CHARLES WARREN MARTHA McCULLOCH-WILLIAMS

HAMLIN GARLAND J. LINCOLN STEFFENS JOSEPHINE DODGE DASK.AM

SARAH ORNE JEWETT FRANK H. SPEARMAN GERTRUDE ROSCOE

JACK LONDON G. K. TURNER F. B. TRACY

WILL PAYNE E. E. KELLEY ALVAH M. KERR

WM. M. RAINE GEORGE HIBBARD

Every effort will be put forth to give our readers the best literature in everv department.

Art in the Magazine

Each month will be found in our pages pictures by some of the American artists who have
already achieved fame : Howard Pvle, Louis Loeb, Frederic Remington, Albert Herter, Kenvon
Cox, F. V. DuMond, Orson Lowell, Howard Chandler Christy, W. R. Leigh, the Misses
Cowles, George Varian, W. H. Hyde, Jay Hambidge, A. I. Keller, H. Reuterdahl, Thomas
Fogarty, Lucius Hitchcock, Charles R. Knight, Harry Fenn, H. R. Poore, E. L. Blumenschein.

The work of the younger illustrators, manv of whom have first made their appearance in
McClure's — Henry Hutt, Walter Glackens, Charles L. Hinton, Arthur Heming, F. Y. Cory,
Ellen Bernard Thompson, Bertha Corson Dav, Frederic Gruger, Harrison Fisher, R. M. Reav,
Will Grefe, C. D. Williams — will be a feature of the magazine for the coining year. As in
writers, so in artists, we are always on the lookout for the new note.

One Dollar per Year 10c per Copy

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The Archbishop and the Lady

By MRS. SCHUYLER CROfFNINSHIELD

"If I am any judge, Mrs. Crowninshield's novel is
going to make something like a sensation. It has a most
remarkable plot. There is a 'go ' in the book."

— Jeannette L. Gilder, Editor of the Critic.

Second Edition. Cloth, a 2 mo. $1.50.

The Dariingtons

By ELMORE ELLIOTT PEAKE

One of the first critics to read this story pronounced
it " one of the very best expositions of American life ever
written." Another writes that "the intellectual interest
of the story is remarkable.' Its scene and action are such
as might be allied with any prosperous American town or small citv, and yet
there is something more than local about it, something illuminating to human
experience at large.

A Thoroughly
American Novel

Second Edition. Cloth, 12

mo.

$i-50.

A Novel for
True Lovers

April's Sowing

By GERTRUDE HALL

"April's Sowing" is Miss Gertrude Hall's first long
story, but its appeal is broader and simpler than her poems
or short stories. It is a love story, the kind of thing for
which the world is alvvavs full of readers. There is not a
problem as big as a man's hand on its whole horizon except the old everlasting
1 one as to how a man and a maiden shall through manifold difficulties of their

>wn making arrive at the goal both desire. A blithe, airy humor sets the key \
'for a style so gracefully simple that only an experienced and intellectual writer
could achieve it. The title is taken from Browning's " Pippa Passes."

Illustrated by Orson Lowell. With decorative cover, frontispiece, title page in color, and
ornamental head and tail pieces. Cloth, 12 mo. $1.50.

Some Recent Successful Fiction |

A Mystery Story of New York City &

The Circular Study i

By ANNA KATHARINE GREEN ROHLFS \

"No matter which way you guess you are pretty sure to guess wrong."

— Neiv York Commercial Advertiser. '

" If the test of merit in such writing is the power of sustaining the mystery
surrounding the crime, then a better detective story than this was
NEVER WRITTEN." — Public Opinion.

Third Ed it ion. Cloth, iz mo, $1.25. f

Love and Adventure in War .

The Fugitives

By MO RLE Y ROBERTS I

"A decided advance on the 'Colossus.' " — New York Herald.
" A book that was written to entertain." — New York Commercial Advertiser.

Third Edition. Cloth, \zmo. |i.oo.

A Filipino Novel by a Native Filipino

An Eagle Flight

By DR. JOSE RIZAL

"The book is intensely interesting." — Philadelphia American.

"A remarkable book. It is an artistic work of fiction."
1 — New York Mail and Express. {

Second Edition. Manila boards, iz mo. $1.25.

The Day of Wrath

By MAURUS JOKAI

A powerful novel of Austrian life. The character of the story may be
inferred from the title.

Cloth, \zrno. $1.25.

^ Tales of War and Sport

I The Green Flag

[ By A. CO NAN DOYLE

\ "Good stories all, and excellently told." — New Yjrk Sun.

n Fourth Edition. Cloth, \zmo. §1.50.

Three Best Books for Children of all Ages

A New Kind of Fairy Tale

Yankee Enchantments

By CHARLES B ATT ELL LOO MIS

THESE stories are not only for the young; they will delight older readers
as well. They are as delightfully fantastic as anything by Andersen
or Grimm, yet both scene and setting are thoroughly Yankee. The
illustrator, Miss Cory, has caught the spirit of humor that pervades these tales
in a remarkable manner and the result is an altogether pleasing volume.

With 39 illustrations by F. Y. Cory. Cloth, 12 mo, 51^x7^. $1.25.

Irish Folk and Fairy 'Tales

Donegal Fairy Stories

By SEUMAS MacMANUS

TALES of enchanted kings and peasants of North Ireland in the early days,
told to Mr. MacManus by an old tailor who claimed to have" seen the
fairies and heard their stories. Mr. MacManus has presented the tales
*> with so much literary skill that thev will charm all who appreciate a happy
combination of folk-lore and literature.

With 40 illustrations by Gustave Verbeek. Cloth, \zmo, 51^x7^3. $1.00.
" A very funny book." — Boston Transcript.

The Jumping Kangaroo and The Apple

Butter Cat

By JOHN IF. HARRINGTON

A BOOK of animal stories for children, original in idea and fanciful in
execution. They cover a variety of topics and yet all deal with a group
of domestic and field animals that are supposed to live together and
have all sorts of exciting adventures. The lively humor of the drawings add
greatly to the volume.

With 48 illustrations and cover design in two colors by J, M. Conde. Cloth, Svo, 7 x gy$.

1. 00.

A BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS GIFT BOOK

Monsieur Beaucaire

By BOOTH TJRKINGTON

Author of " The Gentleman from Indiana.''''

"One of the

prettiest and best

books of the year. ' '

Boston Herald.

" The grace and
beauty of it will
linger many adav. "
Sunday School Times.

"The book in
its outward and vis-
ible form is uncom-
monly harmonious
with its inward
grace." Book Kerns.

"One of the

most charming and

delicate bits of

fiction which have

appeared for a long

time. "

The Bookman.

"It is invigorating: to read such fresh and buoyant writing.'5

Neiv York Times Saturday Review

With decorations by C. E. Hooper, and illustrations in two
colors by C. D. Williams.

Sixth E Jit ion. \zmo. 5^ x 7^. $1.25.

cO®r». Pfelfes d& (So., JfWMc

China and the East

An American Engineer in China

By II "ILLIAM BARCLAY PARSONS

An Intimate Storx of
the China of To-day.

A few months ago Mr. Parsons led a party of

engineers into the interior of China in order to

locate a route for an American railway in that

country. He accomplished more than discovery;

he secured an exact knowledge of the country, its

people, resources and future possibilities, and he passed through some of the

most remarkable experiences that ever fell to the lot of a traveller. The story

he has written is a graphic account of his investigations in the country.

Cloth, Illustrated, \zmo. $1.50.

The Awakening of the East

By PIERRE LEROT-BEAULIEU

"The most talked-of volume

in Continental Europe to-
day."—"&. Y. Times.

This volume is the authorized English trans-
lation of the book which has thrown more light on

the East than any single book. Under the divisions
Siberia, China and Japan, the author has traced the
development of Asia from their golden age of long
ago down to the modern present. He considers the renovation of the East as the
striking phenomenon of this latter half of the century. He treats comprehensively
the evolution of Japan from a hermit nation to a world power, the astonishing
development of Russia in Siberia, and the changes in China whose problems are k
now engaging all the civilized nations of the world. "Altogether," savs the
Nation, "this is a very timely and very able book by an author who gathers
without prejudice his facts at first hand."

With an Introduction by Henry Norman. Cloth, 12 mo. $1.50.

A Great History by a Great Novelist

The Great Boer War

DR. A. CON AN DOYLE has produced a work that will stand for years
to come as a comprehensive history, presented with all the vividness of a picture
and the rich imagination of an artist. Dr. Doyle secured his facts first hand.
He served several months as a surgeon in South Africa during the war, and he
has been enabled to see and describe events clearly and accurately.

"To the strict impartiality of the historian he adds the warmth of a novelist's
imagination, and the result is a book which will be read with the keenest pleasure
for long days to come." — London Daily Telegraph.

Cloth, \zmo. $1.50.

American Fights and Fighters

By CYRUS TOIFNSEND BRADY

"The book ought, to prove a universal favorite among boys, North, South,
East and West." — The Churchman.

" He tells a good storv, with plenty of swing and dash and with a glow of
patriotic pride in the achievements of his heroes." — Brooklyn Life.
Illustrated by 1 6 full-page drawings by Darley, Chappel and others. Cloth, izmo. $1.5.0.

A Valuable Historical Document

Abraham Lincoln: His Book

The only book which Abraham Lincoln ever prepared was a small note-
book containing printed extracts from his own speeches on the subject of negro
1 equality. These extracts were annotated in his own hand. It is now repro-
duced in facsimile, together with a long letter on the subject.

Leathery \6mo. $1.00.

*Two Important Biographies

By MISS IDA M. TARBELL

The Life of Abraham Lincoln

"We here have Abraham Lincoln the Man described and not Abraham
Lincoln the President. A perusal of the volume leaves a very satisfied feeling. ^
It makes our hearts warm more than ever toward that homely figure and the
homely speech. The man Lincoln seems to loom up more prominently than(
ever from the midst of his contemporaries as the great central figure of his gener-
ation. We see him freed from many of the mists which seemed to surround his
earlv life. We note with pleasure the explanation of many points in his life
which before were not satisfactorily understood." — The Neiv York Times.
With 32 full-page illustrations. Tzvo volumes. Cloth, %vo. $5.00.

The Life of Napoleon

WITH A SKETCH OF JOSEPHINE

"I desire to congratulate you," writes John C. Ropes, "on having fur-
nished the public with such a complete and impartial, as well as interesting and
attractive, Life of Napoleon. The pictures are also most interesting; few of them
have ever before been put within the reach of the general reader, at least not in
such a fine setting."

Richly illustrated. Cloth, 12 mo. $2.00.

A Book on Parliamentary Law

The Gavel and the Mace

By HON. FRANK W. HACKETT

Assistant Secretary of the Navy

The prime quality of a hook is that it be readable and, strange as the state-
ment may seem, here is a volume which possesses that quality to a remarkable
degree. It is not a treatise or a manual on parliamentary law, yet it furnishes in
a new and original way an acquaintance with all the leading principles upon
which parliamentary practice is founded. Air. Hackett has seen the humorous
side of the vanity of human nature as exhibited in public bodies, and a good-
natured vein runs through all the chapters of his book.

Cloth, 12///0. ,31.25.

The Best Essays of Ian MacLaren

The Doctrines of Grace

By DR. JOHN WATSON

Since "Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush" no book has appeared from the pen
of Dr. Watson which makes such a direct appeal to thinking people as this collec- K
tion of essays on the doctrines of grace. The present volume is one that will
interest the serious-minded reader and its thorough and reverential treatment, its ^
hopeful and uplifting influence cannot but commend it to those who are interested
in the deeper problems of life.

Clotb, 1 2

mo.

$1.50.

A New Light on Ancient Story

What We Know About Genesis

By DR. ELtrOOD WORCESTER

Rector of St. Stephen's Church, Philadelphia

Under the longer title "What We Know About Genesis in the Light of 1
Modern Science," Dr. Worcester has presented all of the knowledge that has been
brought to bear upon the story of the early portion of Genesis. Recent discov-
eries in Babylonia have increased our knowledge of a period which is of great1
historical interest, and Dr. Worcester has given thorough and reverent treatment
to this and other developments of modern times. The work is illustrated by
photographs which throw more light on the subject.

Illustrated. Cloth, \zmo. $2.00.

Life in the "Under World"

Powe*s that Prey <

5y JO SI J H FLTNT and FRANCIS WALTON \

The authors of the ten closely related stories which make up this volume
have spent most of their lives studying the sociological problems of tramp and
criminal life. Mr. Flynt writes: "So far as I am concerned, the book is the
result of ten years of wandering with tramps and two years spent with various
police organizations. ' '

Cloth, \zmo, ^yi x 7^. $1.25. ,

Metropolitan Life ; Syria in New York 1

The Soul of the Street

By NORMAN DUNCAN

"The Soul of the Street" deals with Syrians and Turks in New York. (
Character, humor, poignant pathos, and the sad grotesque conjunctions of old and
new civilizations are expressed through the medium of a style that has distinction.

\zmo, 51^ x 7^. $1.00.

Tales From McClroe's

I. ROMANCE II. HUMOR III. THE WEST IV, ADVENTURE V. WAR

Each volume, i6mo, 4x6, about 200 pp. Cloth, 25 cents per volume; $1.25 per
set, in wooden box. Full flexible leather, gilt top, 50 cents per volume; $2.50 per set, in
wooden box.

Patriotic and Heroic Verse

Songs of Action

By A. CO NAN DOYLE
" Mr. Doyle has a faultless lyric gift, and comprehension of the dramatic
as well as the lyric possibilities of a song, perhaps even to the point ot rivalry
with the dashing and beloved 'Barrack-Room Ballads.' " — Chicago Interior.

Silk Basket Cloth, izmo, 5x7. $1.25.

1 A Novel of Irish Life

The Ba**ys

\ By SHAN F. BULLOCK

"Shan Bullock gives us in 'The Barrys' the fresh, vivid picture of Irish
^country life which we are accustomed to associate with his name. The con-1
l vincing Hibernianism of the author never relaxes." — The Nation.
\ Cloth, \zmo, 5 x 7^4. #1.25.

Books to be Used f

The Trust Problem j

By J- W. JENKS, Ph.D. «

Professor of Political Science, Cornell University; Expert Agent United States Industrial Commission (

"The Trust Problem" answers almost every question on the subject. It <j
presents the views of leading statesmen and politicians. The book is compre- '
hensive, impartial and trustworthy. It has received unqualified endorsement.

Second Edition. With five charts in colors. Small \2mo. Net, $1.00.

The School and Society \

By PROFESSOR JOHN DEWEY, of the University of Chicago '

"Professor Dewey seems to have solved the first problem of education. . . . ,

He has devised a plan of making real work as absorbing as play.'1 {

— New York Evening Post.

Third Edition. Illustrated. Cloth, xzmo. $1.00. \

Encyclopedia of Etiquette

WHAT TO DO WHAT TO SAY— WHAT TO WRITE— WHAT TO WEAR

Compiled by EMILY HOLT
A Book of Manners for every day use. Not only is every perplexing point
of etiquette brought up and answered, but a dozen or more valuable departments
hitherto ignored are introduced and developed.

Illustrated. 12 mo. $2.00.

Some Important Biographies

Dwight L. Moody

By HENRY DRUMMOND

Impressions and Facts. Introduction by George Adam Smith.

Illustrated. Cloth, \ztno. $1.00.

Henry Drtimmond

By DR. GEORGE ADAM SMITH

Photogravure Frontispiece. Cloth, Svo. $3.00.

Ulysses S. Grant: Impressions and Facts

Bv HAMLIN GARLAND

52.50.

With 32 illustrations. Cloth, Svo.

A Classified Alphabetical List

BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

BRADY, REV. C. T. American Fights and Fighters. Cloth, izmo. $1.50.
DOYLE, A. CONAN. The Great Boer War. Cloth, izmo. $1.50.
DRUMMOND, HENRY. Dwight L. Moody, izmo. $1.00.
GARLAND, HAMLIN. Ulysses S. Grant. 8vo. $2.50.
HYDE, SOLON. A Captive of War. Cloth, izmo. $1.00.
'Abraham Lincoln: His Book. Leather, i6mo. $1.00.
SMITH, DR. GEORGE ADAM. Life of Henry Drummond. 8vo. $3.00.
,TARBELL, IDA M. The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 2 vols., 8vo. $5.00.
TARBELL, IDA M. Napoleon and Josephine. Illustrated. Cloth, izmo. §2.00

' NOVELS

BULLOCK, SHAN F. The Barrys. Cloth, izmo. $1.25.
'CROWNINSHIELD, MRS. The Archbishop and the Lady. izmo. $1.50.

GREEN, ANNA KATHARINE. The Circular Study. Cloth, izmo. $1.25.
fHALL, GERTRUDE. April's Sowing. Cloth, izmo. $1.50.
'JOKAI, MAURUS. The Day of Wrath. Cloth, izmo. $1.25.
fPEAKE, ELMORE ELLIOTT. The Darlingtons. Cloth, izmo. $1.50.
' RIZAL, DR. JOSE. An Eagle Flight: A Filipino Novel. Cloth, izmo. $1.25.
f ROBERTS, MORLEY. The Fugitives. Cloth, izmo. $1.00.
JtaRKINGTON, BOOTH. Monsieur Beaucaire. Illustrated.

I SHORT STORY VOLUMES

J DOYLE, A. CONAN. The Green Flag. Cloth, 1 zmo. $1.50.
J DUNCAN, NORMAN. The Soul of the Street. Cloth, izmo.
RFLYNT, JOSIAH. The Powers that Prey. Cloth, izmo. $1.25.
[HARRINGTON, JOHN W. The Jumping Kangaroo, izmo. $1.00.
lLOOMIS, CHARLES B. Yankee Enchantments. Cloth, izmo. $1.23.
I MacMANUS, SEUMAS. Donegal Fairy Stories. Cloth, izmo. $1.00.
(jMcCLURE'S, TALES FROM. Cloth, 25 cents each. Gilt top, 50 cents each.
1 WALTON, FRANCIS— See Flynt.

S VERSE

/DOYLE, A. CONAN. Songs of Action. Cloth, izmo. $1.25.

J MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS

b Corporations and Public Welfare. Cloth, 8vo. $1.50.
\ DE LOUP, MAXIMILIAN. The American Salad Book. izmo. $1.00.
I» DEWEY, DR. JOHN. The School and Society. Illustrated. Cloth, izmo. $1.00.
) HACKETT, FRANK W. The Gavel and the Mace. Cloth, izmo. $1.25.
I HOLT, EMILY. Encyclopedia of Etiquette. Illustrated, izmo. $z.oo.
) JENKS, JEREMIAH W., Ph.D. The Trust Problem, izmo. $1.00.
[HxEROY-BEAULIEU, PIERRE. The Awakening of the East. Cloth, $1.50.
J PARSONS, w. B. An American Engineer in China. Cloth, izmo. $1.50.
* WATSON, REV. DR. JOHN. The Doctrines of Grace. Cloth, 1 zmo. $1.50.
\ WORCESTER, REV. DR. ELWOOD. What we know about Genesis in the

F Light of Modern Science. Illustrated. Cloth, izmo. $z.oo.

i2mo. $1.25.

Si. 00.

15he

NaJiorvaJ Geographic
M

Is edited by the following staff:

Editor: JOHN HYDE

Statistician of the U. S. Department of Agriculture

Associate Editors

General A. W. Greely, Marcus Baker,

Chief Signal Officer, U. S. Army U. S. Geological Survey

W J McGee, Willis L. Moore,

Ethnologist in Charge, Bureau of Chief of the Weather Bureau, U. S.

American Ethnology Department of Agriculture

Henry Gannett, H. S. Pritchett,

Chief Geographer, U. S. Geological Superintendent of the U. S. Coast

Survey and Geodetic Survey

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Department of Agriculture U. S. Treasury Department

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Assistant Secretary of State Governor of Porto Rico

Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, Carl Louise Garrison,

Author of "Java, the Garden of Principal of Phelps School, Wash-

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Gilbert H. Grosvenor, Washington, D.C.

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THE ASCENT OF
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By H. R. H. PRINCE LUIGI

AMEOEO Dl SAVOIA,

DUKE OF THE ABRUZZI

Narrated by
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Since his recent trip to the
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Pronounced by the Evening
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Of equal "value with the text

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THE MEN OF THE

MERCHANT SERVICE

By FRANK T. SULLEN

The purpose of this work is to tell in a comprehensive way
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THE FILIBUSTERS

By CUTCLIFFE HYNE

The Filibusters were fortune hunters, participants in an
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One Of the most interesting chapters in the look relates
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TONGUES OF CONSCIENCE

By R. S. HICHENS

A new work by the author of "blames."' marked by
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MORE BUNNY

STORIES

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Iv JOHN HOWARD JEW-

ETT Hannah Warner

A new volume uniform with
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the

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A companion volume tc
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This concerns the strange relation of a visit, \. d. L604, of

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master. This is now made public by the descendants

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archives.

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G00PS, AND HOW TO BE THEM

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A Manual cf Manners for Polite Infants.

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"THE SIEGE Of THE LEGATIONS"

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Vol. LVIII. No. 3. JANUARY, 1901.

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE
MONTHLY.

EDITED BY J. McKEEJV CATTELLJ

CONTENTS :

Asphaltum for a Modern Street. S. F. Peckham 225

The Effect of Physical Agents on Bacterial Life. Dr. Allan Macfadyen 238

Flies and Typhoid Fever. Dr. L. O. Howard 249

Geometry : Ancient and Modern. Professor Edwin S. Crawley. . . . 257
An Address before the Anthropological Department of the British

Association. T. H. Huxley 267

The Story of Autonous. Professor William Henry Hudson 276

The Economic Life of France. Dr. Edward D. Jones 287

Pearson's Grammar of Science. C. S. Peirce 296

Chapters on the Stars. Professor Simon Newcomb 307

Discussion and Correspondence :

Needless Obscurity in Scientific Publications : An Editor 324

Scientific Literature :

Botany and Agriculture ; Neurology, Psychology and Education 327

The Progress of Science :

The Establishment of a National Standardizing Bureau ; The Bills now before Con-
gress and the Example of Foreign Countries ; American Astronomical Instruments ;
The Work of the Department of Agriculture ; Introduction of Foreign Plants ;
Forestry and Irrigation ; Publications and Organization of the Department ; The
Commission of Fish and Fisheries ; Artificial Propagation ; Sun-Spots, Rainfall and
Famines ; Scientific Items 330

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RA7DYARJ) KIPLING'S "KIM"

The Important Literary Everwt of the New Yea^r

The publication of Mr. Kipling's new novel, " KIM,"
in McClure's Magazine is unquestionably the literary event
of the year. It is like to be the literary event of a decade, for
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within ten years of each other.

India is Mr. Kipling's own peculiar field — because he is
first in it and the rest nowhere, and because delightful as he has
been when showing us life in other lands, he is never such a
wizard as when he deals with the country of his birth.
"Kim," his new hero, is like himself, "native-born," a little
Irish lad who babbled the heathen's speech ere he came "to
the white man's tongue." The secrets of India are Kim's,
and he initiates us into the mysteiies of the temples, and the
ways of Brahmin households, and the strange life of wild Hima-
layan mountaineers. But fascinating as is all this wonderful
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all the wonders of the setting. It is a great story of adventure and an illuminating analysis of
varied human character.

Illustration for " KIM." From the has
relief modelled by J. Lockwood Kipling.

Recollections of the Stage

Descriptions of People and Events of the Mimic World.
By CLARA MORRIS

Clara Morris' high fame will still be heightened by the remarkable memoirs that appear
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thing in her history is that now she should be able to give admirable expression to her rich gifts
through literature. Her work is almost alone among reminiscences of the stage, inasmuch as it is
so natural, frank, and at bottom so intellectual. The intellectuality is in the unconscious grasp
of her strong mind, and the singular emotional responsiveness of the writer, her humor and her
svmpathv ( again and again she makes one laugh and cry in the same breath ) are the outcome of
both brain and heart.

She has known the most prominent people connected with the stage since the beginning of
her career, and gives us further acquaintance with such people as John Wilkes Booth, Augustin Daly,
Lawrence Barrett, Charles Kean and Edwin Booth. The first article will be found in this issue.

Illustration for one of Josephine Dodge Daskani 's Child Stories
Drawn by Charles L. llinton.

Some People of Chicago

By EDITH WYATT

Miss Wyatt is one of the most brilliant of the young writers McClure's has introduced to
the public. Stories of hers — all dealing with related classes of Chicago people — will continue for
some time to come. Miss Wyatt has a fund of dry humor and satire, and an originality that takes
her completelv out of the beaten track. Her Chicagoans have appeared in no other fiction, and
are less typical of their city than of the wide American world where we have all known their like.
Her grasp of character is the result of a svmpathv that exercises itself in these stories on some kinds
of people that are rarely viewed both svmpatheticallv and honestly. Her truthfulness is delicious,
and *he result of it and her fairness is a widening of the sense of human fellowship.

"Within the Ga^tes"

A Drama of Terrestrial and Celestial Life.
By ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS

The " Gates Ajar" stirred the world when Elizabeth Stuart Phelps was a voting writer near
the beginning of her career; twice since she has carried further her divinations of the future life, —
in "Beyond the Gates" and "The Gates Between," and still the theme has kept its lifelong hold
upon her. In "Within the Gates" she feels that she lias now unfolded her final mes ;age upon
it. "Within the Gates" throbs with the same intense feeling, the same imagination that have
ever moved this ardent woman's thousands of readers. The storv, the human story of love and
suffering is powerful, independent of all its consoling doctrine.

Stories of the Stock Exchange

By EDWIN LEFEVR.E

Wall Street is as dramatic a field for fiction as
modern life affords. It would appear in modern stories
more frequently if brokers and speculators were more
literary, or if outsiders better understood its intricate inner
life. Mr. Edwin Lefevre, who knows the whole game,
has found a rich field for his stories of universal interest.
He understands the place to its heart, and can tell the
tales of triumph and despair, of human weakness and
strength, and caprice and passion that it abundantly
furnishes.

Colonial FigKts and
Fighters

~ ' £ . By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY

Archdeacon Brady is warming people to our earlv

history who never before found out how interesting our

Illustration for one of the Wall Street Stories, colonial period is. The dramatic stories of the early

Drawn by Henry iiutt. fighters Mr. Brady tells so thrillinglv are sustained by

scholarly original research, and throw light as well as
give entertainment. The result is that these articles have attracted much attention from various
classes of readers.

"Next to the Grovind"

Descriptions of Life on a Tennessee Farm.
By MARTHA McCULLOCH-WILLIAMS

There are other than sentimental ways of loving nature ; the strongest way brings an
almost physical hunger for the good green earth, a longing to get "next to the ground" and
revel in Nature's roughnesses and homeliness, as well as in her more delicate beauties. Mrs.
Williams brings it all to us in her remarkable records of. life, vegetable, human, animal and
insect life, on a Tennessee farm. She writes delightfully, but the wonder of her book is her
manifold limitless knowledge of her subject. She is not scientific, but science will be her debtor
for some of this delicious first hand observation.

Once More the Delectable Dolly

Being more Dialogues by ANTHONY HOPE

" More Dollv Dialogues " is a rallying crv sure to
call together a large, a choice, and a merry company.
Dolly both cheers and inebriates everyone but the ladies
who are unwise enough to enter the social lists against
her. The years have not faded her looks, nor marriage
quenched her high spirits, nor the lessons of life lessened
her interest in her gowns. So she is just as much fun as
ever, and perhaps a little more. Certainlv we never saw
her to such advantage as in Mr. Howard Christy's
beautiful and abundant pictures. Mr. Anthony Hope
has given his readers manv kinds of good entertainment,
but not another ot his heroines holds Dolly's place in the
public heart.

People of tKe Woods

Stories of Denizens of the Forest.

Mr. W. D. Hurlbert has told our readers about
the porcupine; it is not accounted an ingratiating animal,
but in his society it proved a mighty entertaining one.
He is to introduce us to other of the wood's inhabitants,
— to the loon, and deer, and several more, — and his con-
summate knowledge of his friends, his native easy humor
and sympathy, insure us of pleasure in their company,
as well as make certain that we will end by knowing a
good deal more than we did in beginning this social round.

In tKe Wake of
Science

Drawn by Howard Chandler Christy.

To maintain a record of actual scientific develop-
ment, to set forth the plans and prospects of investigators,
to explain new inventions of great importance, and to keep our readers in constant touch with
the best progress in scientific knowledge is our constant aim. We have secured a number ot
articles which will throw light on what is being done here and in Europe along this important
line of human effort. Some of these articles will be :

UNSOLVED PROBLEMS IN CHEMISTRY

By PROFESSOR IRA R-EMSEN, of Johns Hopkins University.
THE REICHSANSTALT. — Germany's Laboratory of Applied Science.

THE NEW NIAGARA.— By rollin lynde hartt.

The wonders in mechanics achieved by the falling waters.

Dramatic Episodes in American

History

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

By IDA M. TARBELL

Our historical records are to be enriched bv a series of papers
from Miss Tarbell, setting forth some of the most dramatic episodes
in American history. The first of those will tell of the long bat-
tle over the Constitution that filled the summer of 1787. It was a
vital struggle where patriotism and interest and conflicting opinion
had to ferment violently before that marvellous Constitution, the
most remarkable governmental document the world has seen, was
brought forth. It was a stupendous and stirring time, and Miss
Tarbell brings it vividly and comprehensively before us.

In another article, gathered together in one effective narrative,
the facts of the State trial of Aaron Burr are given. No other
trial our countrv has ever seen has moved the feelings and imagi-
nations of men as did this one, and all the startling story lives here
again.

Disbanding the Armies

By IDA M. TAR.BELL

At the close of the Civil War European observers anticipated for the United States many
troubles as resultant from the disbanding of the great armies. Nothing in our history has more
impressed the Old World than the orderly, quiet absorption of our soldiers into civil life. Miss Ida
M. Tarbell, who has done so much valuable historical work, has now prepared the full story of the
War Department's achievements in disbanding a million Union soldiers and turning them into peaceful,
busv citizens. Within a year this was accomplished, and an element in the situation that Miss
Tarbell sets forth with some fullness was the material progress of the North during the very time of
war. Another article will tell of the disbanding of the Confederate army.

The material for these papers has been drawn from a very wide variety of original sources
( as indeed, it had to be, since no historian has more than scratched this field before) including
living people and governmental records.

Political Pen Portraits

By WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE

Mr. White has uncommon gifts for the pen portraiture that has
recentlv won him so much attention and applause. His insight,
sympathv, humor and shrewdness have been demonstrated in his
pictures of Mr. Brvan and Air. Hanna ; and his trenchant, vivid
style exactly serves his purpose. Other papers on public men are
to follow, and they will be illustrated by drawings from life and
from photographs.

A forthcoming article will deal with Richard Croker, who has
been more prominentlv brought before the national public in the last
six months than ever before. Mr. White treats of the Tammanv
leader with candor and throws new light on his remarkable
career.

RICHARD CROKER
From a photograph specially taken.

Some Men and MetKods that are

Making for Reform in

New York City

By GOVERNOR THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Vice-President elect of the United States.

Mr. Roosevelt has written an article for McClure's Magazine,
dealing with those forces which are making for civic righteousness,
the moral and social elevation of the poor and depraved in New
York City, and in particular with a few individuals who have been
most prominent in the work. He has some very plain things to say
in his characteristic manner. Throughout his career he has himself
been one of the foremost leaders of reform, and his official positions
have been such as to give him intimate knowledge of the grave
problems that confront those who are unselfishly seeking the up-
building of societv. It is because he has this knowledge that he is
so competent to speak of what has been done, what remains to be
done, and the men and methods who have been and are working to
solve the problem. This article is scheduled for an early number.

JACOB A. RIIS

"The World of Graft"

By JOSIAH FLYNT

About a vear ago, through an arrangement made with McClure's Magazine, Mr. Josiah
Flvnt, well known as the author of " Tramping with Tramps," collaborator with Francis Walton
in "The True Stories from the Under World" and generally recognized as the best authority on
the subject of criminals, from the standpoint of one who has lived amongst them and studied their
ways, undertook an investigation of several months into the status of the criminal classes in the lead-
ing cities of the United States. The realm of the criminal is " the world of graft," a phrase largely
of his own coining.

The point which Mr. Flvnt had chiefly in view was to ascertain as closely as possible the
view which the criminal entertains of the ruling powers of society, and his actual relations with
them. Incidentally he got the criminal's opinion on the present system of repressing crime, and
his theory as to how crime could best be suppressed were it desirable from the criminal standpoint
to do so.

During these long months of investigation, Mr. Flvnt lived on terms of intimacy with all sorts
and conditions of criminals, and it is a remarkable coincidence that the result of his labors was being
prepared for publication just at the time the moral reform wave swept over New York City, after
the November elections. These articles discuss the situation in several cities in the frankest manner;
they deal not only with conditions, but with individuals both in office and those who should be
outside the pale of the law, but who are protected by those employed to suppress crime. We feel
certain that these articles will arouse an unusual amount of interest, and will prove of extraordinary
value to the public. They reveal a situation not flattering to civic pride, but one that cannot be
ignored.

By ROBERT BARR

Illustration for one of Robert Barf's "Jimmy
Drawn by Edmund J . Sullivan.

Stories.

Mr. Robert Barr can tell manv kinds of
stories and can place them in many lands, but
after all he is not a Scotchman for nothing, and
he shines with an accession of brilliancy in
recounting mad tales of that adventurous and
humorous gentleman, |ames V of Scotland.
"Jimmy' he was in the familiar talk of his
humbler subjects, and fimmy he must always be
to the readers of these Hvelv records.

Short Fiction

There is scarcely a writer of fiction who
is not a contributor to our pages. For the com-
ing year we shall have some remarkable stories
by well-known writers as well as some bv un-
known writers. It is our pride to have given
the first stepping stone to manv successful writers
of the present day. Some of our writers are :

HAMLIN GARLAND G. K. TURNER

SARAH ORNE JEWETT GEORGE HIBBARD
JACK LONDON F. B. TRACY

CHARLES WARREN ALVAH M. KERR

FRANK H. SPEARMAN JOSEPHINE DODGE

DASKAM

Art in the Magazine

Each month will be found in our pages pictures bv some of
the American artists who have already achieved fame : Howard Pvle,
Louis Loeb, Frederic Remington, Albert Herter, Kenvon Cox,
F. V. DuMond, Orson Lowell, Howard Chandler Christy, W.
R. Leigh, the Misses Cowles, George Varian, W. H. Hvde,
Jay Hambidge, A. I. Keller, H. Reuterdahl, Thomas Fogartv,
Lucius Hitchcock> Charles R. Knight, Harry Fenn, H. R. Poore,
E. L. Blumenschein.

The work of the younger illustrators, manv of whom have
first made their appearance in McClure's — Henrv Hutt, Walter
Glackens, Charles L. Hinton, Arthur Heming, F. Y. Cory, Ellen
Bernard Thompson, Bertha Corson Dav, Frederic Gruger, Harrison
Fisher, R. M. Reay, Will Grefe, C. D. Williams— will be a
feature of the Magazine for the coming vear. As in writers, so
in artists, we are always on the lookout for the new note.

■5"/ •< "

illustration drawn by Albert
Sterner,

One Dollar a Year, Ten Cents a Copy.
S. S. McCLURE CO., 141-155 East 25th St., New York

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| SOME BOOKS SELECTED

*
*

* FROM THE LISTS OF
*

| McClure, Phillips & Co.

| January, igoi

i Two Important Biographies by MISS IDA M. TAR BELL

| The Life of Abraham Lincoln

J "We here have Abraham Lincoln the Man described and not Abraham

* Lincoln the President. A perusal of the volume leaves a very satisfied feeling.
» It makes our hearts warm more than ever toward that homelv figure and the

* homelv speech. The man Lincoln seems to loom up more prominently than
y ever from the midst of his contemporaries as the great central figure of his gener-
\ ation. We see him freed from many of the mists which seemed to surround his

* early life. We note with pleasure the explanation of many points in his life which
^ before were not satisfactorily understood." — The New York Times.

I J2 full-page illustrations. Tzva volumes. Cloth, Sz'o. $5.00.

♦ The Life of Napoleon

% WITH A SKETCH OF JOSEPHINE

* To her " Short Life of Napoleon," Miss Tarbell now joins a sketch
» of Josephine. The new light which has been thrown on Josephine's
£ character and career by the recent publication of numerous memoirs,

* has not been overlooked in preparing this life. It aims to present
» Josephine frankly yet sympathetically. The elaborate illustrations which
J distinguished the former edition of the Life of Napoleon will be preserved

* in the present edition.

» " I desire to congratulate you," writes John C. Ropes, "on having furnished

* the public with such a complete and impartial, as well as interesting and attractive,
^ Life of Napoleon. The pictures are also most interesting; iew of them have

*
*

ever before been put within reach of the general reader, at least not in such a fine

* setting." #/V/,/v UlU5trated. Cloth, \zmo. $2.00.

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I Two Important Contributions to Modern Fiction

J //i /tfs 36th Thousand

I Monsieur Beaucaire

{ 5y BOOTH TJRKINGTON
*

J " Monsieur Beaucaire " is a historical romance — historical only so far

* . ....

* as its setting agrees absolutely with the custom and spirit of its time. It

* is a cavalier tale of Bath in the days when Lady Mary Carlisle was the

* most beautiful woman in England.

^ " Monsieur Beaucaire was a clever and cool and interesting gentleman as

J everybody may see who will be so sensible and so wise as to read the story."

» — Harper's Weekly.

^ " Love making, brilliant sword play, witty and unforced dialogue and a series

* of climaxes that are admirably dramatic." — New York Sun.
V "It is invigorating to read such fresh and buoyant writing."
^ — New York Tunes Saturday Review.

f> Illustrated in colors. Sixth Edition. Cloth, 12 mo. $1.25.

* Fourth Edition

I The Darlingtons

I By ELMORE ELLIOTT PEAKE

^ From its close relationship to the life and destiny of the people of

£ every day affairs, " The Darlingtons " has a kind of interest that is

f lacking in other fiction. It is typically American — representing the life

J of American industry and American enterprise. There is in it, too, the

t lightening touch of a well-defined love element.

» "A remarkable piece of work." — New York Telegram.

j, "Will repay the busiest reader for the time necessary for its perusal."

* — Philadelphia North American.

* "Mr. Peake has brought out a very characteristic American type which has
j, never before had adequate treatment. . . . The Darlingtons might stand for

* thousands of flourishing families which represent the newer aristocracy of small
%. towns in all parts of the country." — Springfield Republican.

♦ Cloth , 12/770. ^I.JO.

» Four Important Timely Volumes

* The Great Boer War

I By A. CON AN DOYLE

* " One of the most important, because one of the most candid and straight-
^ forward comments on the great Boer war." — Army and Navy Register.
ft "To the strict impartiality of the historian he adds the warmth of a novelist's
j> imagination, and the result is a book which will be read with the keenest pleasure

* for long days to come." — London Daily Telegraph.
ft Cloth, \zmo. $1.50.
ft

{ An American Engineer in China

* Bv WILLIAM BARCLAY PARSONS

» A few months ago Mr. Parsons led a party of engineers into the

ft
ft
ft

* knowledge of the country, its people, resources and future possibilities,
» and he passed through some of the most remarkable experiences that ever

ft d

h Under the divisions Siberia, China and Japan, the author has traced

£ the development of Asia from their golden age of long ago down to the

modern present. He treats comprehensively the evolution of Japan, the

> astonishing development of Russia in Siberia, and the changes in China.

fr " Altogether," says the Nation, " this is a very timely and very able book

» by an author who gathers without prejudice his facts at first hand."

ft With an Introduction by Henry Norman. Cloth, \zmo. $1.50.

* . The Philippines: The War and the People

ft Bv ALBERT G. ROBINSON

ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft

interior of China in order to locate a route for an American railway in that
country. He accomplished more than discovery; he secured an exact

fell to the lot of a traveller.

Illustrated. Cloth, \zmo. $1.50.

The Awakening of the East

Bv PIERRE LEROY-BEAULIEU

The author spent several months among the people of the Philip- ^

pines studying their conditions and manner of life. He visited many ^

parts of the islands and has described in vigorous and vivid language the ^

scenes in our new possessions and the character of the people living there. ^

♦ Cloth, izmo. 51.50. 1

ft 1

/Vew Stories of Absorbing Interest ♦

77i/r</ Edition *

• 7>fe Archbishop and the Lady %

Bv MRS. SCHUYLER CROJVNINSHIELD t

If I am any judge, Mrs. Crowninshield's novel is going to make something

-Jeannette L. Gilder, Editor of the Critic.
A book to be read rapidly because of the constant interest, and slowly to

Cloth, izmo. $1.50.

ApriV 5 Sowing

Illustrated. Cloth, izmo. $1.50.

The Powers that

Prey

By NORMAN DUNCAN

like a sensation. It has a most remarkable plot. There is a ' go ' in the book." ♦

make the pleasure last." — New York Commercial Advertiser, 4

By GERTRUDE HALL *

There is not a problem here as large as a man's hand save the ever- *
lasting problem of how a maid and a man shall, through many difficulties *
of their own making, arrive at the goal they both desire. *

tcA dainty little love story in a very dainty form. The heroine will make ♦
willing slaves of her readers." — Baltimore Herald. ^

Stories of Criminals and Police ♦'

*
*

By JOSIAH FLTNT and FRANCIS WALTON \

*
*

A book of unusual interest . . . first hand studies, in short story
form, of the criminal regarded, not as a case, but as a man ... a book
before the intense actuality of which mere literary work seems somewhat insig- 4

niticant." — New York Evening Post. *

Cloth, izmo. $1.25. 4

Stories of the Turkish and Syrian Quarters J

The Soul of the Street t

Mr. Duncan not only knows his Svrian quarter, he knows it with a *

poet's insight. The pathos and bitter humor of this ragged patch of *

Orientalism penetrate him, and he sets forth its obscure experiences with *

a poignant delicacy of feeling that is well interpreted by the distinction ot *

his Style. Cover in colors. izmo. $i.z$. *

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ZCm*+***+***¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥*}

I Illustrated Books for the Younger People

» Second Edition

\ American Fights and Fighters

i By CTRUS TOWN SEND BRADY

"Likely to find thousands of American boys eager to read it and which when

> read will make them proud of the race to which they belong.
J — Neiu York Mail and Express.

> "They arouse the reader to the highest pitch of admiration. . . . We
\ do not know of any historical storv book which would be likely to prove a more

* valuable gift for a young man than this." — New York Times Saturday Review.

% Illustrated. Cloth, \zmo. $1.50.

J New England Fairy Tales

I Yankee Enchantments

I By CHARLES BATTELL LOOMIS

* "One of the best, if not the best, of the books for boys that have recently

* come to our notice." — The Churchman.
\ "The adult reader whose first impulse is to throw the book aside with a

> pooh-pooh of disdain, may anon find himself led on till he feels his lips first pucker

» and then break into broad smiles." — The Outlook.

t 39 illustrations by Farms Y. Cory. Cloth, izmo. $1.25.

»
*

» "A very funny book."— Boston Transcript

I The Jumping Kangaroo

J By JOHN W. HARRINGTON

» "A dainty and amusing volume of animal stories, pleasing to young and old,

» and just the thing for a pretty Christmas gift." — New York Commercial Advertiser.

* "Author and artist have thrown a whole world of delight into their work, and

* the book is a rollicking bit of play which every child and many an adult will

* thoroughly enjoy." — The Interior.

» 48 illustrations by J. M. Condi. Svo. $1.00.

? Irish Folk Lore

I Donegal Fairy Stories

I By SEUMAS MACMANUS

A series of tales to make glad the heart of childhood. They tell ot en-

* chanted kings and peasants who lived in Ireland at the dawn of civilization.

"They are fine tales and very prettily illustrated." — The Interior.
» "Limitless in imagination ... a delight to any child and a wonder to

J grown-ups." — Cleveland World.
> 40 illustrations by Gustave Verbeek. Cloth, \zmo. $1.25.

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A Book on Parliamentary Law

The Gave/ and the Mace

By HON. FRANK W. HACKETT

Assistant Secretary of the Navy

" The first book on the subject we have ever read with pleasure."

— Neiv York Mail and Express.
" Mr. Hacketrs book not only bubbles over with humor, but it has more
than humor; it is pervaded with good sense and a good spirit, and it contains an
excellent compendium of parliamentary law."

— John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy.
Cloth, \zmo. $1.25.

"For intellectual enjoyment and serious reflection." — Boston Globe.

The Doctrines of Grace

By REV. DR. JOHN WATSON

14 Dr. Watson has something to say on the several phases of religion, and he
says it with the simple, direct, forcible and rich style of which he long ago proved
himself a master." — Baltimore Herald.

Cloth, 12 mo. $1.50.

New Light on Ancient Story

What We Know About Genesis

By DR. ELWOOD WORCESTER

Rector of St. Stephen's Church, Philadelphia

Recent discoveries in Babylonia have increased our knowledge of a
period which is of great historical interest, and Dr. Worcester has given
thorough and reverent treatment to this and other developments of
modern times. The work is illustrated by photographs which throw
more light on the subject.

Illustrated. Cloth, izmo. $2.00.
A Narrative of Prison Life

A Captive of War

By SOLON HYDE

The author knew danger and hardship, adventure and comradeship
in five Southern prisons, and he has presented his story in a very graphic
manner. Cloth, \2n10. $1.00.

Henry V

I THE RICHARD MANSFIELD ACTING VERSION

> Which version was fur the first time presented by Mr. Richard Mansfield

* and his company of players on the stage of the Garden Theatre ^ New York,

* October 25, ipoo. With notes throughout by Mr. Mansfield, and special

> heraldic notes and devices. Two photogravure illustrations.

fk French folded cover, izmo. qo cents, net.

J Some Recent Books of Fiction

I The Circular Study

I By ANNA KATHARINE GREEN

^ " If the test of merit in such writing is the power of sustaining the mystery

* surrounding the crime, then a better detective story than this ivas never written"

J Tenth Thousand. Cloth, 12 mo. $1.25. —Public Opinion.

h "A storv of unusual pathos and power." — Neiu York Times Saturday Review

J "It is a book that every American ought to read." — Springfield Republican.

* Manila boards, 12 mo. $1.25.
»

I By MORLET ROBERTS

i» "Written to entertain. It is amusing and exciting in turn. Mr. Roberts

J Second Edition. Cloth, 12 mo. $1.00.

An Eagle Flight: A Filipino Novel

By JOSE RIZAT

The Fugitives

& — ~<~~ £,

has drawn some excellent types." — New York Commercial Advertiser.

I The Day of Wrath

I By MAURUS J0KA1

" Hungarian life has a flavor so entirely its own, so utterly unlike anything

t the rest of the world has known, that it cannot fail to interest even the most

* prosaic." -The Bookman. c/o(h> I2

mo. $1.25.

I McClure, Phillips & Co., Publishers, N. Y.

X AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

,j "A Weekly Feast to Nourish Hungry Minds."— N. Y. Evangelist.

FOUNDED BY E. LITTELL IN 1844.

THE LIVING AGE

A Weekly Magazine of Contemporary literature and Thought.

A NeCCSSitV To Every Reader of Intelligence and Literary Taste

««

»»

THE SIEGE OF THE LEGATIONS

In England it has attracted wide

" The London Spectator" remarks concerning Dr. Morrison's narrative of the siege :
The Times has at la*t received and published a full narrative from its correspondent, Dr.
Morrison, of all that preceded and accompanied the siege of the Legations. Gibbon could not have
told the story better. It is obviously impartial, full of detail, yet clear and consistent, and it has
been accepted throughout the Continent as the history of that strange episode in the relations of
Europe with Asia.

Each Weekly Number Contains Sixty =Four Payes

In which are given, without abridgment, the most interesting and important contributions to
the periodicals of Great Britain and the Continent, from the weighty articles in the quarterlies to
the light literary and social e?says of the weekly literary and political journals. Science, politics,
biography, discovery, art, travel, public affairs, literary criticism and all other departments of
knowledge and discussion which interest intelligent readers are represented in its pages.

Each Number Contains

A short story and an instalment of a serial story; ami translations of striking articles from
French, German, Italian and Spanish periodicals are made expressly fur the magazine by its own
staff of translators.

THE LIVING AGE has ministered for over fifty=six years t>> the wants of a large class of
alert and cultivated readers, and is today perhaps even more valuable than ever to those who wish
to keep abreast of current thought ami discussion.

PUBLISHED WEEKLY AT $6.00 A YEAR, POSTPAID. SIN6LE NUMBERS, 15 CENTS EACH.

FREE FOR THREE MONTHS. f. u,il 'he «"-

tion is exhausted
there will be sent to each new subscriber for 1901, on request, the numbers
of THE LIVING AGE from October 1st to December 31st, 1900. These
numbers will contain The Siege of the Leyations, as above, Heinrich Seid-
ell attractive serial, The Treasure, and the opening chapters of A Parisian
( Household by Paul Bourget. These serials are copyriyhted by THE
( LIVI/NG AGE and will appear only in this mayazine.

Address THE LIVING AGE CO., P.O. Box 5206, Boston.

ON A PACKAGE IS A

' GUARANTEE or PURITY
and DELICIQUSNESSof FLAVOR

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What The International Correspondence
Schools, Scrauton, Pa., are doing :

First — Teaching mechanics the
tueory of th«'ir work.

Second— Helping misplaced peo-
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Third— Kiiahlinjj young people to
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Box 1163, Scranton, Pa.

THE ARENA

A 20th Century Magazine of Vital Thought

HniTORs

CHARLES BRODIE PATTERSON B. O. FLOWER

JOHN EMERY McLEAN

SINCE September, 1899, The Arena, has
been published in New York, and under
its new ownership and editorial man-
agement has begun a new era of its
history, better equipped than ever to present
to inquiring minds the ripest thought on all
sides of the vital questions of the day.

As an influential, thought-building force in
the Reform Movement of this intellectual age
— Social, Political, Economic, Ethical, Relig-
ious— The Arena's contributions are derived
only from authoritative sources. Among its
special features are " Topics of the Times,'*
"Books of the Day," and "Conversations"
with distinguished personages, accompanied
with portraits and biographical sketches.

112 pages monthly, large magazine size

$2.50 a year; 25 cents a copy

The Alliance Pub. Co., "Life" Bldg., New York, N. Y.

McCLURE'S MAGAZINE

Bound Volume XV

MAY— OCTOBER, 1900

Now Ready for Delivery

In Dark Green Linen and Gold,
Postpaid, $1.25

In Blue Buckram and Gold,
Postpaid, $1.50

Indexes furnished to those who wish to do
their own binding.

S. S. McCLURE COMPANY

141 East 25th Sheet - NEW YORK

BOUND VOLUMES

OP THE

Popular Science Monthly

From Vols. I to 55 inclusive

GREEN CLOTH, $3.50

Volumes 56, 57 and 58

GREEN CLOTH, $2.50

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Hi East 25th Street - NEW YORK

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE
MONTHLY

Established in 1872 by Messrs. D. Appleton
and Company, and Dr. E. L. Youmans

The Populae Science Monthly is published by Messrs. McClure,
Phillips and Co., New York, and edited by Prof. J. McKeen Cattell, of
Columbia University, with the assistance of Dr. E. L. Thorndike, also
of Columbia University.

The Populae Science Monthly aims to represent fully and ac-
curately the advance of science; to permit the leading men of science
to bring their work before the largest public; to set a standard to the
popular press in its treatment of scientific topics; and to secure the
general interest in science that is needed for its adequate recognition
and support.

A journal with these aims is necessary, both to men of science and
to the general public. It brings men of science into contact with those
whose sympathy and help they need, while it enables the general public
to follow intelligently the progress of science and its contributions to
civilization. This double service of The Populae Science Monthly
is fully recognized; it has the largest circulation of any scientific journal
in the world, and it is conducted with the support of the leading men
of science, including in America:

Cleveland Abbe, Professor of Meteorology, United States Weather Bureau.

Cyrus Adler, Librarian, Smithsonian Institution.

Edward Atkinson, Boston.

W. O. Atwater, Professor of Chemistry, Wesleyan University.

J. A. Allen, Curator of Vertebrate Zoology, Am. Museum of Natural History.

L. H. Bailey, Professor of Horticulture, Cornell University.

Marcus Baker, United States Geological Survey.

J. Mark Baldwin, Professor of Psychology, Princeton University.

Lewellys P. Barker, Professor of Anatomy, University of Chicago.

E. E. Barnard, Professor of Astronomy, Yerkes Observatory, Univ. of Chicago.
C. R. Barnes, Professor of Botany, University of Chicago.

Carl Barus, Professor of Physics, Brown University.

Charles E. Bessey, Professor of Botany, University of Nebraska.

J. S. Billings, Director of the Consolidated Libraries, New York City.

Franz Boas, Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University.

H. Carrington Bolton, Washington, D. C.

J. C. Branner, Professor of Geology, Leland Stanford Junior University.

.uewis Boss, Director, Dudley Observatory, Albany, N. Y.

H. P. Bowditch, Professor of Physiology, Harvard University.

n! L. Britton, Director of the New York Botanical Gardens.

W. K. Brooks, Professor of Zoology, Johns Hopkins University.

H. C. Bumpus, Professor of Comparative Anatomy, Brown University.

William H. Burr, Professor of Engineering, Columbia University.

Nicholas Murray Butler, Professor of Philosophy and Education, Columbia Unir

T. C. Chamberlin, Professor of Geology, University of Chicago.

R. H. Chittenden, Professor of Physiological Chemistry, Yale University.

W. B. Clark, Professor of Geology, Johns Hopkins University.

F. W. Clarke, Chemist, United States Geological Survey.
John E. Clarke, Professor of Mathematics, Yale University.
F. N. Cole, Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University.

George C. Comstock, Director, Washburn Observatory, University of Wisconsin.
J. H. Comstock, Professor of Entomology in Cornell University and in Leland

Stanford Junior University.
0. F. Cook, United States Department of Agriculture.
John M. Coulter, Professor of Botany, University of Chicago.
Frederick V. Coville, Division of Botany, U. S. Department of Agriculture.
F. B. Crocker, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University.
Whitman Cross, U. S. Geological Survey.
Charles W. Dabney, President of the University of Tennessee.
W. H. Dall, United States National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Charles L. Dana, Professor of Nervous Diseases, Cornell Medical School.
E. S. Dana, Professor of Physics, Yale University.

Charles B. Davenport, Assistant Professor of Zoology, University of Chicago.
George M. Dawson, Director of the Geological Survey of Canada.
"W. M. Davis, Professor of Geology, Harvard University.
Bashford Dean, Adjunct of Professor of Zoology, Columbia University.
John Dewey, Professor of Philosophy, University of Chicago.
J. S. Diller, United States Geological Survey.
Richard E. Dodge, Teachers College, Columbia University.
H. H. Donaldson, Professor of Neurology, University of Chicago.
T. M. Drown, President of Lehigh University.
C. E. Dutton, United States Army.

Thomas Dwight, Professor of Anatomy, Harvard University.
M. C. Ernst, Professor of Bacteriology, Harvard University.
W. G. Farlow, Professor of Cryptogamic Botany, Harvard University.

B. E. Fernow, Director of the College of Forestry, Cornell University.
Simon Flexner, Professor of Pathology, University of Pennsylvania.
S. A. Forbes, Professor of Zoology, University of Illinois.

C. L. Franklin, Baltimore, Md.

W. S. Franklin, Professor of Physics, Lehigh University.

E. B. Frost, Professor of Astronomy, Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago.
George S. Fullerton, Professor of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania.

S. H. Gage, Professor of Histology and Embryology, Cornell University.

B. T. Galloway, Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, United States

Department of Agriculture.
W. F. Ganong, Professor of Botany, Smith College.
Wolcott Gibbs, President of the National Academy of Sciences, Professor of

Physics (emeritus), Harvard University.

F. H. Giddings, Professor of Sociology, Columbia University.

G. K. Gilbert, United States Geological Survey.

George Lincoln Goodale, Professor of Botany, Harvard University.

A. W. Greely, United States Army.
Arnold Hague, U. S. Geological Survey.

George E. Hale, Director of the Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago.

Asaph Hall, Professor of Astronomy, Harvard University.

W. Hallock, Adjunct Professor of Physics, Columbia University.

B. D. Halsted. Professor of Botany, Rutgers College.

(I. B. Halsted, Professor of Mathematics, University of Texas.
William Darkness, lately Director of the U. S. Naval Observatory.
W. T. Harris, U. S. Commissioner of Education.

Arjgelo Heilprin, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pa.
W. H Howell, Professor of Physiology, Johns Hopkins University.
Robert T. Hill, United States Geological Survey.
C. H. Hitchcock, Professor of Geology, Dartmouth College.

E. S. Holden, lately Director of the Lick Observatory.

C. A. Kofoid, Assistant Professor of Zoology, University of Illinois.
J. S. Kingsley, Professor of Zoology, Tufts College.

S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Joseph Le Conte, Professor of Geology and Natural History, Univ. of California.

Frederic S. Lee, Adjunct Professor of Physiology, Columbia University.

William Libbey, Professor of Physical Geography, Princeton University.

Frank R. Lillie, Assistant Professor of Zoology, Chicago University.

William A. Locy, Professor of Zoology, Northwestern University.

Jacques Loeb, Professor of Physiology, University of Chicago.

Morris Loeb, Professor of Chemistry, New York University.

F. A. Lucas, Curator of Vertebrate Fossils, United States National Museum.
Graham Lusk, Professor of Physiology, University and Bellevue Hospital Medical

College, New York City.
W. J. McGee, Ethnologist in charge of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Frank M. McMurry, Professor of Teaching, Columbia University.
Wm. McMurtrie, Chemist, New York City.

D. T. MacDougal, Director of the Laboratories, New York Botanical Gardens.
W. F. Magie, Professor of Physics, Princeton University.

E. L. Mark, Professor of Zoology, Harvard University.

C. L. Marlatt, Division of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture.
0. T. Mason, Curator, Division of Ethnology, United States National Museum.
T. C. Mendenhall, President of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
C. Hart Merriam, Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture.
George P. Merrill, Head Curator of Geology, U. S. National Museum.
Mansfield Merriman, Professor of Engineering, Lehigh University.
C. S. Minot, Professor of Histology and Embryology, Harvard University.
Clarence B. Moore, Philadelphia, Pa.

E. W. Morley, Professor of Chemistry, Adelbert College.
T. H. Morgan, Professor of Biology, Bryn Mawr College.
Edward S. Morse, Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, Mass.
A. J. Moses, Professor of Mineralogy, Columbia University.
Charles E. Munroe, Professor of Chemistry, Columbian University.
Hugo Miinsterberg, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University.

S. Newcomb, U. S. N., Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins
University.

F. H. Newell, United States Geological Survey.

J. U. Nef, Professor of Chemistry, University of Chicago.
Edw. L. Nichols, Professor of Physics, Cornell University.

H. F. Osborn, Professor of Zoology, Columbia University, Curator of Pal eon
tology, American Museum of Natural History, New York.

A. S. Packard, Professor of Zoology and Geology, Brown University.

G. T. W. Patrick, Professor of Philosophy, University of Iowa.

B. O. Pierce, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, Harvard Univ.

C. S. Pierce, Milford, Pa.

Edward C. Pickering, Director of the Harvard College Observatory.

W. T. Porter, Associate Professor of Physiology, Harvard University.

J. H. Powell, Director of the Bureau of American Ethnology. *