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@@ -0,0 +1,14796 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Popular Science Monthly Volume 86 + + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller with OmniPage Professional OCR + + + + + + +NOTE: degrees A (Absolute?) is the same as the current +degrees K (Kelvin). + + + + + +THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY VOLUME LXXXVI JULY TO SEPTEMBER, +1915 + +THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY VOLUME I OCTOBER TO DECEMBER, 1915 + +EDITED BY J. McKEEN CATTELL + + + + +THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY ------ OCTOBER, 1915 ------------- + + + +THE EVOLUTION OF THE STARS AND THE FORMATION OF THE EARTH. II + +BY DR. WILLIAM WALLACE CAMPBELL + +DIRECTOR OF THE LICK OBSERVATORY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA + +THE PRINCIPLES OF SPECTROSCOPY + +THUS far our description of the stellar universe has been +confined to its geometrical properties. A serious study of the +evolution of the stars must seek to determine, first of all, +what the stars really are, what their chemical constitutions +and physical conditions are; and how they are related to each +other as to their physical properties. The application of the +spectroscope has advanced our knowledge of the subject by leaps +and bounds. This wonderful instrument, assisted by the +photographic plate, enables every visible celestial body to +write its own record of the conditions existing in itself, +within limits set principally by the brightness of the body. +Such records physicists have succeeded to some extent in +duplicating in their laboratories; and the known conditions +under which the laboratory experiments have been conducted are +the Rosetta Stones which are enabling us to interpret, with +more or less success, the records written by the stars. + +It is well known that the ordinary image of a star, whether +formed by the eye alone, or by the achromatic telescope and the +eye combined, contains light of an infinite variety of colors +corresponding, speaking according to the mechanical theory of +light, to waves of energy of an infinite variety of lengths +which have traveled to us from the star. In the point image of +a star, these radiations fall in a confused heap. and the +observer is unable to say that radiations corresponding to any +given wave-lengths are present or absent. When the star's light +has been passed through the prism, or diffracted from the +grating of a spectroscope, these rays are separated one from +another and arranged side by side in perfect order, ready for +the observer to survey them and to determine which ones are +present in superabundance and which other ones are lacking +wholly or in part. The following comparison is a fair one: the +ordinary point image of a star is as if all the books in the +university library were thrown together in a disorderly but +compact pile in the center of the reading room: we could say +little concerning the contents and characteristics of that +library; whether it is strong in certain fields of human +endeavor, or weak in other fields. The spectrum of a star is as +the same library when the books are arranged on the shelves in +complete perfection and simplicity, so that he who looks may +appraise its contents at any or all points. Let us consider the +fundamental principles of spectroscopy. + +1. When a solid body, a liquid, or a highly-condensed gas is +heated to incandescence, its light when passed through a +spectroscope forms a continuous spectrum: that is, a band of +light, red at one end and violet at the other, uninterrupted by +either dark or bright lines. + +2. The light from the incandescent gas or vapor of a chemical +element, passed through a spectroscope, forms a bright-line +spectrum; that is, one consisting entirely of isolated bright +lines, distributed differently throughout the spectrum for the +different elements, or of bright lines superimposed upon a +relatively faint continuous spectrum. + +3. If radiations from a continuous-spectrum source pass through +cooler gases or vapors before entering the spectroscope, a +dark-line spectrum results: that is, the positions which the +bright lines in the spectra of the vapors and gases would have +are occupied by dark or absorption lines. These are frequently +spoken of as Fraunhofer lines. + +To illustrate: the gases and vapors forming the outer strata of +the Sun's atmosphere would in themselves produce bright-line +spectra of the elements involved. If these gases and vapors +could in effect be removed, without changing underlying +conditions, the remaining condensed body of the Sun should have +a continuous spectrum. The cooler overlying gases and vapors +absorb those radiations from the deeper and hotter sources +which the gases and vapors would themselves emit, and thus form +the dark-line spectrum of the Sun. The stretches of spectrum +between the dark lines are of course continuous-spectrum +radiations. + +These principles are illustrated in Fig. 12. The essential +parts of a spectroscope are the slit--an opening perhaps +1/100th of an inch wide and 1/10th of an inch long--to admit +the light properly; a lens to render the light rays parallel +before they fall upon the prism or grating; a prism or grating; +a lens to receive the rays after they have been dispersed by +the prism or grating and to form an image of the spectrum a +short distance in front of the eye, where the eye will see the +spectrum or a sensitive dry-plate will photograph it. If we +place an alcohol lamp immediately in front of the slit and +sprinkle some common salt in the flame the two orange bright +lines of sodium will be seen in the eyepiece, close together, +as in the upper of the two spectra in the illustration. If we +sprinkle thallium salt in the flame the green line of that +element will be visible in the spectrum. If we take the lamp +away and place a lime light or a piece of white-hot iron in +front of the slit we shall get a brilliant continuous spectrum +not crossed by any lines, either bright or dark. Insert now the +alcohol-sodium-thallium lamp between the lime light and the +slit, and the observer will see the two sodium lines and one +thallium line in the same places as before, but as dark lines +on a background of bright continuous spectrum, as: illustrated +in the lower of the two spectra. Let us insert a screen between +the lamp and the lime light so as to cut out the latter, and we +shall see the bright lines of sodium and thallium reappear as +in the upper of the two spectra. These simple facts illustrate +Kirchhoff's immortal discovery of certain fundamental +principles of spectroscopy, in 1859. The gases and vapors in +the lamp flame are at a lower temperature than the lime source. +The cooler vapors of sodium and thallium have the power of +absorbing exactly those rays from the hotter lime or other +similar source which the vapors by themselves would emit to +form bright lines. + +When we apply the spectroscope to celestial objects we find +apparently an endless variety of spectra. We shall illustrate +some of the leading characteristics of these spectra as in +Figs. 13 to 18, inclusive, and Figs. 21, 22, 23 and 24. The +spectra of some nebulae consist almost exclusively of isolated +bright lines, indicating that these bodies consist of luminous +gases, as Huggins determined in 1864; but a very faint +continuous band of light frequently forms a background for the +brilliant bright lines. Many of the nebular lines are due to +hydrogen, others are due to helium; but the majority, including +the two on the extreme right in Fig. 13, which we attribute to +the hypothetical element nebulium, and the close pair on the +extreme left, have not been matched in our laboratories and, +therefore, are of unknown origin. Most of the irregular nebulae +whose spectra have been observed, the ring nebulae, the +planetary and stellar nebulae, have very similar spectra, +though with many differences in the details.[1] + +[1] My colleague, Wright, who has been making a study of the +nebular spectra, has determined the accurate positions of about +67 bright nebular lines. + + + +The great spiral nebula in Andromeda has a continuous spectrum +crossed by a multitude of absorption lines. The spectrum is a +very close approach to the spectrum of our Sun. It is clear +that this spiral nebula is widely different from the +bright-line or gaseous nebulae in physical condition. The +spiral may be a great cluster of stars which are approximate +duplicates of our Sun, or there is a chance that it consists, +as Slipher has suggested, of a great central sun, or group of +suns, and of a multitude of small bodies or particles, such as +meteoric matter, revolving around the nucleus; this finely +divided matter being visible by reflected light which +originates in the center of the system. + +There is an occasional star, like chi Carinae, whose spectrum +consists almost wholly of bright lines, in general bearing no +apparent relationship to the bright lines in the spectra of the +gaseous nebulae except that the hydrogen lines are there, as +they are almost everywhere. There is reason to believe that +such a spectrum indicates the existence of a very extensive and +very hot atmosphere surrounding the main body, or core, of the +star in question. This particular star is remarkable in that it +has undergone great changes in brilliancy and is located upon a +background of nebulosity. The chances are strong that the star +has rushed through the nebulosity with high rate of speed and +that the resulting bombardment of the star has expanded and +intensely heated its atmosphere. + +There are the Wolf-Rayet stars, named from the French +astronomers who discovered the first three of this class, whose +spectra show a great variety of combinations of continuous +spectrum and bright bands. We believe that the continuous +spectrum in such a star comes from the more condensed central +part, or core, and that the bright-line light proceeds from a +hot atmosphere extending far out from the core. + +The great majority of the stars have spectra which are +continuous, except for the presence of dark or absorption +lines: a few lines in the very blue stars, and an increasing +number of lines as we pass from the blue through the yellow and +red stars to those which are extremely red. + +Secchi in the late 60's classified the spectra of the brighter +stars, according to the absorption lines in their spectra, into +Types I, II III and IV, which correspond: Type I, to the very +blue stars, such as Spica and Sirius; Type II, to the yellow +stars similar to our Sun; Type III, to the red stars such as +Aldebaran; and Type IV, to the extremely red stars, of which +the brightest representatives are near the limit of naked-eye +vision. Secchi knew little or nothing concerning stars whose +spectra contain bright lines, except as to the isolated +bright-line spectra of a few nebulae, and as to the bright +hydrogen lines in gamma Cassiopeia, and his system did not +include these. + +One of the most comprehensive investigations ever undertaken by +a single institution was that of classifying the stars as to +their spectra, over the entire sky, substantially down to and +including the stars of eighth magnitude, by the Harvard College +Observatory, as a memorial to the lamented Henry Draper. +Professor Pickering and his associates have formulated a +classification system which is now in universal use. It starts +with the bright-line nebulae, passes to the bright-line stars, +and then to the stars in which the helium absorption lines are +prominent. The latter are called the helium stars, or +technically the Class B stars. The next main division includes +the stars in which hydrogen absorption is prominent, called +Class A. Classes B and A are blue stars. Then follows in +succession Class F, composed of bluish-yellow stars, which is +in a sense a transition class between the hydrogen stars and +those resembling our Sun, the latter called Class G. The Class +G stars are yellow. Class K stars are the yellowish-red; Class +M, the red; and Class N, the extremely red. Each of these +classes has several subdivisions which make the transition from +one main class to the next main class fairly gradual, and not +per saltum; though it should be said that the relationship of +Class N to Class M spectra is not clear. The illustration, Fig. +17, brings out the principal features of the spectra of Classes +B to M. The spectrum becomes more complicated as we pass from +Class B to the Class M, and the color changes from blue to +extreme red, because the violet and blue radiations become +rapidly weaker as we pass through the various classes. + +GENERAL COURSE OF EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS + +The general course of the evolutionary processes as applied to +the principal classes of celestial bodies is thought to be +fairly well known. With very few exceptions astronomers are +agreed as to the main trend of this order, but this must not be +interpreted to mean that there are no outstanding differences +of opinion. There are, in fact, some items of knowledge which +seem to run counter to every order of evolution that has been +proposed. + +The large irregular nebulae, such as the great nebula in Orion, +the Trifid nebula, and the background of nebulosity which +embraces a large part of the constellation of Orion, are +thought to represent the earliest form of inorganic life known +to us. The material appears to be in a chaotic state. There is +no suggestion of order or system. The spectroscope shows that +in many cases the substance consists of glowing gases or +vapors; but whether they are glowing from the incandescence +resulting from high temperature, or electrical condition, or +otherwise, is unknown, though heat origin of their light is the +simplest hypothesis now available. Whether such nebulae are +originally hot or cold, we must believe that they are endowed +with gravitational power, and that their molecules or particles +are, or will ultimately be, in motion. It will happen that +there are regions of greater density, or nuclei, here and there +throughout the structure which will act as centers of +condensation, drawing surrounding materials into combination +with them. The processes of growth from nuclei originally small +to volumes and masses ultimately stupendous must be slow at +first, relatively more rapid after the masses have grown to +moderate dimensions and the supplies of outlying materials are +still plentiful, and again slow after the supplies shall have +been largely exhausted. By virtue of motions prevailing within +the original nebular structure, or because of inrushing +materials which strike the central masses, not centrally but +obliquely, low rotations of the condensed nebulous masses will +occur. Stupendous quantities of heat will be generated in the +building-up process. This heat will radiate rapidly into space +because the gaseous masses are highly rarefied and their +radiating surfaces are large in proportion to the masses. With +loss of heat the nebulous masses will contract in volume and +gradually assume forms more and more spherical. When the forms +become approximately spherical, the first stage of stellar life +may be said to have been reached. + +It was Herschel's belief that by processes of condensation, +following the loss of heat by radiation into surrounding space, +formless nebulae gravitated into nebula of smaller and smaller +volumes until finally the planetary form was reached, and that +planetaries were the ancestors of stars in general. That the +planetaries do develop into stars, we have every reason to +believe; but that all nebulae, or relatively many nebulae, pass +through the planetary stage, or that many of our stars have +developed from planetaries, we shall later find good reason for +doubting. The probabilities are immensely stronger that the +stars in general have been formed directly from the irregular +nebulae, without the intervention of the planetaries. The +planetary nebula seem to be exceptional cases, but to this +point we shall return later. + +It is quite possible, and even probable, that gaseous masses +have not in all cases passed directly to the stellar state. The +materials in a gaseous nebula may be so highly attenuated, or +be distributed so irregularly throughout a vast volume of +space, that they will condense into solids, small meteoric +particles for example, before they combine to form stars. Such +masses or clouds of non-shining or invisible matter are thought +to exist in considerable profusion within the stellar system. +The nebulosity connected more or less closely with the brighter +Pleiades stars may be a case in illustration. Slipher has +recently found that the spectra of two small regions observed +in this nebula are continuous, with absorption lines of +hydrogen and helium. This spectrum is apparently the same as +that of the bright Pleiades stars. Slipher's interpretation is +that the nebula is not shining by its own light, but is +reflecting to us the light of the Pleiades stars. That this +material will eventually be drawn into the stars already +existing in the neighborhood, or be condensed into new centers +and form other stars, we can scarcely doubt. The condensation +of such materials to form stars large enough to be seen from +the great distance of the Pleiades cluster must generate heat +in the process, and cause these stars in their earliest youth +to be substantially as hot as other stars formed directly from +gaseous materials. It is possible, also, that the spiral +nebulae will develop into stars, perhaps each such object into +many, or some of the larger ones into multitudes, of stars. + +Let us attempt to visualize the conditions which we think exist +in a newly-formed star of average mass. It should be +essentially spherical, with surface fairly sharply defined. Our +Sun has average specific gravity of 1.4, as compared with that +of water. The average density of the very young star must +certainly be vastly lower; perhaps no greater than the density +of our atmosphere at the Earth's surface; it may even be +considerably lower than this estimate. The diameter of our Sun +is 1,400,000 kilometers. The diameter of the average young star +may be ten or twenty or forty times as great. The central +volume or core of the star is undoubtedly a great deal denser +than the surface strata, on account of pressure due to the +star's own gravitational forces. The conditions in the outer +strata should bear some resemblance to those existing in the +gaseous nebula. The star may or may not have a corona closely +or remotely similar to our Sun's corona. The deep interior of +the star must be very hot, though not nearly so hot as the +interiors of older stars; but the surface strata of the young +star should be remarkably hot; for, being composed of highly +attenuated gases, any lowering of the temperature by radiation +into surrounding space will be compensated promptly through the +medium of highly-heated convection currents which can travel +more rapidly from the interior to the surface than in the case +of stars in middle or old age. Even though the star, as +observed in our most powerful telescopes, is a point of light, +without apparent diameter, its outer strata should supply some +bright lines in the spectrum, because these strata project out +beyond what we may call the core of the star and themselves act +as sources of light. The spectrum should, therefore, consist of +some of the bright lines which were observed in the nebular +spectrum, these proceeding from the outer strata of the star; +and of a continuous spectrum made up of radiations proceeding +from the deeper strata or core of the star, in which a few dark +lines may be introduced by the absorption from those parts of +the outer gaseous strata which lie between us and the core. + +A few hundred stellar spectra resembling this description are +well known, discovered mostly at the Harvard Observatory. Their +details differ greatly, but they have certain features in +common. The bright lines of helium are extremely rare in stars, +but they have been observed in a few stellar spectra. The +bright lines of nebulium have never been observed in a true +star: they and the radiations in the ultra-violet known as at +3726A, seem to be confined to the nebular state; and the +absorption lines of nebulium have never been observed in any +spectrum. As soon as the stellar state is reached nebulium is +no longer in evidence. Stellar spectra containing bright lines +seem always to include hydrogen bright lines. This is as we +should expect; hydrogen is the lightest known gas, and it is +probably the substance which can best exist in the outer strata +of stars in general. The extensive outer strata of very young +stars seem to be composed largely of hydrogen, though other +elements are in some cases present, as indicated by the weaker +bright lines in a few cases. This preference of hydrogen for +the outermost strata is illustrated by several very interesting +observations of the nebulae. The nebulium lines are relatively +strong in the central denser parts of the Orion and Trifid +nebulae, but the hydrogen bright-lines are relatively very +strong in the faint outlying parts of these nebulae. The +planetary nebula B.D.--12 degrees.1172 is seen in the ordinary +telescope to consist of a circular disc (probably a sphere or +spheroid) of light and a faint star in its center. When this +nebula is observed with a slitless spectrograph the hydrogen +and nebulium components are seen as circular discs, but the +hydrogen discs are larger than the nebulium discs. In other +words, the hydrogen forms an atmosphere about the central star +which extends out into space in all directions a great deal +farther than the nebulium discs extend. The Wolf-Rayet +star-planetary nebula D. M. + 30 degrees.3639 looks hazy in a +powerful telescope, and when examined in a spectroscope the +haziness is seen to be due to a sharply defined globe of +hydrogen 5 seconds of arc in diameter surrounding the star in +its center. Wolf and Burns have shown that in the Ring Nebula +in Lyra the 3726A and the hydrogen images are larger as to +outer diameter than the nebulium images, but that the latter +are the more condensed on the inner edge of the ring. Wright +has in the present year examined these and other nebulae with +special reference to the distribution of the principal +ingredients. He finds in general that the radiations at 4363A +and 4686A, of unknown or possibly helium origin, are most +closely compressed around the central nuclei of nebulae; that +the matter definitely known to be helium is more extended in +size; that the nebulium structure is still larger; and that the +hydrogen uniformly extends out farther than the nebulium; and +that the ultra violet radiation at 3726A seems to proceed from +the largest volume of all. The 37726A line, like the nebulium +line, is unknown in stellar spectra; it seems also to be +confined to true nebulosity. Neglecting the elements which have +never been observed in true stars, we may say that all these +observations are in harmony with the view that hydrogen should +be and is the principal element in the outer stratum of the +very young star. A few of the stars whose spectra contain +bright hydrogen lines have also a number of bright lines whose +chemical origin is not known. They appear to exist exactly at +this state of stellar life: several of them have not been found +in the spectra of the gaseous nebulae, and they are not +represented in the later types of stellar spectra. The strata +which produce these bright lines are thought to be a little +deeper in the stars than the outer hydrogen stratum. + +A slightly older stage of stellar existence is indicated by the +type of spectrum in which some of the lines of hydrogen, always +those at the violet end, are dark, and the remaining hydrogen +lines, always those toward the red end, are bright. The +brightest star in the Pleiades group, Alcyone, presents +apparently the last of this series, for all of the hydrogen +lines are dark except H alpha, in the red. In some of the +bright-line stars which we have described, technically known as +Oe5, Harvard College Observatory found that the dark helium and +hydrogen lines exist, and apparently increase in intensity, on +the average, as the bright lines become fainter. Wright has +observed the absorption lines of helium and hydrogen in the +spectra of the nuclei of some planetary nebulae, although the +helium and hydrogen lines are bright in the nebulosity +surrounding the nuclei. We may say that when all of the bright +lines have disappeared from the spectra of stars, the helium +lines, and likewise the hydrogen lines, have in general become +fairly conspicuous. These stars are known as the helium stars, +or stars of Class B. Proceeding through the subdivisions of +Class B, the helium lines increase to a maximum of intensity +and then decrease. The dark hydrogen lines are more and more in +evidence, with intensities increasing slowly. In the middle and +later subdivisions of the helium stars silicon, oxygen and +nitrogen are usually represented by a few absorption lines. + +Just as the gaseous nebulae radiate heat into space and +condense, so must the stars, with this difference: the nebulae +are highly rarified bodies, with surfaces enormously large in +proportion to the heat contents; and the radiation from them +must be relatively rapid. In fact, some of the nebulae seem to +be so highly rarified that radiation may take place from their +interiors almost as well as from their surfaces. The radiation +from a star just formed must occur at a much slower rate. The +continued condensation of the star, following the loss of heat, +must lead to a change of physical condition, which will be +apparent in the spectrum. It should pass from the so-called +helium group, to the hydrogen, or Class A group, not suddenly +but by insensible gradations of spectrum. In the Class A stars +the hydrogen lines are the most prominent features. The helium +lines have disappeared, except in a few stars where faint +helium remnants are in evidence. The magnesium lines have +become prominent and the calcium lines are growing rapidly in +strength. The so-called metallic lines, usually beginning with +iron and titanium lines, which have a few extremely faint +representatives in the last of the helium stars, become visible +here and there in the Class A spectra, but they are not +conspicuous. + +In the next main division, the Class F spectra, the metallic +lines increase rapidly in prominence, and the hydrogen lines +decrease slightly in strength. These stars are not so blue as +the helium and hydrogen stars. They are intermediate between +the blue stars and the yellow stars, which begin with the next +class, G, of which our Sun is a representative. + +The metallic lines are in Class G spectra in great number and +intensity, and the hydrogen lines are greatly reduced in +prominence. The calcium bands are very wide and intense. + +Another step brings us to the very yellow and the +slightly-reddish stars, known as Class K. These stars are weak +in violet light, the hydrogen lines are substantially of the +same intensity as the most prominent metallic lines, and the +metallic lines are more and more in evidence. + +Stars in the last subdivisions of the Class K and all of the +Class M stars are decidedly red. In these the hydrogen lines +are still further weakened and the metallic lines are even more +prominent. Their spectra are further marked by absorption bands +of titanium oxide, which reach their maximum strength in the +later subdivisions of Class M. + +The extremely red stars compose Class N on the Harvard scale. +Their spectra are almost totally lacking in violet light, the +metallic absorption is very strong, and there are conspicuous +absorption bands of carbon. + +Deep absorbing strata of titanium and carbon oxides seem to +exist in the atmospheres of the Class M and N stars, +respectively. The presence of these oxides indicates a +relatively low temperature, and this is what we should expect +from stars so far advanced in life. + +The period of existence succeeding the very red stars has +illustrations near at hand, we think, in Jupiter, Saturn, +Uranus and Neptune, and in the Earth and the other small +planets and the Moon: bodies which still contain much heat, but +which are invisible save by means of reflected light. + +The progression of stellar development, which we have +described, has been based upon the radiation of heat. This is +necessarily gradual, and the corresponding changes of spectrum +should likewise be gradual and continuous. It is not intended +to give the impression that only a few types of spectra are in +evidence: the variety is very great. The labels, Class B, Class +A, and so on to Class N, are intended to mark the miles in the +evolutionary journey. The Harvard experts have put up other +labels to mark the tenths of miles, so to speak, and some day +we shall expect to see the hundredths labeled. Further, it is +not here proposed that heat radiation is the only vital factor +in the processes of evolution. The mass of a star may be an +important item, and the electrical conditions may be concerned. +A very small star and a very massive star may develop +differently, and it is conceivable that there may be actual +differences of composition. But heat-radiation is doubtless the +most important factor. + +The evolutionary processes must proceed with extreme +deliberation. The radiation of the heat actually present at any +moment in a large helium star would probably not require many +tens of thousands of years, but this quantity of heat is +negligible in comparison with the quantity generated within the +star during and by the processes of condensation from the +helium age down to the Class M state. We know that the +compression of any body against resistance generates or +releases heat. Now a gaseous star at any instant is in a state +of equilibrium. Its internal heat and the centrifugal force due +to its rotation about an axis are trying to expand it. Its own +gravitational power is trying to draw all of its materials to +the center. Until there is a loss of heat no contraction can +occur; but just as soon as there is such a loss gravity +proceeds to diminish the stellar volume. Contraction will +proceed more slowly than we should at first thought expect, +because in the process of contraction additional heat is +generated and this becomes a factor in resisting further +compression. Contraction is resisted vastly more by the heat +generated in the process of contraction than it is by the store +of heat already in evidence. The quantity of heat in our Sun, +now existing as heat, would suffice to maintain its present +rate of outflow only a few thousands of years. The heat +generated in the process of the Sun's shrinkage under gravity, +however, is so extensive as to maintain the supply during +millions of years to come. Helmholtz has shown that the +reduction of the Sun's radius at the rate of 45 meters per year +would generate as much heat within the Sun as is now radiated. +This rate of shrinkage is so slow that our most refined +instruments could not detect a change in the solar diameter +until after the lapse of 4,000 or 5,000 years. Again, there are +reasons for suspecting that the processes of evolution in our +Sun, and in other stars as well, may be enormously prolonged +through the influence of energy within the atoms or molecules +of matter composing them. The subatomic forces residing in the +radioactive elements represent the most condensed form of +energy of which we have any conception. It is believed that the +subatomic energy in a mass of radium is at least a million-fold +greater than the energy represented in the combustion or other +chemical transformation of any ordinary substance having the +same mass. These radioactive forces are released with extreme +slowness, in the form of heat or the equivalent; and if these +substances exist moderately in the Sun and stars, as they do in +the Earth, they may well be important factors in prolonging the +lives of these bodies. + +Speaking somewhat loosely, I think we may say that the +processes of evolution from an extended nebula to a condensed +nebula and from the latter to a spherical star, are +comparatively rapid, perhaps normally confined to a few tens of +millions of years; but that the further we proceed in the +development process, from the blue star to the yellow, and +possibly but not certainly on to the red star, the slower is +the progress made, for the radiating surface through which all +the energy from the interior must pass becomes smaller and +smaller in proportion to the mass, and the convection currents +which carry heat from the interior to the surface must slow +down in speed. + + + +A HISTORY OF FIJI. + +BY DR. ALFRED GOLDSBOROUGH MAYER + +IV + +THE Fijians had a well-organized social system which recognized +six classes of society. (1) Kings and queens (Tuis and Andis). +(2) Chiefs of districts (Rokos). (3) Chiefs of villages, +priests (Betes), and land owners (Mata-ni-vanuas). (4) +Distinguished warriors of low birth, chiefs of the carpenter +caste (Rokolas), and chiefs of the turtle fishermen. (5) Common +people (Kai-si). (6) Slaves taken in battle. + +The high chiefs still inspire great respect, and indeed it has +been the policy of the British government to maintain a large +measure of their former authority. Thus of the 17 provinces +into which the group was divided, 11 are governed by high +chiefs entitled Roko Tui, and there are about 176 inferior +chiefs who are the head men of districts, and 31 native +magistrates. In so far as may be consistent with order and +civilization these chiefs are permitted to govern in the old +paternal manner, and they are veritably patriarchs of their +people. The district chiefs are still elected by the land +owners, mata-ni-vanuas, by a showing of hands as of old. + +Independent of respect paid to those in authority, rank is +still reverenced in Fiji. Once acting under the kind permission +and advice of our generous friend Mr. Allardyce, the colonial +secretary, and accompanied by my ship-mates Drs. Charles H. +Townsend, and H. F. Moore, I went upon a journey of some days +into the interior of Viti Levu, our guide and companion being +Ratu Pope Seniloli, a grandson of king Thakombau, and one of +the high chiefs of Mbau. Upon meeting Ratu Pope every native +dropped his burdens, stepped to the side of the wood-path and +crouched down, softly chanting the words of the tame, muduo! +wo! No one ever stepped upon his shadow, and if desirous of +crossing his path they passed in front, never behind him. Clubs +were lowered in his presence, and no man stood fully erect when +he was near. The very language addressed to high chiefs is +different from that used in conversation between ordinary men, +these customs being such that the inferior places himself in a +defenceless position with respect to his superior. + +It is a chief's privilege to demand service from his subjects; +which was fortunate for us, for when we started down the +Waidina River from Nabukaluka our canoes were so small and +overloaded that the ripples were constantly lapping in over the +gunwale, threatening momentarily to swamp us. Soon, however, we +came upon a party of natives in a fine large canoe, and after +receiving their tama Ratu Pope demanded: "Where are you going"? +The men, who seemed somewhat awestricken, answered that it had +been their intention to travel up the river. Whereupon Ratu +Pope told them that this they might do, but we would take their +canoe and permit them to continue in ours. To this they acceded +with the utmost cheerfulness, although our noble guide would +neither heed our protests nor permit us to reward them for +their service, saying simply, "I am a chief. You may if you +choose pay me." In this manner we continued to improve our +situation by "exchanging" with every canoe we met which +happened to be better than our own, until finally our princely +friend ordered a gay party of merry-makers out of a fine large +skiff, which they cheerfully "exchanged" for our leaky canoes +and departed singing happily, feeling honored indeed that this +opportunity had come to them to serve the great chief Ratu Pope +Seniloli; and thus suffering qualms of conscience, we sailed to +our destination leaving a wake of confusion behind us. Moreover +I forgot to mention that many natives had by Ratu Pope's orders +been diverted from their intended paths and sent forward to +announce the coming of himself and the "American chiefs." Thus +does one of the Royal house of Mbau proceed through Fiji. + +At first sight such behavior must appear autocratic, to say the +least, but it should be remembered that a high chief has it in +his power fully to recompense those about him, and this without +the payment of a penny. Indeed, many intelligent natives still +regret the introduction of money into their land, saying that +all the white man's selfishness had been developed through its +omnipotence. In Fiji to-day there are no poor, for such would +be fed and given a house by those who lived beside them. The +white man's callous brutality in ignoring the appeal of misery +is incomprehensible to the natives of Fiji. "Progress" they +have not in the sense that one man possesses vast wealth and +many around him struggle helplessly, doomed to life-long +poverty; nor have they ambition to toil beyond that occasional +employment required to satisfy immediate wants. Yet if life be +happy in proportion as the summation of its moments be +contented, the Fijians are far happier than we. Old men and +women rest beneath the shade of cocoa-palms and sing with the +youths and maidens, and the care-worn faces and bent bodies of +"civilization" are still unknown in Fiji. They still have +something we have lost and never can regain. + +It is impossible to draw a line between personal service such +as was rendered to Ratu Pope and a regular tax (lala) for the +benefit of the entire community or the support of the communal +government; and the recognition of this fact actuated the +English to preserve much of the old system and to command the +payment of taxes in produce, rather than in money. + +Land tenure in Fiji is a subject so complex that heavy volumes +might be written upon it. In general it may be said that the +chief can sell no land without the consent of his tribe. +Cultivated land belonged to the man who originally farmed it, +and is passed undivided to all his heirs. Waste land is held in +common. Native settlers who have been taken into the tribes +from time to time have been permitted to farm some of the waste +land, and for this privilege they and their heirs must pay a +yearly tribute to the chief either in produce or in service. +Thus this form of personal lala is simply rent. The whole +subject of land-ownership has given the poor English a world of +trouble, as one may see who cares to read the official reports +of the numerous intricate cases that have come before the +courts. + +For example, one party based their claims to land on the +historic fact that their ancestors had eaten the chief of the +original owners, and the solemn British court allowed the +claim. + +Basil Thomson in his interesting work upon "The Fijians; a +Study of the Decline of Custom," has given an authoritative +summary of the present status of taxation and land tenure, land +being registered under a modification of the Australian Torrens +system. + +In order to protect these child-like people from the avarice of +our own race they are not permitted to sell their lands, and +the greater portion of the area of Fiji is still held by the +natives. The Hawaiian Islands now under our own rule furnish a +sad contrast, for here the natives are reduced by poverty to a +degraded state but little above that of peonage. The Fijians. +on the other hand, may not sell, but may with the consent of +the commissioner of native affairs lease their lands for a +period of not more than twenty years. + +The Fijians appear never to have been wholly without a medium +of exchange, for sperm-whale's teeth have always had a +recognized purchasing power, but are more especially regarded +as a means of expressing good will and honesty of purpose. A +whale's tooth is as effective to secure compliance with the +terms of a bargain as an elaborately engraved bond would be +with us. More commonly, however, exchanges are direct, each man +bringing to the village green his taro, yaqona, yams or fish +and exchanging with his neighbors; the rare disputes being +settled by the village chief. + +In traveling you will discover no hotels, but will be +entertained in the stranger's houses, and in return for your +host's hospitality you should make presents to the chief. +Indeed to journey in good fashion you should be accompanied by +a train of bearers carrying heavy bags full of purposed gifts, +and nowhere in the world is the "rate per mile" higher than in +Polynesia. + +As in all communities, including our own world of finance, a +man's wealth consists not only in what he possesses but even +more so in the number of people from whom he can beg or borrow. +Wilkes records an interesting example of this, for he found +that the rifle and other costly presents he had presented to +King Tanoa were being seized upon by his (Tanoa's) nephew who +as his vasu had a right to take whatever he might select from +the king's possessions. Indeed, in order to keep his property +in sight, Tanoa was forced to give it to his own sons, thus +escaping the rapacity of his nephew. The construction of the +British law is such that a vasu who thus appropriates property +to himself could be sued and forced to restore it, but not a +single Fijian has yet been so mean as to bring such a matter +into court. + +An individual as such can hardly be said to own property, for +nearly all things belong to his family or clan, and are shared +among cousins. This condition is responsible for that absence +of personal ambition and that fatal contentment with existing +conditions, which strikes the white man as so illogical, but +which is nevertheless the dominant feature of the social fabric +of the Polynesians, and which has hitherto prevented the +introduction of "ideals of modern progress." The natives are +happy; why work when every reasonable want is already supplied? +None are rich in material things, but none are beggars +excepting in the sense that all are such. No one can be a +miser, a capitalist, a banker, or a "promoter" in such a +community, and thieves are almost unknown. Indeed, the honesty +of the Fijians is one of those virtues which has excited the +comment of travelers. Wilkes, who loathed them as "condor-eyed +savages," admits that the only thing which any native attempted +to steal from the Peacock was a hatchet, and upon being +detected the chief requested the privilege of taking the man +ashore in order that he might be roasted and eaten. Theft was +always severely punished by the chief; Maafu beating a thief +with the stout stalk of a cocoanut leaf until the culprit's +life was despaired of, and Tui Thakau wrapping one in a tightly +wound rope so that not a muscle could move while the wretch +remained exposed for an entire day to the heat of the sun. + +During Professor Alexander Agassiz's cruises in which he +visited nearly every island of the Fijis, and the natives came +on board by hundreds, not a single object was stolen, although +things almost priceless in native estimation lay loosely upon +the deck. Once, indeed, when the deck was deserted by both +officers and crew and fully a hundred natives were on board, we +found a man who had been gazing wistfully for half an hour at a +bottle which lay upon the laboratory table. Somehow he had +managed to acquire a shilling, a large coin in Fiji, and this +he offered in exchange for the coveted bottle. One can never +forget his shout of joy and the radiance of his honest face as +he leaped into his canoe after having received it as a gift. + +Even the great chief Ratu Epele of Mbau beamed with joy when +presented with a screw-capped glass tobacco jar, and Tui Thakau +of Somo somo had a veritable weakness for bottles and possessed +a large collection of these treasures. + +Intelligent and well-educated natives who know whereof they +speak have told me that they desire not the white man's system, +entailing as it does untold privation and heart-burnings to the +many that the few may enjoy a surfeit of mere material things. +As the natives say, "The white man possesses more than we, but +his life is full of toil and sorrow, while our days are happy +as they pass." + +Thus in the Pacific life is of to-day; the past is dead, and +the future when it comes will pass as to-day is passing. Life +is a dream, an evanescent thing, all but meaningless, and real +only as is the murmur of the surf when the sea-breeze comes in +the morning, and man awakens from the oblivion of night. + +Hoarded wealth inspires no respect in the Pacific, and indeed, +were it discovered, its possession would justify immediate +confiscation. Yet man must raise idols to satisfy his instinct +to worship things above his acquisition, and thus rank is the +more reverenced because respect for property is low. Even +to-day there is something god-like in the presence of the high +chiefs, and none will cross the shadow of the king's house. +Even in war did a common man kill a chief he himself was killed +by men of his own tribe. + +As it is with property so with relationships. The family ties +seem loosened; every child has two sets of parents, the adopted +and the real, and relationships founded upon adoption are more +respected than the real. Rank descends mainly through the +mother. The son of a high chief by a common woman is a low +chief, or even a commoner, but the son of a chieftainess by a +common man is a chief. Curiously, there are no words in Fijian +which are the exact equivalent of widow and widower. In the +Marshall group the chief is actually the husband of all the +women of his tribe, and as Lorimer Fison has said in his "Tales +from Old Fiji," their designation and understanding of +relationships suggests that there was once a time when "all the +women were the wives of every man, and all the men were the +husbands of every woman," as indeed was almost the case in +Tahiti at the time of Captain Cook's visit to this island. + +The social customs of Fiji are rarely peculiar to Fiji itself, +but commonly show their relationship or identity with those of +the Polynesians or Papuans. Curiously indeed, while the +original stock of the Fijians was probably pure Papuan, their +social and economic systems are now dominated by Polynesian +ideas, and only among the mountain tribes do we find a clear +expression of the crude Papuan systems of life and thought. +This in itself shows that under stimulation the Fijians are +capable of advancement in cultural ideals. + +This superposition of a Polynesian admixture upon a barbarous +negroid stock may account for the anomalous character of the +Fijians, for in the arts they equalled or in some things +excelled the other island peoples of the Pacific, and some of +their customs approached closely to the cultural level of the +Polynesians, but in certain fundamental things they remained +the most fiendish savages upon earth. Indeed we should expect +that contact with a somewhat high culture would introduce new +wants, and thus affect their arts more profoundly than their +customs. + +In common with all primitive peoples, their names of men and +women are descriptive of some peculiarity or circumstance +associated with the person named. Indeed, names were often +changed after important events in a person's life, thus our old +friend Thakombau began life as Seru, then after the coup d'etat +in which he slaughtered his father's enemies and reestablished +Tanoa's rule in Mbau he was called Thakombau (evil to Mbau). At +the time he also received another name Thikinovu (centipede) in +allusion to his stealthiness in approaching to bite his enemy, +but this designation, together with his "missionary" name +"Ebenezer," did not survive the test of usage. Miss Gordon +Cumming gives an interesting list of Fijian names translated +into English. For women they were such as Spray of the Coral +Reef, Queen of Parrot's Land, Queen of Strangers, Smooth Water, +Wife of the Morning Star, Mother of Her Grandchildren, Ten +Whale's Teeth, Mother of Cockroaches, Lady Nettle, Drinker of +Blood, Waited For, Rose of Rewa, Lady Thakombau, Lady Flag, +etc. The men's names were such as The Stone (eternal) God, +Great Shark, Bad Earth, Bad Stranger, New Child, More Dead +Man's Flesh, Abode of Treachery, Not Quite Cooked, Die Out of +Doors, Empty Fire, Fire in the Bush, Eats Like a God, King of +Gluttony, Ill Cooked, Dead Man, Revenge, etc. + +In the religion of a people we have the most reliable clue to +the history of their progress in culture and intelligence, for +religions even when unwritten are potent to conserve old +conceptions, and thus their followers advance beyond them, as +does the intelligence of the twentieth century look pityingly +upon the conception of the cruel and jealous God of the Old +Testament, whose praises are nevertheless still sung in every +Christian church. Thus in Tahiti the people were not cannibals, +but the gods still appeared in the forms of birds that fed upon +the bodies of the sacrificed. The eye of the victim was, +indeed, offered to the chief, who raised it to his lips but did +not eat it. In Samoa also where the practice of cannabalism was +very rare and indulged in only under great provocation, some of +the gods remained cannibals, and the surest way of appeasing +any god was to be laid upon the stones of a cold oven. In +Tahiti and Samoa, while most of the gods were malevolent, a few +were kindly disposed towards mortals; in Fiji, however, they +were all dreaded as the most powerful, sordid, cruel and +vicious cannibal ghosts that have ever been conjured into being +in the realm of thought. + +All over the Pacific from New Zealand to Japan, and from New +Guinea to Hawaii, ancestor-worship forms the backbone of every +religion as clearly as it did in Greece or Rome. There are +everywhere one or more very ancient gods who may always have +existed and from whom all others are descended. Next in order +of reverence, although not always in power, come their +children, and finally the much more numerous grandchildren and +remote descendants of these oldest and highest gods. Finally, +after many generations, men of chieftain's rank were born to +the gods. Thus a common man could never attain the rank of a +high chief, for such were the descendants of the gods, while +commoners were created out of other clay and designed to be +servants to the chiefs. + +But the process of god-making did not end with the appearance +of men, for great chiefs and warriors after death became kalou +yalo, or spirits, and often remained upon earth a menace to the +unwary who might offend them. Curiously, these deified mortals +might suffer a second death which would result in their utter +annihilation, and while in Fiji we heard a tale of an old chief +who had met with the ghost of his dead enemy and had killed him +for the second and last time; the club which served in this +miraculous victory having been hung up in the Mbure as an +object of veneration. + +Of a still lower order were the ghosts of common men or of +animals, and most dreaded of all was the vengeful spirit of the +man who had been devoured. The ghosts of savage Fiji appear all +to have been malevolent and fearful beings, whereas those of +the more cultured Polynesians were some of them benevolent. As +Ellis says of the Tahitian mythology: + +Each lovely island was made a sort of fairyland and the spells +of enchantment were thrown over its varied scenes. The +sentiment of the poet that + + "Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth, + Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep" + +was one familiar to their minds, and it is impossible not to +feel interested in a people who were accustomed to consider +themselves surrounded by invisible intelligences, anti who +recognized in the rising sun, the mild and silver moon, the +shooting star, the meteor's transient flame, the ocean's roar, +the tempest's blast, or the evening breeze the movements of +mighty spirits. + +The gods and ghosts of Fiji often entered into the bodies of +animals or men, especially idiots. + +Thus when the Carnegie Institution Expedition arrived at the +Murray Islands in Torres Straits, the scientific staff were +much pleased at the decided evidences of respect shown by the +natives until it came out that the Islanders considered their +white guests to be semi-idiots, and hence powerful sorcerers to +be placated. Fijian religion had developed into the oracular +stage, and the priest after receiving prayers and offerings +would on occasions be entered into by the god. Tremors would +overspread his body, the flesh of which would creep horribly. +His veins would swell, his eyeballs protrude with excitement +and his voice, becoming quavering and unnatural, would whine +out strange words, words spoken by the god himself and unknown +to the priest who as his unconscious agent was overcome by +violent convulsions. Slowly the contortions grew less and with +a start the priest would awaken, dash his club upon the ground +and the god would leave him. It may well be imagined that the +priests were the most powerful agents of the chiefs in +forwarding the interests of their masters, for, as in ancient +Greece or Rome, nothing of importance was undertaken without +first consulting the oracle. + +Surrounded by multitudes of demons, ghosts, and genii who were +personified in everything about him, religion was the most +powerful factor in controlling Fijian life and politics. In +fact, it entered deeply into every act the native performed. +The gods were more monstrous in every way than man, but in all +attributes only the exaggerated counterparts of Fijian chiefs. + +War was constantly occurring among these gods and spirits, and +even high gods could die by accident or be killed by those of +equal rank so that at least one god, Samu, was thus dropped out +of the mythology in 1847. + +Ndengei was the oldest and greatest, but not the most +universally reverenced god. He lived in a cavern in the +northeastern end of Viti Levu, and usually appeared as a snake, +or as a snake's head with a body of stone symbolizing eternal +life. Among the sons and grandsons of Ndengei were Roko +Mbati-ndua, the one-toothed lord; a fiend with a huge tooth +projecting from his lower jaw and curving over the top of his +head. He had bat's wings armed with claws and was usually +regarded as a harbinger of pestilence. The mechanic's god was +eight-handed, gluttony had eighty stomachs, wisdom possessed +eight eyes. Other gods were the adulterer, the abductor of +women of rank and beauty, the rioter, the brain-eater, the +killer of men, the slaughter god, the god of leprosy, the +giant, the spitter of miracles, the gods of fishermen and of +carpenters, etc. One god hated mosquitoes and drove them away +from the place where he lived. The names and stations of the +gods are described by Thomas Williams, who has given the most +detailed account of the old religion. + +As with all peoples whose religion is barbarous, there were +ways of obtaining sanctuary and many a man has saved his life +by taking advantage of the tabus which secured their operation. +No matter how desirous your host might be of murdering you, as +long as you remained a guest under his roof you were safe, +although were you only a few yards away from his door he would +eagerly attack you. + +But not only did the Fijians live in a world peopled by +witches, wizards, prophets, seers and fortune-tellers, but +there was a perfect army of fairies which overran the whole +land, and the myths concerning which would have filled volumes +could they ever have been gathered. The gnome-like spirits of +the mountains had peaked heads, and were of a vicious, impish +disposition, but were powerless to injure any one who carried a +fern leaf in his hand. + +Sacred relics such as famous clubs, stones possessing +miraculous powers, etc., were sometimes kept in Fijian temples, +but there were no idols such as were prayed to by the +Polynesians. + +The fearful alternatives of heaven and hell were unknown to the +Fijians. They believed in an eternal existence for men, +animals, and even canoes and other inanimate things, but the +future life held forth no prospect either of reward for virtues +or punishment for evil acts committed while alive. So certain +were they of a future life that they always referred to the +dead as "the absent ones," and their land of shades (Mbulu) was +not essentially different from the world they lived in. Indeed, +their chief idea of death was that of rest, for as William's +states, they have an adage: "Death is easy: Of what use is +life? To die is rest." + +There were, however, certain precautions the Fijian felt it +advisable to take before entering the world to come. If he had +been so unfortunate as not to have killed a man, woman or +child, his duty would be the dismal one of pounding filth +throughout eternity, and disgraceful careers awaited those +whose ears were not bored or women who were not tatooed upon +parts covered by the liku. Moreover, should a wife not +accompany him (be strangled at the time of his death) his +condition would be the dismal one of a spirit without a cook. +Thirdly, as one was at the time of death so would the spirit be +in the next world. It was therefore an advantage to die young, +and people often preferred to be buried alive, or strangled, +than to survive into old age. Lastly and most important, one +must not die a bachelor, for such are invariably dashed to +pieces by Nangganangga, even if they should succeed in elud- +ing the grasp of the Great Woman, Lewa-levu, who flaunts the +path of the departed spirits and searches for the ghosts of +good-looking men. Let us imagine, however, that our shade +departs this life in the best of form, young, married, with the +lobes of his ears pierced, not dangerously handsome and a +slayer of at least one human being. He starts upon the long +journey to the Valhalla of Fiji. Soon he comes to a spiritual +Pandanus at which he must throw the ghost of the whale's tooth +which was placed in his hand at time of burial. If he succeeds +in hitting the Pandanus, he may then wait until the spirit of +his strangled wife comes to join him, after which he boards the +canoe of the Fijian Charon and proceeds to Nambanggatai, where +until 1847 there dwelt the god Samu, and after his death +Samuyalo "the killer of souls." + +This god remains in ambush in some spiritual mangrove bushes +and thrusts a reed within the ground upon the path of the ghost +as a warning not to pass the spot. Should the ghost be brave he +raises his club in defiance, whereupon Samuyalo appears, club +in hand, and gives battle. If killed in this combat, the ghost +is cooked and eaten by the soul killer, and if wounded he must +wander forever among the mountains, but if the ghost be +victorious over the god he may pass on to be questioned by +Ndengei, who may consign him either to Mburotu, the highest +heaven, or drop him over a precipice into a somewhat inferior +but still tolerable abode, Murimuria. This Ndengei does in +accordance with the caprice of the moment and without reference +either to the virtues or the faults of the deceased. Thus of +those who die only a few can enter the higher heaven for the +Great Woman and the Soul destroyer overcome the greater number +of those who dare to face them. As for the victims of cannibal +feasts, their souls are devoured by the gods when their bodies +are eaten by man. + +In temperament and ambitions the spirits of the dead remained +as they were upon earth, but of more monstrous growth in all +respects, resembling giants greater and more vicious than man. +War and cannibalism still prevailed in heaven, and the +character of the inhabitants seems to have been fiendish or +contemptible as on earth; for the spirits of women who were not +tattooed were unceasingly pursued by their more fortunate +sisters, who tore their bodies with sharp shells, often making +mince-meat of them for the gods to eat. Also the shade of any +one whose ears had not been pierced was condemned to carry a +masi log over his shoulder and submit to the eternal ridicule +of his fellow spirits. + +Altogether, this religion seems to have been as sordid, brutal +and vicious as was the ancestral negroid stock of the Fijians. +Connected with it there was, however, a rude mythology, clumsy +but romantic, too much of which has been lost; for the natives +of to-day have largely forgotten its stories or are ashamed to +repeat it to the whites. In recent times the natives have +tended to make their folk-lore conform to Biblical stories, or +to adapt them to conditions of the present day. The interesting +subject of the lingering influence of old beliefs upon the life +of the natives of to-day has engaged the attention of Basil +Thomson in "The Fijians, a Study of the Decay of Custom." + +As in every British colony, the people are taught to respect +the law. Sentences of imprisonment are meted out to natives for +personal offences which if committed by white men would be +punished by small fines, but the reason for this is that in the +old native days such acts were avenged by murder, and it is to +prevent crime that a prison term has been ordained. The natives +take their imprisonment precisely as boys in boarding school +regard a flogging, the victim commonly becoming quite a hero +and losing no caste among his fellows. Indeed it is a common +sight to see bands of from four to eight stalwart "convicts" a +mile or more from the prison marching unguarded through the +woods as they sing merrily on their way "home" to the jail. +Once I recall seeing two hundred prisoners, all armed with long +knives, engaged in cutting weeds along the roadside, chanting +happily as they slashed, while a solitary native dressed only +in a waist-cloth and armed only with a club stood guard at one +end of the line, and this not near the prison, but in a lonely +wood fully a mile from the nearest house. + +In 1874, the British undertook the unique task of civilizing +without exploiting a barbarous and degraded race which was +drifting hopelessly into ruin. They began the solution of this +complex problem by arresting the entire race and immuring them +within the protecting walls of a system which recognized as its +cardinal principle that the natives were unfit to think or act +for themselves. For a generation the Fijians have been in a +prison wherein they have become the happiest and best behaved +captives upon earth. During this time they have become +reconciled to a life of peace, and have forgotten the taste of +human flesh; and while they cherish no love for the white man, +they feel the might of his law and know that his decrees are as +finalities of fate. All are serving life sentences to the white +man's will, and the fire of their old ambition has cooled into +the dull embers of resignation and then died into the apathy of +contentment with things that are. Worse still, they have grown +fond of their prison world, and the most pessimistic feature in +the Fijian situation of to-day is the evident fact that there +is almost no discontent among the natives. Old things have +withered and decayed, but new ambition has not been born. + +It is in no spirit of criticism of British policy that I have +written the above paragraph for it was absolutely necessary +that the race should "calm down" for a generation at least +before it could be trusted to arise. Now, however, there are no +more old chiefs whose memories hark back to days of savagery, +and now for the first and only time has come the critical +period in the unique governmental experiment the British have +undertaken to perform, for now is the time when the child must +learn to walk alone and the support of guardian arms must in +kindness be withdrawn, else there must be nurtured but a +cripple, not a man. + +Among the generation of to-day the light of a new ambition must +appear in Fiji or the race shall dwindle to its death. No real +progress has been made by the Fijians; they have received much +from their teachers, but have given nothing in return. They are +in the position of a youth whose schooling has just been +finished, life and action lie before him; will he awaken to his +responsibility, develop his latent talent, character and power, +and recompense his teachers by achievement, or will he sink +into the apathy of a vile content? + +The situation in Fiji is one of peculiar delicacy for the +desire for better things must arise among the Fijians +themselves, and should it once appear, the paternalism of the +present government must be wisely withdrawn to permit of more +and more freedom in proportion as the natives may become +competent to think and act rightly for themselves. A cardinal +difficulty is the unfortunate fact that the natives DESIRE no +change, and even if individually discontented and ambitious, +they know of no profession, arts or trades to which they might +turn with hope of fortune. The establishment of manual training +schools wherein money-making trades should be taught, if +possible BY NATIVE teachers, is sorely needed in Fiji. + +At present there is too little freedom of thought in Fiji; fear +of the chief and of Samuyalo's club has been replaced by fear +of the European and his hell. Free, fearless thought is the +father of high action, and while their minds remain steeped in +an apathy of dread there can be no soil in which the seed of +independence can germinate. + +Yet it is still possible that the Fijians may attain +civilization. Of all the archipelagoes of Polynesia, Fiji alone +may still be called the "Isles of Hope." As one who has known +and grown to love these honest, hospitable, simple people, I +can only hope that the day is not far distant when a leader may +arise among them who will turn their faces toward the light of +a brighter sky, and their hands to a worthier task than has +ever yet been performed in Polynesia. + +Yet why civilize them? Often does one ask oneself this +question, but the answer comes as the voice of fate, "they must +attain civilization or they must die." Should the population +continue to decline at its present rate, the time is imminent +when the dark-skinned men of Fiji will be not the natives, but +the swarming progeny of the coolies of Calcutta. + +Nowhere over all the wide Pacific have the natives been more +wisely or unselfishly ruled than in Fiji, yet even here native +life seems to be growing less and less purposeful year by year. +In time it is hoped a reaction may set in and that with the +decline of communism new ambitions may replace the old, but +then will come the problem of the rich and the poor--a thing +unknown in Fijian life to-day. + +Hardly the first lessons in civilization have been taught in +Polynesia, yet who can predict the noon day, should even the +faintest glow appear in native hope. In former ages the +Japanese were a barbarous insular people, and as in our own +civilization the traditions and habits of rude Aryan ancestors +still color our fundamental thoughts so in Japan we find +evidences of a culture essentially similar to that of the +Pacific Islands of to-day. The ancient ancestor worship of +Japan is strangely like that of the tropical Pacific with its +gods, the ghosts of long departed chiefs, and its high chief a +living god to-day. Moreover in the Pacific Islands the house +consists of but a single room, and such to-day is essentially +the case in Japan, save only that delicate paper screens divide +its originally unitary floor-space into temporary compartments. +As in the South Seas, matting still covers the floor of the +Japanese house, its roof is thatched, and is constructed before +the sides are made, there is no chimney, the fire-place is an +earthen space upon the floor or is sustained within an +artistically molded bronze brazier, the refined descendant of +the cruder hearth. In Polynesia as in Japan one seats oneself +anywhere in tailor-fashion upon the floor, and upon this floor +the meals are served, and here one sleeps at night, nor will +the women partake of food in the presence of the men. In +essential fundamental things of life the Japanese show their +kinship in custom and tradition to the insular peoples of +Asiatic origin now occupying the Pacific, and if Japan has +attained to so great a height in culture and civilization, why +may we not hope for better days for the South Sea Islanders? + + + +WAR SELECTION IN THE ANCIENT WORLD + +BY CHANCELLOR DAVID STARR JORDAN + +LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY + +"The human harvest was bad!" Thus the historian sums up the +conditions in Rome in the days of the good emperor, Marcus +Aurelius. By this he meant that while population and wealth +were increasing, manhood had failed. There were men enough in +the streets, men enough in the camps, menial laborers enough +and idlers enough, but of good soldiers there were too few. For +the business of the state, which in those days was mainly war, +its men were inadequate. + +In recognition of this condition we touch again the +overshadowing fact in the history of Europe, the effect of +"military selection" on the human breed. + +In rapid survey of the evidence brought from history one must +paint the picture, such as it is, with a broad brush, not +attempting to treat exceptions and qualifications, for which +this article has no space and concerning which records yield no +data. Such exceptions, if fully understood, would only prove +the rule. The evil effects of military selection and its +associated influences have long been recognized in theory by +certain students of social evolution. But the ideas derived +from the sane application of our knowledge of Darwinism to +history are even now just beginning to penetrate the current +literature of war and peace. In public affairs most nations +have followed the principle of opportunism, "striking while the +iron is hot," without regard to future results, whether of +financial exhaustion or of race impoverishment. + +The recorded history of Rome begins with small and vigorous +tribes inhabiting the flanks of the Apennines and the valleys +down to the sea, and blending together to form the Roman +republic. They were men of courage and men of action, virile, +austere, severe and dominant.[1] They were men who "looked on +none as their superior and none as their inferior." For this +reason, Rome was long a republic. Free-born men control their +own destinies. "The fault," says Cassius, "is not in our stars, +but in ourselves that we are underlings." Thus in freedom, when +Rome was small without glory, without riches, without colonies +and without slaves, she laid the foundations of greatness. + +[1] Virilis, austerus, severus, dominous, good old words +applied by Romans to themselves. + + + +But little by little the spirit of freedom gave way to that of +domination. Conscious of power, men sought to exercise it, not +on themselves but on one another. Little by little this meant +aggression, suppression, plunder, struggle, glory and all that +goes with the pomp and circumstance of war. So the +individuality in the mass was lost in the aggrandizement of the +few. Independence was swallowed up in ambition and patriotism +came to have a new meaning, being transferred from hearth and +home to the camp and the army. + +In the subsequent history of Rome, we have now to consider only +a single factor, the reversal of selection." In Rome's +conquests, Vir, the real man, went forth to battle and foreign +invasion; Homo, the human being, remained on the farm and in +the workshop and begat the new generations. "Vir gave place to +Homo," says the Latin author. Men of good stock were replaced +by the sons of slaves and camp-followers, the riff-raff of +those the army sucked in but could not use. + +The Fall of Rome was due not to luxury, effeminacy or +corruption, not to Nero's or Caligula's wickedness, nor to the +futility of Constantine's descendants. It began at Philippi, +where the spirit of domination overcame the spirit of freedom. +It was forecast still earlier in the rise of consuls and +triumvirs incident to the thinning out of the sturdy and +self-sufficient strains who brooked no arbitrary rule. While +the best men were falling in war, civil or foreign, or remained +behind in faraway colonies, the stock at home went on repeating +its weakling parentage. A condition significant in Roman +history is marked by the gradual swelling of the mob, with the +rise in authority of the Emperor who was the mob's exponent. +Increase of arbitrary power went with the growing weakness of +the Romans themselves. Always the "Emperor" serves as a sort of +historical barometer by which to measure the abasement of the +people. The concentrated power of Julius Caesar, resting on his +own tremendous personality, showed that the days of Cincinnatus +and of Junius Brutus were past. The strength of Augustus rested +likewise in personality. The rising authority of later emperors +had its roots in the ineffectiveness of the mob, until it came +to pass that "the little finger of Constantine was thicker than +the loins of Augustus." This was due not to Constantine's +force, but to the continued reversal of selection among the +people over whom he ruled. The emperor, no longer the strong +man holding in check all lesser men and organizations, became +the creature of the mob; and "the mob, intoxicated with its own +work, worshipped him as divine." Doubtless the last emperor, +Augustulus Romulus, before the Goths threw him into the +scrap-heap of history, was regarded by the mob and himself as +the most god-like of the whole succession. + +The Romans of the Republic might perhaps have made a history +very different. Had they held aloof from world-conquering +schemes Rome might have remained a republic, enduring even down +to our day. The seeds of Rome's fall lay not in race nor in +form of government, nor in wealth nor in senility, but in the +influences by which the best men were cut off from parenthood, +leaving its own weaker strains and strains of lower races to be +fathers of coming generations. + +"The Roman Empire," says Professor Seely, "perished for want of +men." Even Julius Caesar notes the dire scarcity of men, while +at the same time there were people enough. The population +steadily grew; Rome was filling up like an overflowing marsh. +Men of a certain type were plenty, but self-reliant farmers, +"the hardy dwellers on the flanks of the Apennines," men of the +early Roman days, these were fast going, and with the change in +type of population came the turn in Roman history. + +The mainspring of the Roman army for centuries has been the +patient strength and courage, capacity for enduring hardships, +instinctive submission to military discipline of the population +that lined the Apennines. + +"The effect of the wars was that the ranks of the small farmers +were decimated, while the number of slaves who did not serve in +the army multiplied," says Professor Bury. Thus "Vir gave place +to Homo," thus the mob filled Rome and the mob-hero rose to the +imperial throne. No wonder that Constantine seemed greater than +Augustus. No wonder that "if Tiberius chastised his subjects +with whips, Valentinian chastised them with scorpions."[2] + +[2] The point of this is that the cruel Tiberius was less +severe on the Romans of his day than was the relatively +benevolent Valentinian on his decadent people. + + + +With Marcus Aurelius and the Antonines came a "period of +sterility and barrenness in human beings." Bounties were +offered for marriage. Penalties were devised against +race-suicide. "Marriage," says Metellus, "is a duty which, +however painful, every citizen ought manfully to discharge." +Wars were conducted in the face of a declining birth-rate, and +the decline in quality and quantity in the human breed engaged +very early the attention of Roman statesmen. Deficiencies of +numbers were made up by immigration, willing or enforced. +Failure in quality was beyond remedy. + +Says Professor Zumpt: + +'Government having assumed godhead, took at the same time the +appurtenances of it. Officials multiplied. Subjects lost their +rights. Abject fear paralyzed the people and those that ruled +were intoxicated with insolence and cruelty.... The worst +government is that which is most worshipped as divine. . . . +The emperor possessed in the army an overwhelming force over +which citizens had no influence, which was totally deaf to +reason or eloquence, which had no patriotism because it had no +country, which had no humanity because it had no domestic ties. +. . . There runs through Roman literature a brigand's and +barbarian's contempt for honest industry. . . . Roman +civilization was not a creative kind, it was military, that is, +destructive.' + +What was the end of it all? The nation bred Romans no more. To +cultivate the Roman fields "whole tribes were borrowed." The +man with quick eye and strong arm gave place to the slave, the +scullion, the pariah, whose lot is fixed because in him there +lies no power to alter it. So at last the Roman world, devoid +of power to resist, was overwhelmed by the swarming Ostrogoths. + +The barbarian settled and peopled the empire rather than +conquered it. It was the weakness of war-worn Rome that gave +the Germanic races their first opportunity. + +"The nation is like a bee," wisely observes Bernard Shaw, "as +it stings it dies." + +In his monumental history of the "Downfall of the Ancient +World" (Der Untergang der Antikenwelt) Dr. Otto Seeck of the +University of Munster in Westphalia, treats in detail the +causes of such decline. He first calls attention to the +intellectual stagnation which came over the Roman Empire about +the beginning of the Christian Era. This manifested itself in +all fields of intellectual activity. No new idea of any +importance was advanced in science nor in technical and +political studies. In the realm of literature and art also one +finds a complete lack of originality and a tendency to imitate +older models. All this Seeck asserts, was brought about by the +continuous "rooting out (Ausrottung) of the best"[3] through +war. + +[3] "Die Ausrottung der Besten, die jenen schwacheren Volken +die Vernichtung brachte, hat die starken Germanen erst +befahigt, auf den Trummern der antiken Welt neue dauerende +Gemeinschaften zu errichten." Seeck. + + + +Such extermination which took place in Greece as well as in +Rome, was due to persistent internal conflicts, the constant +murderous struggle going on between political parties, in +which, in rapid succession, first one and then the other was +victorious. The custom of the victors being to kill and banish +the leaders and all prominent men in the defeated party, often +destroying their children as well, it is evident that in time +every strain distinguished for moral courage, initiative or +intellectual strength was exterminated. By such a systematic +killing off of men of initiative and brains, the intellectual +level of a nation must necessarily be lowered more and more. In +Rome as in Greece observes Seeck: + +'A wealth of force of spirit went down in the suicidal wars. . +. . In Rome, Marius and Cinna slew the aristocrats by hundreds +and thousands. Sulla destroyed the democrats, and not less +thoroughly. Whatever of strong blood survived, fell as an +offering to the proscription of the Triumvirate. . . . The +Romans had less of spontaneous force to lose than the Greeks. +Thus desolation came sooner to them. Whoever was bold enough to +rise politically in Rome was almost without exception thrown to +the ground. ONLY COWARDS REMAINED, AND FROM THEIR BLOOD CAME +FORWARD THE NEW GENERATIONS.[4] Cowardice showed itself in lack +of originality and in slavish following of masters and +traditions.' + +[4] Author's italics. + + + +Certain authors, following Varro, have maintained that Rome +died a "natural death," the normal result of old age. It is +mere fancy to suppose that nations have their birth, their +maturity and their decline under an inexorable law like that +which determines the life history of the individual. A nation +is a body of living men. It may be broken up if wrongly led or +attacked by a superior force. When its proportion of men of +initiative or character is reduced, its future will necessarily +be a resultant of the forces that are left. + +Dr. Seeck speaks with especial scorn of the idea that Rome died +of "old age." He also repudiates the theory that her fall was +due to the corruption of luxury, neglect of military tactics or +over-diffusion of culture. + +'It is inconceivable that the mass of Romans suffered from +over-culture.[5] In condemning the sinful luxury of wealthy +Romans we forget that the trade-lords of the fifteenth and +sixteenth centuries were scarcely inferior in this regard to +Lucullus and Apicius, their waste and luxury not constituting +the slightest check to the advance of the nations to which +these men belonged. The people who lived in luxury in Rome were +scattered more thinly than in any modern state of Europe. The +masses lived at all times more poorly and frugally because they +could do nothing else. Can we conceive that a war force of +untold millions of people is rendered effeminate by the luxury +of a few hundreds? . . . Too long have historians looked on the +rich and noble as marking the fate of the world. Half the Roman +Empire was made up of rough barbarians untouched by Greek or +Roman culture. + +Whatever the remote and ultimate cause may have been, the +immediate cause to which the fall of the empire can be traced +is a physical, not a moral decay. In valor, discipline and +science the Roman armies remained what they had always been, +and the peasant emperors of Illyricum were worthy successors of +Cincinnatus and Calus Marius. But the problem was, how to +replenish those armies. Men were wanting. The empire perished +for want of men.' + +[5] "Damitsprechend hat man das Wort `Ueberkultur' uberhaupt +erfunden, als wenn ein zu grosses Maass von Kultur uberhaupt +denkbar ware." + + + +In a volume entitled "Race or Mongrel" published as I write +these pages, Dr. Alfred P. Schultz of New York, author of "The +End of Darwinism," takes essentially the same series of facts +as to the fall of Rome and draws from them a somewhat different +conclusion. In his judgment the cause was due to "bastardy," to +the mixing of Roman blood with that of neighboring and +subjective races. To my mind, bastardy was the result and not +the cause of Rome's decline, inferior and subject races having +been sucked into Rome to fill the vacuum left as the Romans +themselves perished in war. The continuous killing of the best +left room for the "post-Roman herd," who once sold the imperial +throne at auction to the highest bidder. As the Romans vanished +through warfare at home and abroad, came an inrush of foreign +blood from all regions roundabout. As Schultz graphically +states: + +'The degeneration and depravity of the mongrels was so great +that they deified the emperors. And many of the emperors were +of a character so vile that their deification proves that the +post-Roman soul must have been more depraved than that of the +Egyptian mongrel, who deified nothing lower than dogs, cats, +crocodiles, bugs and vegetables.' + +It must not be overlooked, however, that the Roman race was +never a pure race. It was a union of strong elements of +frontier democratic peoples, Sabines, Umbrians, Sicilians, +Etruscans, Greeks, being blended in republican Rome. Whatever +the origins, the worst outlived the best, mingling at last with +the odds and ends of Imperial slavery, the "Sewage of Races" +("cloaca gentium") left at the Fall. + +Gibbon says: + +'This diminutive stature of mankind was daily sinking below the +old standard and the Roman world was indeed peopled by a race +of pygmies when the fierce giants of the north broke in and +mended the puny breed. They restored the manly spirit of +freedom and after the revolutions of ten centuries, freedom +became the parent of taste and science.' + +But again, the redeemed Italian was of no purer blood than the +post-Roman-Ostrogoth ancestry from which he sprang. The "puny +Roman" of the days of Theodoric owed his inheritance to the +cross of Roman weaklings with Roman slaves. He was not weak +because he was "mongrel" but because he sprang from bad stock +on both sides. The Ostrogoth and the Lombard who tyrannized +over him brought in a great strain of sterner stuff, followed +by crosses with captive and slave such as always accompany +conquest. To understand the fall of Rome one must consider the +disastrous effects of crossings of this sort. Neither can one +overlook the waste of war which made them inevitable through +the wholesale influx of inferior tribes. Neither can one speak +of the Roman, the Italian, the Spaniard, the French, the +Roumanian, nor of any of the so-called "Latin" peoples as +representing a simple pure stock, or as being, except in +language, direct descendants of those ancient Latins who +constituted the Roman Republic. The failure of Rome arose not +from hybridization, but from the wretched quality on both sides +of its mongrel stock, descendants of Romans unfit for war and +of base immigrants that had filled the vacancies. + +Greece.--Once Greece led the world in intellectual pursuits, in +art, in poetry, in philosophy. A large and vital part of +European culture is rooted directly in the language and thought +of Athens. The most beautiful edifice in the world was the +Peace Palace of the Parthenon, erected by Pericles, to +celebrate the end of Greece's suicidal wars. This endured 2,187 +years, to be wrecked at last (1687) in Turkish hands by the +Christian bombs of the Venetian Republic. + +But the glory of Greece had passed away long before the fall of +the Parthenon. Its cause was the one cause of all such +downfalls--the extinction of strong men by war. At the best, +the civilization of Greece was built on slavery, one freeman to +ten slaves. And when the freemen were destroyed, the slaves, an +original Mediterranean stock, overspread the territory of +Hellas along with the Bulgarians, Albanians and Vlachs, +barbarians crowding down from the north. + +The Grecian language still lives, the tongue of a spirited and +rising modern people. But the Greeks of the classic period--the +Hellenes of literature, art and philosophy--will never be known +again. Says Mr. W. H. Ireland: + +'Most of the old Greek race has been swept away, and the +country is now inhabited by persons of Slavonic descent. +Indeed, there is a strong ground for the statement that there +was more of the old heroic blood of Hellas in the Turkish army +of Edhem Pasha than in the soldiers of King George.' + +The modern Greek has been called a "Byzantinized Slav." King +George himself and Constantine his son are only aliens placed +on the Grecian throne to suit the convenience of outer powers, +being in fact descendants of tribes which to the ancient Greeks +were merely barbarians. + +It is maintained that the modern Greeks are in the main the +descendants of the population that inhabited Greece in the +earlier centuries of Byzantine rule. Owing to the operation of +various causes, historical, social and economic, that +population was composed of many heterogeneous elements and +represented in very limited degree the race which repulsed the +Persians and built the Parthenon. The internecine conflicts of +the Greek communities, wars with foreign powers, and the deadly +struggles of factions in the various cities had to a large +extent obliterated the old race of free citizens by the +beginning of Roman period. The extermination of the Plataeans +by the Spartans and of the Melians by the Athenians during the +Peloponnesian war, the proscription of the Athenian citizens +after the war, the massacre of the Coreyrean oligarchs by the +democratic party, the slaughter of the Thebans by Alexander and +of the Corinthians by Mummius are among the more familiar +instances of the catastrophes which overtook the civic element +in the Greek cities. The void can only have been filled from +the ranks of the metics or resident aliens and of the +descendants of the far more numerous slave population. In the +classic period four fifths of the population of Attica were +slaves; of the remainder, half were meties In A.D. 100 only +three thousand free arm-bearing men were in Greece. (James D. +Bourchier.) + +The constant little struggles of the Greeks among themselves +made no great showing as to numbers compared to other wars, but +they wiped out the most valuable people, the best blood, the +most promising heredity on earth. This cost the world more than +the killing of millions of barbarians. In two centuries there +were born under the shadow of the Parthenon more men of genius +than the Roman Empire had in its whole existence. Yet this +empire included all the civilized world, even Greece herself. +(La Pouge.) + +The downfall of Greece,[6] like that of Rome, has been ascribed +by Schultz to the crossing of the Greeks with the barbaric +races which flocked into Hellas from every side. These resident +aliens, or metics, steadily increased in number as the free +Greeks disappeared. Selected slaves or helots were then made +free in order to furnish fighting men, and again as these fell +their places were taken by immigrants. + +[6] Certain recent writers who find in environment the causes +of the rise and fall of nations, ascribe the failure of Greece +to the introduction in Athens and Sparta of the malaria-bearing +mosquito. As to the facts in question, we have little evidence. +But while the prevalence of malaria may have affected the +general activity of the people, it could in no way have +obliterated the mental leadership which made the strength of +classic Hellas, nor could it have injected its poison into the +stream of Greek heredity. + + + +It is doubtless true at this day that "no race inhabits +Greece," and the main difference between Greeks and other +Balkan peoples is that, inhabiting the mountains and valleys of +Hellas, they speak in dialects of the ancient tongue. +Environment, except through selection and segregation, can not +alter race inheritance and the modern "Greeks" have not been +changed by it. Schultz observes: + +'We are told that the Hellenes owed their greatness largely to +the country it was their fortune to dwell in. To that same +country, with the same wonderful coast line and harbors, +mountains and brooks, and the same sun of Homer, the modern +Greeks owe their nothingness.' + + + +In other words, it is quite true that the Greece of Pericles +owed its strength to Greek blood, not to Hellenic scenery. When +all the good Greek blood was spent in suicidal wars, only +slaves and foreign-born were left. " 'Tis Greece, but living +Greece no more."[7] + +[7] In contrasting a new race with the old--as the modern +Greeks with the incomparable Hellenes--we must not be unjust to +the men of to-day whose limitations are evident, contrasted +with a race we know mainly by its finest examples. In spite of +poverty, touchiness and vanity characteristic of the modern +Greek, there is good stuff in him. He is frank, hopeful, +enthusiastic. The mountain Greek, at least, knows the value of +freedom, and has more than once put up a brave fight for it. +The valleys breed subserviency, and the Greeks of Thessaly are +said to be less independent than the mountain-born. + + + +Furthermore, we do not know that even the first Hellenes of +Mycenae were an unmixed race, or that any unmixed races ever +rose to such prominence as to command the world's attention. We +do know that when war depletes a nation slaves and foreigners +come in to fill the vacuum, and that the decline of a great +race in history has always been accompanied by a debasing of +its blood. + +Yet out of this decadence natural selection may in time bring +forward better strains, and with normal conditions of security +and peace nature may begin again her work of recuperation. + +In the fall of Greece we have another count against war, +scarcely realized until the facts of Louvain and Malines, of +Rheims and Ypres, have brought it again so vividly before us. +War respects nothing, while the human soul increasingly demands +veneration for its own noble and beautiful achievements. As I +write this, there rise before me the paintings in the "Neue +Pinakothek" at Munich, representing the twenty-one Cities of +Ancient Greece, from Sparta to Salamis, from Eleusis to +Corinth, not as they were, "in the glory which was Greece," not +as they are now, largely fishing hamlets by the blue Aegean +Sea, but as ruined arches and broken columns half hid in the +ashes of war, wars which blotted out Greece from world history. + + + +ANTI-SUFFRAGISTS AND WAR + +BY ELSIE CLEWS PARSONS + +NEW YORK CITY + +ONE of the most curious of those misstatements of fact and +confusions of thought the conservative seems even more prone to +make than the radical has to do with a certain suppositiously +historical relation between women and war. It is assumed[1] +that early society is ever militant and that because of its +militarism it excludes women, women not being fighters, not +only from its government, but from all its privileges, even +making of them its drudges and its beasts of burden. And so, +argues the conservative, women are for the same reasons +disfranchised, and properly disfranchised, to-day. Whether more +or less militant than it was, society is still founded on +force, and because women are not as strong as men, men will not +give them the vote. Besides it is only right, since they can +not fight, they should not vote. It has always been so, and so +it should continue to be, at any rate until war becomes a thing +of the past, and that will never be, you can't change human +nature, etc., etc. + +[1] And, let us admit, not merely by the conservative +anti-feminist. As radical and discerning a feminist as Thomas +Wentworth Higginson, after asserting that physical strength was +once "sole ruler," cites in agreement Walter Bagehot's +reference to "the contempt for physical weakness and for women +which marks early society." ("Women and the Alphabet," p. 49. +Boston and New York, 1900.) + + + +There are of course various answers to this militarist +anti-suffrage argument, answers which in spite of the logic of +current events are still likely to be satisfactory or not +according to previous convictions, but the only point I wish to +challenge is the appeal in this connection to the past. Let the +militarist anti-suffragist assert his belief in government by +force if he likes, but let him not try to justify it by the +precedents of primitive life. Nor may he--or she--explain the +exclusion of women to-day as a survival of their subjection in +primitive society to brute force. The government of primitive +society is not based on physical prowess, and although modern +woman is excluded from men's activities for the same reason as +primitive woman was excluded, the reason is not muscular +inferiority. + +It is a pity in the feminist controversies of the last hundred +years or so that the "exclusion of women" did not become a more +popular phrase than the "subjection of women." That term gave a +fallacious twist both to observation and analysis. Primitive +and modern men alike commonly EXCLUDE women, they seldom +subject them. Similarly, in some societies, children and young +people, all in fact but the elderly, are treated to methods of +exclusion rather than of subjection. + +Early society is dominated by the elders; its practices and +customs have been determined by them and, in the most primitive +society, government is nothing but a gerontocracy, a government +of old men. Even with chieftaincy the council of the elders is +weighty and the heads of households have considerable +influence. Are the elders the fighters or raiders of the tribe? +No, they are its judges, its legislators and, most important of +all, its magicians. Nor is the chief or king the fighter par +excellence of the tribe. But he too may be and often is the +tribal magician. Through their powers of magic elders and +chiefs are responsible for the weather, for the reproduction of +plants and animals, for the success of the crops, of hunts and +catches, for the health and general welfare of the people. And +in war? In war they are the most important personages too. +Because they fight? No, because in war too they make magic; +they charm the approaches to the village, they "doctor" the +trails or the weapons or the canoes, they make war medicine, +they invoke and propitiate the war gods. The warriors are the +younger men, men whose efforts would be vain without the +backing of their magic-working seniors or chiefs. The elders +make peace and declare war. And it is at their dictate that the +young men take to head-hunting or to raiding or even to +stealing women. + +As to the subjection of women, what exists of it the elders are +responsible for. It is they who scare a girl or shame her into +being docile. It is they who marry her off against her will, it +is they who set her unending tasks or shut her up in idleness. +It is they who make her undergo the discomforts or miseries of +what we call conventional life or bully her into exile or +death. + +With this control of girls or women the warriors, the "standing +army," have little or nothing to do, even less in primitive +life than in modern. It is the old people, the old women at +times as well as the old men. Again it is the old men who are +leaders in the exclusion of the women. In control of the +initiation of the youths, they separate them from their mothers +or sisters and often decree for the initiates a ceremonial +avoidance of all women for a set time. The penalties they +threaten--sickness, decrepitude, effeminacy--are too dire to +pass unheeded. This "avoidance" has been explained as due to +the monopolistic spirit of the elders. With their women they +want no interference by the youths. But a far more plausible +explanation, I think, takes the avoidance as a concentration +rite, so to speak, a symbol, if you like, of the life ahead, +the life in which the boys, "made" men, are going to have +little to do in public with women. For even after the special +avoidance of the initiation period ends, the segregation of the +sexes continues. Men keep together and away from women in their +club-houses, and in all the places of assembly which are +differentiated from the primitive club-house--the church, the +council, the workshop, the gymnasium, the university, the +play-house. And from all the interests which center in these +places men have from time to time excluded women, they have +excluded them from magic and religion, from arts and letters, +from games, from politics and, let me add, from war. + +Why are men so exclusive? Because--the reason will seem almost +too simple, I fear, for acceptance--because now and always men +do not want to be bothered by women. Women get in our way, they +say, women are a nuisance. Almost anywhere away from home women +are a nuisance--in church organization, in the university, in +business, etc. Of course if women can be kept apart from us in +these activities and will stay in their place, if they join an +order of nuns or deaconesses, if they go to a separate college +in the university, if they will become good stenographers, we +don't mind having their cooperation, we welcome it. Women may +even go to war--as an absolutely separate division of the army, +said the men of Dahomi, as non-combatant pahia women or workers +of magic, said the Roro-speaking tribesmen of New Guinea, or as +Red (dross nurses, say the men of Europe and America. If we men +can be sure women will not interfere with us, we really do not +mind. Women have only to give us that assurance of +non-interference to make us doubt the assertion we sometimes +make that in going to war they are interfering with the order +of nature. + + + +AN INTERPRETATION OF SLAVOPHILISM + +BY ARTHUR D. REES + +PHILADELPHIA, PA. + +THERE are good reasons for believing that the Russians are +practically the greatest peace people in Christendom. They are +the least commercial in the competitive sense, the least +capitalistic also, and as a people, the least combative in +Europe, despite the wrecks of warring dynasties that ten +centuries have left upon their plains and the miscellaneous +strifes and calamities of all kinds that have beset them. + +Always expanding along lines of least resistance; absorbing by +comparatively petty conquests, decaying or scanty peoples; +reaching Kamchatka in the Far East with more ease than she +reached the shores of the Baltic; never flinging her legions +far and wide victoriously as did Rome, Spain, France or Great +Britain--Russia remains to-day, for the most part, humble, and, +in reality, a conquered people, living, dreaming and preaching +a morality born both of this humility and of the physical +environment that has helped to foster it. All Muscovy can not +be judged by those few who live in the saddle--the Cossack +population, men and women, numbers only about two million--nor +by the pitiable pageant of despotism the observer beholds in +their land: pogroms, poverty, disease, distress, militarism, +orthodoxy and Pan-Slavism. Russia has a soul in spite of these; +a gentle and beautiful soul, only half revealed, and too much +concealed by her dilapidation and her dilemma; a peaceful soul, +abnormally humble and devout, and in respect to these qualities +unequalled in Christendom. + +Since the age of Vladimir the Holy, "The Beautiful Sun of +Kief," in the tenth century, Russia has had the tradition of +international peace. Vladimir wandered over the country, sword +and battle ax in hand, like a reincarnation of Thor, armed with +his mighty and wondrous hammer. Then came his yearning for a +new religion--something to inspire his life better than +Perun--Russia's old god of thunder--and the other idols, and a +little later, the picturesque investigation of his peripatetic +commissioners having been completed, he became a Christian of +the Greek church, was baptized with many fine and grand +ceremonies, compelled his docile people to do likewise, and, +like a true Northman that he was--the great grandson of Rurik +of the Baltic wilds--he so impressed his frowsy hordes, half +Scythian and half Slav, that now in the hearts of their +descendants, in their popular songs and legends, in those +concerning Kief especially--a beautiful and pathetic strain of +music eight centuries old--he, Vladimir, is still the central +heroic figure; once a man, but now a kind of god, sent from +Heaven to rule, enlighten and bring peace to his people and be +known in story and song as "Vladimir the Holy, the Beautiful +Sun of Kief." + +An old chronicle describes for us how his hordes drank their +cup of trembling at his hands. There, around about the low +hills of the southern Dnieper River, probably on the crumbling +sandstone cliffs of Kief--the city, studded with jewel-like +legends and famed for its "golden palaces," stood his +candidates for baptism; near by were priests from +Constantinople, gorgeously arrayed, chanting, in strains +unknown to the populace, the Greek church baptismal service. +Then the democratic immersion!--rich man, poor man and all, at +Vladimir's command, wade into the baptismal waters, some up to +their knees, some to their waists, some to their necks, and, +thus finding a new faith from Heaven, they crossed themselves +for the first time as the thunder rolled on high! Here is +Russia remembering her Creator in the days of her youth--and +forgetting Him ever since; from then on, Holy Russia! Possibly +Holy Vladimir, at any rate, for becoming, with that ceremony, +peaceable, except for self-defence, he gave up all of his idols +and his aggressive sword. The former he scourged and cast into +the river, the latter he sheathed in its scabbard. And all this +about 988--the first peace movement of Holy Russia. The faith +of it, and its vision and dream came early in her history and +have not yet gone out or been extinguished. + +Before the next such movement, time enough passed by to give +the seasons and the winds and rains full opportunity to whittle +down old Kief's storied sandstone hills. In 1815, the +much-expanded realm of Muscovy, then a partner in the holy +alliance, proclaimed under Alexander the First, the ideal of +peace. This Czar declared he would rule as a father over his +children and in the interest of "justice, charity and peace," +and, in so doing, created the leading precedent for the peace +program of Nicolas the Second. + +Alexander, who in the first half of his reign ruled liberally +for the days of Napoleonic supremacy, no doubt was sincere in +his desire to govern in the "spirit of brotherhood," but in the +latter years of his power, he fell sadly short of this +standard. + +Alexander the Second, the emancipator of forty-six million +serfs, may have had some world peace ideal in mind when he in +1874 promoted a conference in Brussels to codify the usages of +war, but the reaction from his earlier liberalism was setting +in about this time and, growing worse, led to his assassination +in 1881. + +The next move in the direction of peace came, as the world +rather well knows, through the present Czar, Nicolas the +Second, who on ascending the throne in 1894, proclaimed that +Russia would rule in the interests of peace and would cultivate +the arts of it. In 1898 followed the first call for a World +Peace Conference, and in 1899 came another circular with a +similar object. + +But it is out of the kind heart of Muscovy, and from the +troubled, humble and penitent soul of Russia that the real +peace movement of her land has arisen. For many centuries +calamities have been pouring upon her plains, profusely +pouring--drought, famine and invasions without number; now +Rurik and his Northmen to start the empire out of its +prehistoric lethargy; their dynasty of conquering blood still +sharing in the rulership of the land to-day; now the Tartars, +remnants of whom with their high cheek bones are still visible +in the Baltic provinces; particularly and always and ever +poverty beyond description; poverty, disaster and conquest, +like triple demons to humiliate the soul of Russia and keep her +dumb for many centuries, except for the beauty of her unending +song. + +And out of these conditions of life has grown the peace +morality that is native to the Russian people; out of their +sorrows and their conquered plains, out of their broken hearts +too, although the economic genesis of it all is very apparent. + +The Russian people's Russia has ever been under the overlords +heel, downtrodden years without number, and yet it is a land +which has never produced a system of military tactics and +training--forever dependent for these creations upon her +neighbors; a land which has produced scarcely one great naval +or military commander who to-day holds a place in history as do +those of other nations; a land whose people have been usually +led to slaughter like sheep by Northman or Teutonic or Polish +generals; whose armies have never been noted for their great +campaigns, and always have been poorly drilled, managed and +fed, and never yet successful in any foreign wars. Surely from +such a land as this, no widespread war-morality or +world-conquering legions could come. + +In fact the very reverse has come to pass: the philosophy of +Slavophilism has arisen in Muscovy, yet not so much arisen as +it has developed with the Russian soul, not as a thing apart, +but as a quality thereof, blossoming somehow with all other +Russian things, out of the primitive Scythian darkness. The +rebellious spirit having been crushed out of the generations +since, what is left but non-resistance? Yet in these latter +years a resisting spirit, nursed and suckled largely in western +Europe, has falsely made it appear that all Russia was in arms, +storming with chaotic unity at the church, the state and the +army, deluging their ancient customs with the destructive and +re-creative might of radicalism. Far and wide of the truth is +this! Let no one think the vast heart of Russia has changed! +Only the few have cast away the ancient quiet; only the few +have the modern consciousness instead of the medieval, +theocratic one; only the few are not at heart Slavophiles in +feeling and in morality. + +This philosophy existed long in the national or social mind +before it was crystallized into public doctrines, and exists +even yet largely in its more primitive unworded or instinctive +form, although it was Peter the Great who unconsciously awoke +the latent and then unexpressed Slavophilic feelings and +moralities when he, like a civilizing Pied Piper, charmed the +chieftains of industry of Western Europe to follow his trail +into Muscovy, his "Empire of Little Villages," and there +regenerate them. + +Therefore at about the end of the seventeenth century in +Russia, the "dumb silent centuries" gradually became articulate +in expressing their opposition to all things western. This is +the heart of Slavophilism, and no one can truly fathom the +Russian soul before understanding its philosophy. It is the +Muscovite theory of the simple life, still crying out against +the Great Peter's work and recalling the devotees of western +culture to its idealization of medieval, theocratic, autocratic +Russia. + +Despite this reaction, however, it has a great meaning, a +tender beauty, and a message of depth and power for our western +world. Primarily Russia is a peasant and an agricultural land, +and there is a colorless monotony in her vast plains. Indeed +land and people are alike; as in the average peasant there is +patience, resignation and submission, so there is in the very +land itself. Open and prostrate it lies beneath the torrid sun +of the south, and the arctic winds of the north; subdued and +downtrodden for centuries, it and its people have always been +at the mercy of ruthless men and rainless winds. + +Thus passive endurance has become one of the saving qualities +of the Russian's soul. The peasant's nature is one that has few +wants and little rebellious power. The Greek church of the +simple gospel is his and a government of the Czar's will. His +power of self renunciation is one which in Slavophilic thought +gives him true liberty. Therefore ask the followers of this +doctrine, what need is there of the constitutional liberties of +the west, or its republics or limited monarchies, or its +differences in ecclesiastical faith and structure? Slavophilism +declares that Russia has the only true freedom, faith and +brotherhood, which other lands sadly lack. In addition she has +the ancient and splendid heritage of the communal land system, +wherein the inherent justice of the Russian peasant's heart is +shown by his voluntary division and re-division of the land +among his brothers at stated times. + +What need therefore, Slavophilism asks, for the degenerate +justice of the west? None! Away with Europe then!--the Europe +of competition and gruesome factories! The Europe of +destructive forces, of greedy land grabbers, of capital and +labor wars, where society is held together, not as in Russia by +the ties of affection, brotherhood and communal interest, but +only by money and greed, and where free thinkers, atheists and +materialists abound, whose lives and thoughts would unsettle +the holy, orthodox feelings of Russia, disturb her ancient +conscience and poison her humility with murmurings of +discontent and rebellion. + +Away with the books of the west, too! And its agricultural +implements! Wooden ploughs instead of chilled steel! Outdoor +work and not indoor prisons called factories! Peasants working +for centuries beneath the uncanopied sun, and on the floors +without walls, will not let doors and brickwork thumbscrew +their souls in confinement thus! Indoors awhile in winter will +they labor, but spring airs shatter the moralities of the +time-clock and away to the fields they rush; in the spring to +sow and sing, in the summer to sing again and at the harvest +time too, and then to plait the bearded stalks into wreaths and +crown the maidens with sheaths of corn; the hymns for the +"death of winter" and the "birth of spring," marriage songs and +funeral dirges and chants of olden times well intermingled with +the labor of their hands. + +Herein the poetry of agricultural, peaceable Russia clashes +with the prosaic efficiency of the west, the efficiency of +commercial wars, strikes and class struggles which peasant +Muscovy has known so little. + +And again, Slavophilism, with its theory of successive +civilizations, culled perhaps from the philosophy of Hegel, +each civilization superior to its forerunner, comes to show us +a vision: the gradual displacement of one type of society by +another, but continuing what is best in the preceding until +nothing except what is good remains and universal peace +results, thus portraying the displacement of national +civilizations by universal ones, from which ultimately an +idealistic world policy will result, and the federation and +peace of men. + +Some Slavophiles saw even in Peter's work a process of +progressing from nationality to universality. In his time there +was the same yearning toward its peaceful ideal. The "Old +Russia" party wanted Peter to renounce war and conquest. +Alexis, his own murdered son, worked with this element which +was very largely representative of the nation. To them, St. +Petersburg, then a new and growing capitol, was typical of +change, unrest and falsity; Moscow was in their hearts the only +capital, typical of Russia's old comfort and quiet. Many nobles +antagonized Peter, but he swept them aside, imprisoning them or +sending them to the gallows. Like Russia's slight resistance to +Rurik and others, and to the Tartars, so was her feebleness +before Peter the Great, who was himself, however, by no means +an accomplished military leader, but an enlightened barbarian, +dealing with a people whom writers and observers declare to be +endowed with conspicuous traits of humility, scarcely found in +the Christian nations of the western world. + +Russian fiction represents its people in the same way. +Unaggressive characters, who talk and think but do not act, +fill its novels; they dream of the great age of the "Universal +Idea" that shall come for all and regenerate the "rotten west," +where "rationalism is the original sin"; the typical west that +Slavophilism condemns--the west of the struggles between the +rulers and the ruled; between Scripture and tradition and the +upper and lower classes. The Slavophile idea, in theory at +least, leaves no room for this. Christian love and humility and +peasant communes, where rationalism, strife and rebellion are +unknown, must be instituted in the west; then the "Universal +Idea" of Russia will create Millennial times. This was the +"Messianic hope of Slavophilism," and perhaps is yet to a great +degree destined in the minds of its devotees to give the last +feature to the development of the world, so that the love and +feeling of the east would appease the discord of the west, +diluting its discipline and its logic with true religious +intuition and humility, and eventually the idealized +relationship of autocracy for the Czar and self-government for +the people--the old system so rudely strained by Peter the +Great--would permeate the ruled and rulers of the world. + +Here then is Slavophilism! And pacific Russia--the heart and +soul of her, claiming this to be the true ethical and spiritual +ideal for her people, and censoring her upper class, with its +foreign culture, materialism, and infidelity, as being the only +real traitor to this saving morality of the ancient regime. + +Among the prominent advocates of this philosophy might be +mentioned, first, Constantine Aksakoff, Russia's Rousseau, who +in the middle of the nineteenth century, was a virtuous +propagandist of the doctrine. He earnestly, even religiously, +preached the return of Russia from the allurements of western +Europe, unto her own theory of national salvation, declaring +that "the social order of the west is on a false foundation" +and that Slavophilism would offset its degeneracy, if only +Russia would free herself from the false class leadership for +whose origin the Great Peter stands the convicted sponsor! Thus +Slavophilism, under the leadership of Aksakoff, instead of +leading forward with the great liberal movement that came after +the Crimean War, resulting finally in the emancipation of the +serfs, would lead backward to the stagnant hours of medieval +Russia. Then there were no German words to disfigure the +Russian language! Then there were no German divisions of rank +among the officials to strangle life by their formality. No, +none of these, nor the disturbing importations of Peter; in +Aksakoff's variation of the gospel, the Russians are the +"beyond men" and need them not. Thus before Peter's reign all +was Slavophilic!--a religion of the simple Christian gospel, a +church considering itself the only true ecclesia, a government +of the Czar's will, a life of passive humility; creating +freedom of conscience and speech for the peasants, and freedom +of activity and legislation for the rulers, unknown in modern +corrupted Russia! + +And thus was old peaceable-hearted Muscovy of the past +centuries pictured as the metropolis of true political and +individual morality. + +Herzen, too, an able pamphleteer in revolutionary things, +preached something similar, crying from his pulpit at home or +in exile, that Russia would solve all her problems and lead the +human race by the simplicity of the Slavophile ideal. His early +and rabid westernism was greatly tempered on contact with the +west. Disillusion and disgust overcame him. The mercantilism of +the bourgeoisie there drove him into Aksakoff's fold, and he +too thereafter found faith alone in the "regenerative power of +Russia," and her system of the mir, the central sun of the +Slavophilic state, the village commune, self-governing and +self-contained. And then from that, this was to ensue: the +whole world made of village communes as in Russia, perhaps even +their log cabins too, and fresh mud to go with them on their +walls! But this did not deter the vision of these evangelists. +The commune was to be indefinitely extended; national and +international ones were to be organized, all self- governing, +and then would follow as the night the day, universal peace +wherever these communes were found. + +This is the Utopia Russia has given to the world to stand +beside Plato's, or Sir Thomas More's or Morris's or Bellamy's. +This was the dream of pacific Pan-Slavism. + +Dostoievsky himself is of it, and is luminous not with a mere +facet flash of its philosophy but with the whole orb of it. To +him the Russians "are more than human, they are pan-human." + +Count Tolstoi too must be listed with these preachers. He, +making his own shoes and cutting his own and the peasants' +grain, lived it, showing how he thought the world's work ought +to be done. What were factories or the culture of the west to +him in later years--Shakespeare or no Shakespeare? Destructive +ideals of life. Competition, money and land greed, +self-assertion--all things that are the anthitheses of +Slavophilism--he shunned; mocking the palsied heart and +poisoned ideals of the west, and indeed of the "upper class" +section of his own land as no other Slavophile did. And +following its teaching, he journeyed through self-renunciation +to freedom and communal life, after repentance for his +wanderings, expiation and regeneration. + +Dostoievsky, on the other hand, reached this philosophy largely +by being born to it among the humble people who lived it. +Melancholy-minded by nature--a sort of a Russian Dante but +living in actual infernos and purgatorios, Siberia and prison +cells, he came at last to worship his fellow countrymen and +their ideals as almost nothing else in heaven or earth, and +bowed down before them "as the only remnant left of Christian +humility, destined by Providence to regenerate the world." Here +is Slavophilism in a fervid extreme. "The Down-trodden and +Offended," "Memoirs of a Dead House," "Crime and Punishment," +"Poor People,"--these, the titles of his novels, show the +predilections of his own soul. He died in the mystic frenzy of +this enthusiasm. + +Here then, in this philosophy and in the lives of these men, is +something of the soul of Russia, beautiful in its humility, yet +not so humble that it is not ambitious to embrace the world in +the folding arms of its peace, its communal government and its +morality. Pan-Slavism of this nature is the only kind that in +truth can ever come from Russia. Pan-Slavism of the military +sort, with musketry, bribery and all other diabolic black arts, +miscalled government, rests on such a slim foundation that it +need be but little apprehended. + +It was this brotherly humble soul of Russia that greatly helped +to put an end to the Russo-Japanese war: not merely failing +finances and lack of transportation. The feeling of a kindly +people for their own and a neighboring race caused widespread +mismanagement, opposition and wholesale desertions from the +army, among both the officers and the men. The Romanoff family +and official Russia caused the conflict, but human Russia, +humble and poor, was a great factor in its conclusion. + +There is no doubt, however, that a certain number of +Slavophiles are addicted to the military mania, and this form +of their belief is more dangerously reactionary than its +ordinary phase. Many of these belong to the bureaucratic caste. +Official Russia holds aloft the eagle; human Russia the dove. +Official Russia leads the anti-Jewish massacres; human Russia +is very little responsible for pogroms. Ignatieff, "Father of +Lies," a bureaucrat of the military Pan-Slavic breed, about +1882, began the worst persecutions against the Jews in the last +generation, and possibly Pobiedonosteff, the late procurator of +the Holy Synod, was the worst offender in this one. The +peaceful feelings of the masses of the people, however, do not +sanction these outbreaks, and Slavophilism of such a sort is +not the philosophy of the Russian heart, no matter how many +pogroms may be enumerated. + +It is therefore to human Russia that one must look for the true +feelings of the people; to their faith and deeds, to the +humility of their devotions, and prostrations before their +numberless shrines and ikons, to their religious ceremonies in +the open fields for huge detachments of the army, to the +thousands of their yearly pilgrims to Jerusalem, to their +superstitions, their poverty and long-suffering, all of which +attest innate passive endurance and non-resistance, and show +their kind of Slavophilism, which all in all, is much more than +"mere reverence for barbarism." + +The war-time excitement in their cities seemed characteristic +of this national soul: "Russia is the Mother of Servia" was the +street cry of the marching throngs. It might be added that the +word mother, "matushka," is a prevalent one in expressing their +feelings. They call their greatest river the "Mother Volga." +Conquering Rome said "Father Tiber" and the native warriors of +this continent called the Mississippi the "Father of Waters." +The difference in these appellations shows the tender quality +of the Russian soul, whose ardent sympathies in July, 1914, +were greatly aroused by the spectacle of a large nation +attacking a small one, notwithstanding whatever may be said to +justify that deed. + +Finally, however, let it be added, that the one thing that will +recreate Russia in the image of the west, is capital. Once let +the vast sums that have invaded Muscovy be put, not to the +autocratic purpose of the official rulers, but into factories, +mines, city subways and transportation of all kinds, +irrigation, canals, agricultural implements and to other +productive uses, then capitalistic Russia will stand forth +shorn of the Slavophilic simplicities of non-resistance and +humility. Labor wars, practically unknown hitherto, yet now +beginning, will occur in much greater number and the peasant +class, still unified, will be torn asunder by differences in +wealth and interests; the middle class, now very small, will +grow to large proportions, and many destructive forces will +come upon the land which has hitherto mocked western Europe +because of their presence there. + +The many centuries of peasant unity, with its beauty of +brotherhood, affection and communal interests, will come to an +end under such a new regime. Already competitive forces are +dissolving communism in land, and many of the old beauties of +Russia are disappearing. Capitalism will bring with it much +turmoil and strife, unhappiness and death, but also the dawn of +brighter hours; newer and better cities, cleaner water, better +food, houses and clothes, and after the stress of its first +attack is over, and Russia has evolved laws and means to +control and socialize the invader, it may be that the old +simplicities and beauties of life will return, and a greater +and holier Russia will arise, still able to teach and aid in +the regeneration of the rest of the world. + + + +PHYSICAL TRAINING AS MENTAL TRAINING + +BY DR. J. H. McBRIDE + +PASADENA, CALIFORNIA + +THE first duty of a people is to provide for the health of its +children. The possible human value of any country fifty years +ahead depends chiefly upon what is done by and for its +children. They are the future in the making. + +History seems to justify the statement of Professor Tyler[1] +that conquering races have been physically strong races, and +that nations have failed when they became degenerate. + +[1] Growth and Education," J. M. Tyler. + + + +Dionysius, speaking of the advantage of virility in a nation, +said, + +It is a law of Nature common to all mankind, which no time +shall annul or destroy, that those who have more strength and +excellence shall bear rule over those who have less. + +This law applies equally to individuals. Skill, cunning and +reason play their part, but the animal quality of endurance is +always back of these and is often decisive in a contest. + +Darwin said he had difficulty in applying the law of the +survival of the fittest to the facts of the destruction of +Greece until it occurred to him that in this instance the +strongest was the fittest. Civilized people's have been +destroyed by ruder races that were physically superior. + +The children that are now in our schools will take to adult +life such foundation as heredity has furnished, with the +equipment that society may care to add. We of this day have no +greater obligation than to prepare these children mentally and +physically for the duties that maturity may bring. Man did not +escape the physical necessities of the body when he became +civilized; the advantages of health are as great to-day as when +our forebears lived in tents. Very few of the primitive man's +activities are left; what he did regularly and from necessity +we do incidentally, and usually for sport, and yet the demands +upon the energies of man have not been lessened, they have only +been changed in form. + +Our educational authorities, though in many instances +interested in physical development of the young, have not given +the subject the important place in their program that it +deserves. This is not wholly due to indifference, but largely +to their ideals that were derived from classical-ascetic +standards. + +In the medieval ideal the human body was animal and sinful, to +be despised and repressed. The mind was said to be the +spiritual element in man, representing the immortal part of his +nature, and therefore was the only part worthy of attention in +an educational system. From the fall of the Roman empire to the +later nineteenth century this ideal dominated education. + +The medieval universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, +provided only for mental training. Their education was intended +for those who were to follow the professions or to become +scholars or gentlemen of leisure. Education was not intended to +prepare the great mass of men for the every-day work of life. + +While only indirectly related to my subject, it is interesting +to recall that there was in this country in the early +nineteenth century much opposition to the establishment of +common schools for the masses. It was claimed that those who +belonged to the working classes did not need to be educated. +Our own colleges and universities were originally founded on +the old classical-ascetic model, so that the spirit of the +medieval period survived in the educational plan of this +country. It is only in recent decades that these institutions +have begun to depart from the older, formal, classical methods +that made education a privilege of the few, the average man +being deprived of the advantages of the training that he +needed. Because of this the humble millions of men and women +who wove and spun, and fed and housed the world were left out +of the educational scheme. + +Some years ago a London weekly paper, which speaks for the +conservative class of England, in discussing certain suggested +innovations in English higher education, said that the great +merit of education at Oxford and Cambridge was that it was +"absolutely useless." By this it was probably meant that the +education was for a chosen few, was not intended to prepare men +for the practical work of life and was essentially and only an +intellectual and cultural training. + +The change of attitude that is seen in our day is due chiefly +to two great discoveries: the re-discovery of the human body +and its relation to our mentality and the discovery of the mind +of the child and youth. We have found that man is an animal who +graduated from caves and dugouts and to whom even barbarism was +a lade and great achievement. That the human body was made by +the experiences of that rude life, and that since then we have +made no change in it except to stand on two feet. Neither have +we added one nerve cell or fiber to our brains since the day +when the cave was home and uncooked food the daily diet. + +The conception of man as an animal has led to a study of him as +such. Educators as a class now concede that the physical man +must be considered as an essential part of their scheme, that +the brain is an organ of the body among other organs, and is +subject to the same laws and influenced by similar conditions. + +The influence of the mind upon the body is a commonplace of +psychology, but the influence of the body upon the mind is of +equal importance, though less frequently emphasized. + +Whatever one's theory of the nature of mind, it must be +considered in relation to the brain as the organ of its +expression. The mind has, too, a broader base than the brain, +for every organ of the body has some share in the mental +functions. Every physician knows that physical disease lowers +the quality of the thinking and, with the exception of a few +geniuses like Darwin and Leopardi, it makes impossible +intellectual work of a high order. Disorders of the internal +organs rob the brain of nourishment and weaken it, and by +obtruding their morbidness upon it they batter down its +resistances and lower the thinking power. + +Though we can never know the history of man's origin, the lives +of the child and of the wild man help us to understand +something of the order of racial development. All the higher +mental faculties grow in the child as they grew in the +race--out of impulse, instinct, feeling; and from infancy to +maturity we recapitulate mentally and physically the early +human-making stages, short circuiting in twenty years the +race-process. + +The life of physical activity that the child leads develops and +coordinates the brain and the muscular system. In this way the +great motor functions are organized in the brain and become +part of the physical basis of mind. + +The older education that trained the intellect exclusively, +without reference to the practical demands of life or the needs +of the body, was inadequate in that it ignored the law of +thinking and doing. It is true that there is much to its +credit, as many fine spirits have testified. They at least +survived it. + +Stanley Hall says "we think in terms of muscular movement," and +this expresses the most important single fact in the mature +mentality. That the mind is largely constituted of memories of +muscular movements is basic in development. + +The muscles are the special organs of volition, the one part of +the body that the mind can directly command and act on. The +muscles are preeminently the mind's instruments, the visible +and moving part of its machinery. They are thought carriers, +and during the growth period their functional activities are +organized into the mental life. This is why "we think in terms +of muscular movement," and why muscular training supplies a +natural need of the developing mind. + +The normal boy says little or nothing of what he thinks, but +much of what he is doing or intends to do. He has the motor +mind, the instinct for doing things by which he builds the +brain and body. It is nature's way of laying the foundation in +the individual as by the more tedious process of evolution she +laid it in the race. The mental development of the normal +infant is indicated by the increasing accuracy and delicacy of +muscular coordination. The feeble-minded child very early shows +its mental defect in the clumsy use of its muscles. Because of +the functional relation of the voluntary muscles and the +mentality, physical training is in a large degree mental +training. When by such training we give dexterity to muscles of +the growing person we are making possible better mental +development; that is, because of this relation of the mind to +action there is a direct mental discipline in the thought-out +processes of physical activity. If, then, we make physical +development a part of our educational process, we are taking +advantage of race tendencies, we are starting the individual as +nature started the race; we are laying the foundation in the +individual as it was originally laid in the race; we are +building as the race built. + +Exclusively intellectual training may be sufficient for the +genius or for the few who have great initiative and +intellectual self-confidence, but for the great mass of boys +and girls this training is not sufficient. It does not prepare +the young for the kind of work that three fourths of them will +have to do. We are now beginning to recognize this and through +manual training, vocational guidance, etc., we are teaching +boys and girls how to do things, and this, too, has the +additional merit of being, in a measure, physical training. + +Educators, until recently, have, in emphasizing the paramount +importance of mental training, lost sight of the needs of the +body. Their classical ideals and formal methods made dead +languages, mathematics, philosophy etc., the school diet of +boys whose normal hunger was for action, and for learning by +doing. + +Sir William Hamilton, who wrote fairy tales in metaphysics for +a generation of Scotchmen, placed these lines over the doorway +of his lecture room. + + In earth there 's nothing great but Man; + In Man there 's nothing great but Mind. + +This sounds well, but it is poor philosophy. There is much in +earth that is great besides man and much in man that is great +besides his mind. The older type of metaphysician with his +staggering vocabulary and his bag of "categories" has now +chiefly a historic interest. In the modern view the +interdependence of mind and body is a fundamental fact of life. +As science reveals the physiologic marvels of the once despised +body, the latter grows in our respect, for we find that its +seeming humble functions are intimately related to our highest +powers. Sir William's couplet gives a hint of the dominance of +the classical method of his day. It overemphasized the +importance of reason and too often converted the youthful mind +into a rag bag of useless information. The educators of that +time and since have thought more highly of human reason than +experience justifies. With their medieval bias for a world of +will and reason, they drove the young with the whip and spur of +emulation toward what to them seemed the one possible goal, +intellectual achievement. + +We exaggerate the share that reason has in conduct. In the +history of the race, which is epitomized in the life of every +individual, reason was a late outgrowth of feeling, passion, +impulse, instinct. It was these older faculties that ruled the +life of the primitive man who made the race, and it was through +them that the race gradually rose to reason by what Emerson +would call the "spiral stairway of development." + +These functions of impulse and instinct dominate the life of +the child and they are only a little less potent in the conduct +of us grownups. Much of what we call reason is feeling, and +much of our life activities are due to desire, sentiment, +instinct and habit, which, under the illusion of reason, +determine our decisions and conduct. Some one has said that +reason is the light that nature has placed at the tip of +instinct, and it is certainly true that without these earlier, +basal faculties reason would be a feeble light. During the +growing period these are specially strong, and the important +thing is that they be guided and organized in relation to the +needs of maturity. In combining mental and physical training we +are in some measure furnishing this guidance, doing +intentionally what nature did originally without design. + +In the uncivilized state the stress of life was chiefly +physical. The civilized man has to a large degree reversed this +old order, in that the use of the body is incidental in his +work, the stress being placed upon the brain. He piles his life +high with complexities and in place of life being for +necessities, and they few and simple, it is largely for +comforts which we call necessities, and Professor Huxley has +said that the struggle for comforts is more cruel than the +struggle for existence. + +This stress which is put upon conscious effort in civilization +places a new and severe tax upon the brain. It intensifies and +narrows the range of man's activities; it causes him to +specialize and localize the strain to a degree that may be +dangerous. It is certainly true that every man has his breaking +strain, and there is nothing that will raise the limit of +endurance like a strong and well-developed body. + +The Italian physiologist, Mosso, showed by an ingenious device +that when a person lying quite still was required to add a +column of figures, blood left the extremities and flowed toward +the brain. Any emotional state or effort of thought produces +the same result. This demonstration that we think to our +fingers' ends suggests the importance of a strong body as a +prompt support in mental work. + +All our work, mental as well as physical, is a test of +endurance, not a test that is spiritual and non-material, but +even in the sphere of the mind it is plainly animal and +physical. Thinking is primarily a physical process and draws +upon the vital stores of every organ. The energy that makes +clear thinking possible depends largely upon the vigor of the +body, and to the extent that this fails, the brain functions +suffer. Therefore, any work, mental or physical, will be better +done and more easily done if the body is strong. Other things +being equal, the intellectual work of the strong man will be +better done than similar work by one of equal talent, but who +is not strong. + +Big muscles are not necessary in physical development. Many +people are not designed for big muscles, and any attempt by +them to produce a heavy, massive development may do harm. What +is wanted is vigor, skill, muscular readiness and a reawakening +of the old associations of thought and action. Such training +goes further than thought and action, for it reaches all the +organs and adds immensely to the vital capacity and working +power of the individual. + +The play instinct of the child is as old as the race, or older, +and is a vitally important factor, not only in physical +development, but also in mental development. In its destructive +and disorderly activities the child shows the later adult +forces in the formative stage. Old instincts and movements that +were once self-preservative and of serious meaning to a wild +ancestor reappear in the play of children, and, utilized +wisely, may under new form become a valuable possession of the +adult. There is a great big man, in fact, several possible men, +inside every boy. Through his running, jumping, fighting, +swimming, through impulse, instincts and emotions he is seeking +the man that is in him, and it is by this turbulent and +experimental course that he finally comes to the order of +maturity. + +Every boy is a vitally coiled up set of springs pressing to be +released. Race-old energies are struggling in him for +expression, and play is the normal way to satisfy the great +demand. The child may miss some important things and yet get +on, but it can not, without severe and lasting harm miss the +instinctive activities of play. + +In play and games the young are re-enacting these old muscular +coordinations and developing mind and body on the old +foundation. The boy's love of outdoor sports and the adventures +of hunting are significant. Those ancestors of ours who hunted +and fished and shaped with care their arrow heads were +developing a manual skill and thinking power that we inherit. +We use our muscles for more varied and possibly more finished +purposes, but it is through the patience and practise of their +rude lives that we possess the delicate uses of the hands and +the finer dexterities of the mind. + +The boy who goes whistling to the fields, or hunts, or fishes, +or swims, is unconsciously reaching out toward later life and +is preparing for serious and bigger things. + +The growing formative period of life is the time for good +physical development. Whatever is gained and fixed then is +permanent, as it becomes a part of the physiological habits of +the individual. The years before twenty decide the future +energy stores, and the capacity to endure. Every function +enlarged, every gain of power, is additional storage room for +energy, to be drawn upon in the coming days of adult stress. + +Good physical development not only gives strength and skill in +the use of the body, but develops a physiological habit of +surplus power that may be called quantity of energy. Life is +not alone in quality, in delicacy of adjustment, in accuracy, +in fineness of feeling; it is also in quantity. The poet who, +with frail physique and feeble pulse, sits in his quiet retreat +and puts his fine fancies into the rhythms of verse has +quality. But in the stress and rivalry of life that awaits the +majority of men, there is a need for quantity of energy, such +as enabled a Washington or a Caesar or a Napoleon or a +Wellington to shoulder his way through difficulties. These men +combined quality with quantity and this combination may make, +and often does make, the life of masterful achievement. The +quantity of energy in us average men may make the difference +between success and failure. + +Many men fail in life for lack of staying power, for lack of +that kind of endurance that is furnished by having power in +reserve. + +The strong, confident person who has strength to spare, +reserves of energy, does his work easily and without friction. +Half the timidities and indecisions of men are chargeable less +to lack of ability than to lack of the physical vigor, the +QUANTITY of energy, which is the driving power of character. In +all the contests of life an important element in success is the +ability to endure prolonged stress, to have the reserve energy +that can be drawn upon and utilized as a driving force. This +power is not alone necessary in the emergencies, the "short +hauls" of life, but also in the long hauls that spread the +strain through greater periods. Many of the failures of life +are due as much to lack of ability to meet prolonged stress as +to lack of experience or intelligence. Men of moderate ability +but with great powers of endurance often succeed, while men of +greater talent fail for lack of the ability to endure strain. + +The man with a weak body and without the self-confidence that +surplus energy gives is liable to be of uncertain judgment. +Such a man in the presence of a problem requiring quick +decision, doubts and hesitates and stands shivering on the +brink of action while hastening opportunities pass him by. + +Much of the loose thinking of our time is undoubtedly due to +poor educational drill. In fact the failure of the schools to +teach pupils how to apply the mind and how to think is one of +their common reproaches. Inability to use the mind effectively +is also frequently due to a lack of vigor and physical stamina. +A person with poor digestion, or under-developed body, or weak +circulation has of necessity a badly nourished brain. Such a +brain, unless it belongs to a genius, will do poor thinking. + +The mentally trained person who is also physically strong has +the combination that puts his powers at easy command. He can be +joyously busy doing the impossible because the doing of it has +been made easy by training. + +How much native power there is in all of us that for want of +proper training or sympathetic encouragement never comes to +maturity! How many of the finer qualities of character that, +for want of a kindlier climate of cheerful companionship and +wise direction, failed to mature and now lie dead in us! Very +many people are only partly alive. A large part, and in some, +the best part, is dead. The capacity they show is probably only +a small share of a fine inheritance which, not knowing how to +use, they allowed to die. + +We have an instinctive liking for people who are strong and +healthy. They appeal to us by their robustness and their +confident display of energy. We do not now need the big muscles +that were once necessary in wielding spear and battle-axe. We +need, however, as much as the race ever needed well-developed +bodies and habits of health. + +It is not difficult for us to see that sports and games and +play help to physical development, but it is not so plain that +they may be made to develop the best qualities of character. + +It is a fact, however, that all the important elements of +character are tried out in games and sports. Enthusiasm, +self-confidence, the adventurous spirit, alertness, promptness, +unselfishness, cooperation, quick judgment--all these have +their training and discipline on the game field. They comprise +those fundamental native qualities that have gone to make +humanity what it is. The young should have this training, and, +if of the right kind, it may be made to contribute to the +making of the best kind of character. The same quickness and +accuracy of judgment that enable a boy to win a point in +football may in later life be used to win a battle or save a +business venture. Beyond this, there is of course gained the +strong body that makes work easy and stress less difficult to +bear. + +Hall calls attention to the fact that two generations ago, +Jahn, the great builder of German physique, roused the then +despairing German nation by preaching the gospel of strong +bodies. He created a new spirit in Germany, and the whole +nation was aroused and seized with an enthusiasm for outdoor +games and sports, and there arose a new cult for the body. His +pupils sang of a united fatherland and of a stronger race. The +Germans are in the habit of reminding us that it was about one +generation after Jahn that the German Empire was founded and +Germany became a world power. + +Every argument for the physical training of boys applies with +equal force to girls. Women need to be physically as strong as +men. No race will remain virile and progressive unless both the +fathers and mothers have the physical stamina that produces +healthy, vigorous offspring. In this age, when women are going +out into the world to compete with men it is highly important +that they be physically strong if they are to stand the stress +successfully. It was from rough barbarians, the rude war-loving +Teutonic men and women described by Tacitus, that the +Anglo-Saxon race inherited those splendid qualities of mind and +body that have made their descendants masters of seas and +continents. + +It has been objected that gymnastics and field sports make +girls coarse and mannish. The exact opposite has been found to +be the case. It has been observed in colleges that when young +women are properly led, their sports, in place of making them +mannish, have a marked refining influence. They care more for +correct posture because this is made one of their tests in +athletic sports. They develop better manners and a new sense of +pride in their appearance. They soon learn to avoid slang, loud +talking and boisterous behavior. In the University of Chicago +where they have excellent training, many of the girls have said +that they came to have a new sense of dignity and to care more +for their personal appearance. + +They also develop the finer elements of character, a +cooperative spirit, obedience to commands, patience, +self-confidence, a spirit of comradeship, a democratic attitude +and an appreciation of good qualities in others wherever found. +All of these esthetic, social and moral qualities, woven into +the texture of the growing character, and with the vigorous +health that the physical training brings, are the best +contribution to the making of the most effective type of the +womanly woman. All games and sports and athletics for the young +should therefore make for refinement and esthetic development. + +The state needs now, and will always need, men and women who +have sound bodies and abounding energy. + +The harsher phases of the human struggle may pass and wars may +cease, but the old contests of races, nations and individuals +will continue under other forms. + +As the race grows older life will become more largely mental. +The increasing complexity of human relations and the more +delicate adjustments that these relations require will bring a +new and finer social order that will make higher demands upon +reason. + +While there is no evidence that experience or time or training +will ever change the structure of the brain, it is probable +that we have as yet but imperfectly utilized our mental +possibilities. Stratton says: + + Out of the depths of the mind new powers are always +emerging.[2] + +[2] "Experimental Psychology and Culture," George M. Stratton. + + + +Back of the mental life, and making it possible, are the +energies of the body, the functioning of the animal in man, +which in the brain are changed to the higher uses of the mind. +The ability to execute, to act effectively, to do and keep +doing, to do the work of the professional man, the banker, or +the scientist, all this is primarily physical, and from top to +bottom of man's activities the physical test is applied. With +the mental and emotional strain of civilized life goes the +physical strain which is the other half of the struggle, and +which now and always is both mental and physical. The Greeks +recognized this unity of mind and body twenty-five hundred +years ago and their results remain unmatched by any race. + +They saw that the thought-out movements of physical training +resulted in mental training and this law of mental development +through physical training was a fundamental principle in their +educational plan. + +The nation that will again make this an ideal will produce a +finer race of men, and other things equal, will excel in all +that makes a people great. + + + +EDWARD JENNER AND VACCINATION + +BY PROFESSOR D. FRASER HARRIS, M.D., D.Sc. + +DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY, HALIFAX, N. S. + + + +WE are so exceedingly apt to take our blessings as a matter of +course that at the present time a large number of us have quite +forgotten, and some of us have never known, what a terrible +disease smallpox is and from how much suffering national +vaccination has saved us. But even many of us, who may not be +included amongst those who know nothing of smallpox, do come +within the group of those who know next to nothing of the life +and work of Dr. Edward Jenner. A number of persons think he was +Sir William Jenner, physician to Queen Victoria. + +An infectious or communicable disease is one caused by the +admission of some form of living matter into the body of a +human being or of a lower animal. All diseases are clearly not +communicable in the sense that they are due to the presence of +living things. Indigestion, for instance, I can not communicate +to my neighbor, however serious my dietetic indiscretions. + +Now, while the actual microorganisms causing many of the +infectious diseases have been discovered in these recent days +through the agency of the microscope--one of science's most +valuable gifts to suffering humanity--a few diseases +undoubtedly infectious have, even up to the present time, not +had their microorganic causes discovered. Smallpox or variola +is one of these. The term variola is from the Latin varus, a +pimple. + +The name Small Pox, which first occurs in Holinshead's +"Chronicle" (1571), was given to this disease to distinguish it +from the Great Pox or syphilis, the French disease, or Morbus +Gallicus which attained the proportions of an epidemic in +Europe about 1494. The expression "The Pox" in the older +medical literature always refers to the Lues Venereal The word +"pox" is the plural form of pock; the spelling "pox" is +phonetic; "pocks" is the correct form.[1] + +[1] Thus the following expression in Galt's "Annals of the +Parish" is justified--"My son Gilbert was seized with the +smallpox and was blinded by THEM for seventeen days." + + + +Smallpox is unquestionably a highly infectious or communicable +disease, and in the language of a past day, there is a virus or +poison which can pass from the sick to the unaffected; when +this transference occurs on a large scale we speak of an +epidemic of smallpox. As Sir William Osler truly says, "It is +not a little remarkable that in a disease, which is rightly +regarded as the type of all infectious maladies, the specific +virus still remains unknown." The same, however, is true of the +common diseases of scarlatina, measles and chickenpox. Of some +diseases, the virus is a bacillus or coccus, excessively minute +fungi recognizable only under the microscope; but the +bacteriologists are now beginning to speak of viruses so +impalpable that they, unlike ordinary bacteria, can go through +the pores of a clay filter, are filter-passers, that is are of +ultra-microscopic dimensions. Some authorities conjecture that +the virus of variola belongs to the group of filter-passers. +The virus of smallpox, however, is very resistant and can be +carried through the air for considerable distances; it clings +for long periods to clothes, books, furniture, etc. + +I shall not now digress to give the clinical details of a case +of smallpox; the eruption may be slight or it may be very +extensive. It occurs in three forms, discrete, confluent and +hemorrhagic. The most dangerous form of smallpox is the +confluent, in which the face and arms particularly are covered +with large pustular areas of a most disfiguring appearance. + +The disease called chickenpox, or varicella, has no +relationship to smallpox and does not protect from it, nor does +smallpox protect from chickenpox. + +HISTORY OF SMALLPOX + +There seems very little doubt that the home of smallpox was +somewhere on the continent of Africa, although it is true that +there are traditions pointing to its existence in Hindustan at +least 1000 B.C. One Hindu account alludes to an ointment for +removing the cicatrices of eruption. Africa has certainly for +long been a prolific source of it: every time a fresh batch of +slaves was brought over to the United States of America there +was a fresh outbreak of smallpox.[2] It seems that the first +outbreak in Europe in the Christian era was in the latter half +of the sixth century, when it traveled from Arabia, visiting +Egypt on the way. The earliest definite statements about it +come from Arabia and are contained in an Arabic manuscript now +in the University of Leyden, which refers to the years A.D. 570 +and 571. There is a good deal of evidence that the Arabs +introduced smallpox into Egypt at the sacking of Alexandria in +A.D. 640. Pilgrims and merchants distributed it throughout +Syria and Palestine and along the north of Africa; then, +crossing the Mediterranean, they took it over to Italy. The +Moors introduced it into Spain whence, via Portugal, Navarre, +Languedoc and Guienne it was carried into western and northern +Europe. The earliest physician to describe smallpox is Ahrun, a +Christian Egyptian, who wrote in Greek. He lived in Alexandria +from A.D. 610 to 641. The first independent treatise on the +disease was by the famous Arabian physician, Rhazes, who wrote +in Syriac in 920 A.D., but his book has been translated into +both Greek and Latin. The first allusion to smallpox in English +is in an Anglo-Saxon manuscript of the early part of the tenth +century; the passage is interesting--"Against pockes: very much +shall one let blood and drink a bowl full of melted butter; if +they [pustules] strike out, one should dig each with a thorn +and then drop one-year alder drink in, then they will not be +seen," this was evidently to prevent the pitting dreaded even +at so early a date. Smallpox was first described in Germany in +1493, and appeared in Sweden first in 1578. + +[2] Osler thinks the pesta magna of Galen was smallpox; Marcus +Aurelius died of it. + + + +The contributions of Sydenham, the English Hippocrates, to the +knowledge of smallpox, are classical. + +Throughout the Middle Ages, owing to the very crowded and +unsanitary state of the cities of Europe, smallpox was one of +the various plagues from which the inhabitants were never free +for any length of time.[3] Leprosy, influenza, smallpox, +cholera, typhus fever and bubonic plague constituted the +dreadful group. In most countries, including England, smallpox +was practically endemic; an attack of it was accepted as a +thing inevitable, in children even more inevitable than +whooping-cough, measles, mumps or chickenpox is regarded at the +present time. There was a common saying--"Few escape love or +smallpox." In the eighteenth century so many faces were pitted +from severe smallpox that it is said any woman who had no +smallpox marks was straightway accounted beautiful. Very few +persons escaped it in either the mild or the severe form in +childhood or in later life. + +[3] England was by no means exempt, but it was not infection in +the modern sense that Shakespeare meant when he wrote-- + "This England, + This fortress, built by Nature for herself + Against infection and the hand of war." + + + +Now it is characteristic of a microorganic disease that a +person who has recovered from an attack of it is immune from +that disease for a longer or shorter time, in some cases for +the remainder of life. This is, luckily, as true of smallpox as +of any of the other acute infections. We do not now need to +enquire into the theory of how this comes about; it is a +well-recognized natural phenomenon. The modern explanation is +in terms of antigens and anti-bodies and is fast passing from +the stage of pure biochemical hypothesis into that of concrete +realization. Persons who have recovered from smallpox rarely +take it a second time; the few who do, have it in a mild form. +It follows, then, that if smallpox is purposely inoculated into +a human being he will for a long time be resistant to the +subsequent infection of smallpox. The fact of smallpox +protecting from smallpox is by no means without analogy in +other diseases. Thus in Switzerland, in Africa, in Senegambia, +it has been the custom for a long time, in order to protect the +cattle from pleuro-pneumonia, to inoculate them with the fluid +from the lung of an animal recently dead of pleuro-pneumonia. +Of course since the time of Pasteur we have been quite familiar +with the inoculation of attenuated virus to protect from the +natural diseases in their fully virulent form, for instance, +anthrax, rabies, plague and typhoid fever. + +As it was, then, known to mankind from a very early period that +a person could be protected from smallpox by being inoculated +with it, inoculation grew up as a practice in widely distant +parts of the globe. The purpose of intentional inoculation was +to go through a mild attack of the disease in order to acquire +protection from the much more serious natural form of the +disease--to have had it so as not to have it. A very high +antiquity is claimed for this smallpox inoculation, some even +asserting that the earliest known Hindu physician (Dhanwantari) +supposed to have lived about 1500 B.C., was the first to +practice it. Bruce in his "Voyages to the Sources of the Nile" +(1790) tells us that he found Nubian and Arabian women +inoculating their children against smallpox, and that the +custom had been observed from time immemorial. Records of it +indeed are found all over the world; in Ashantee, amongst the +Arabs of North Africa, in Tripoli, Tunis and Algeria, in +Senegal, in China, in Persia, in Thibet, in Bengal, in Siam, in +Tartary and in Turkey. In Siam the method of inoculation is +very curious; material from a dried pustule is blown up into +the nostrils; but in most other parts of the world the +inoculation is by the ordinary method of superficial incision +or what is called scarification. By the latter part of the +seventeenth century inoculation for smallpox was an established +practise in several European countries into which it had +traveled by the coasts of the Bosphorus, via Constantinople. In +1701 a medical man, Timoni, described the process as he saw it +in Constantinople. Material was taken from the pustules of a +case on the twelfth or thirteenth day of the illness. As early +as 1673 the practice was a common one in Denmark, Bartholinus +tells us. In France inoculation had been widely practiced; on +June 18, 1774, the young king Louis XVI., was inoculated for +smallpox, and the fashionable ladies of the day wore in their +hair a miniature rising sun and olive tree entwined by a +serpent supporting a club, the "pouf a l'inoculation" of +Mademoiselle Rose Bertin, the court milliner to Marie +Antoinette. In Germany inoculation was in vogue all through the +seventeenth century, as also in Holland, Switzerland, Italy and +Circassia. In England the well-known Dr. Mead, honored, by the +way, with a grave in Westminster Abbey, was a firm believer in +inoculation, as was also Dr. Dimsdale, who was sent for by the +Empress Catherine II. to introduce it into Russia. Dr. Dimsdale +inoculated a number of persons in Petrograd, and finally the +Grand Duke and the Empress herself. The lymph he took from the +arm of a child ill of natural smallpox. For his services to the +Russian court Dr. Dimsdale was made a Baron of the Russian +Empire, a councillor of state and physician to the Empress. He +was presented with the sum of 1,000 pounds and voted an annuity +of 500 pounds a year. At the request of Catherine, Dr. Dimsdale +went to Moscow, where thousands were clamoring for inoculation. +The mortality from smallpox in Russia seems to have been still +higher than in the rest of Europe. The annual average death +rate on the Continent at the end of the eighteenth century was +210 per 1,000 deaths from all causes, while in Russia in one +year two million persons perished from smallpox alone. In +England in 1796, the deaths from smallpox were 18.6 per cent. +of deaths from all causes. + +A great impetus was given to inoculation in England by the +letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montague, the wife of our +ambassador to Turkey, Edward Wortley Montague, and daughter of +the Duke of Kingston. In 1717 Lady Mary wrote a letter to her +friend Miss Chiswell, in which she explained the process and +promised to introduce it to the notice of the English +physicians. So convinced was Lady Mary of the safety of +smallpox inoculation and its efficacy in preserving from +subsequent smallpox, that in March, 1717, she had her little +boy inoculated at the English embassy by an old Greek woman in +the presence of Dr. Maitland, surgeon to the embassy. In 1722 +some criminals under sentence of death in Newgate were offered +a full pardon if they would undergo inoculation. Six men agreed +to this, and none of them suffered at all severely from the +inoculated smallpox. Towards the close of the same year two +children of the Princess of Wales were successfully inoculated; +and in 1746 an Inoculation Hospital was actually opened in +London, but not without much opposition. As early as 1721 the +Rev. Cotton Mather, of Boston (U. S. A.), introduced +inoculation to the notice of the American physicians, and in +1722 Dr. Boylston, of Brooklyn, inoculated 247 persons, of whom +about 2 per cent. died of the acquired smallpox as compared +with 14 per cent. of deaths amongst 6,000 uninoculated persons +who caught the natural smallpox. There was, however, great +popular opposition to the practice of inoculation, and Dr. +Boylston on one occasion was nearly lynched. + +While successful inoculation undoubtedly protected the person +from smallpox, sometimes the inoculated form of the disease was +virulent, and certainly all cases of inoculated variola were as +infectious as the natural variety. Inoculated persons were +therefore a danger to the community; and there is no doubt that +such persons had occasionally introduced smallpox into towns +which had been free from the natural disease. At the end of the +eighteenth century, just about the time of Jenner's discovery, +public opinion was strongly against the continuance of the +practice of inoculation, and as natural smallpox had not at all +abated its epidemic character, the times were ripe for "some +new thing." + +Now there is a disease of cows know as cowpox or vaccinia (from +the Latin vacca, a cow) which is communicable to human beings. +It is thought to be due to the same virus which in pigs is +called swinepox and in horses "grease." Jenner believed +vaccinia to be the same pathological entity as human smallpox, +modified, however, by its transmission through the cow. For a +long time this view was stoutly resisted, but it has now been +accepted as probably representing the truth. The identity of +vaccinia and "grease" is certainly much more doubtful. + +To many of Jenner's contemporaries the view that vaccinia had +at one time been a disease of human beings seemed unlikely; but +we are now in a far better position to admit its probability +than were those of Jenner's time. We have since then learned +that man shares many diseases with the lower animals, +tuberculosis, plague, rabies, diphtheria and pleuro-pneumonia, +to mention only a few. We have also learned that certain lower +animals, insects for instance, are intermediary hosts in the +life-cycle of many minute parasites which cause serious +diseases in the human being, amongst which malaria, yellow +fever and the sleeping sickness are the most familiar. + +It appears to have been understood before Jenner's time that +persons who had acquired cowpox by handling cattle, but +especially by milking cows, were immune from smallpox. In the +reign of Charles II. it is well known that the court beauties +envied the dairy-maids because having had cowpox, they could +not take smallpox which all women so dreaded. Dr. Corlett tells +us that the Duchess of Cleveland, one of the King's mistresses, +on being told that she might lose her place in the royal favor +if she were disfigured by smallpox, replied that she had +nothing to fear as she had had cowpox. In 1769 a German, Bose, +wrote on the subject of cowpox protecting from smallpox. In the +year 1774 a cattle dealer, Benjamin Jesty, at Yetminster, in +Dorset, inoculated his wife and three children with cowpox. +None of them ever took smallpox during the rest of their lives +although frequently exposed to its infection. Jesty died in +1816, and it is recorded on his tombstone that he was the first +person who inoculated cowpox to protect from smallpox. Cowpox, +or vaccinia, though infectious for cows, is not transmissible +among human beings, in other words, as a disease of man it is +not infectious. Edward Jenner, the Englishman of Berkeley in +Gloucestershire, was the first person to think scientifically +on the fact that cowpox protected from smallpox. John Hunter +had said to him, "Jenner, don't think, try." Luckily, however, +he did both. Thinking alone avails little, experimentation +alone avails not much, but the one along with the other has +removed mountains. Just as Newton thought scientifically about +that falling apple and reduced our conceptions of the universe +to order, just as Watt thought scientifically about that +kettle-lid lifted by the steam and so introduced the modern era +of mechanical power brought under man's control, so Jenner +thought about and experimented with cowpox until he had +satisfied himself that he had discovered something which would +rid the human race forever of the incubus of an intolerable +pestilence. + +It was in 1780 that Jenner set himself to study cowpox in a way +that had never before been attempted, for he was convinced that +in the having had an attack of the disease lay the secret of +the conquest of that world-scourge. He confided in his fried +Edward Gardner about "a most important matter . . . which I +firmly believe will prove of essential benefit to the human +race . . . should anything untoward turn up in my experiments, +I should be made, particularly by my medical brethren, the +subject of ridicule." Luckily he was quite prepared for both +ridicule and opposition; for has not everything new been +ridiculed and opposed? Galileo was opposed, Bruno was opposed, +Copernicus was opposed, Harvey was opposed, George Stevenson +was opposed, Pasteur was ridiculed and opposed, and so were +Darwin, Simpson and even Lister. The physiological inertia even +of the educated has too often blocked the path of advancement: +but Jenner is in illustrious company, a prince amongst the +hierarchy of the misunderstood. + +The facts or surmises before Jenner at this date, then, +were--(a) Cowpox produces an eruption extremely like that of +mild smallpox, it is, therefore, probably a form of smallpox +modified by transmission through the cow; (b) And an attack of +cowpox protects from smallpox. To test these things +experimentally some one must first be inoculated with cowpox, +and, having recovered from the vaccinia, that same person must, +secondly, be inoculated with the virus of smallpox or be +exposed to the infection, and, thirdly, this person ought not +to take the disease. + +In 1788 Jenner had a careful drawing made of the hand of a +milkmaid suffering from cowpox to demonstrate to Sir Everard +Home how exceedingly similar were vaccinia and variola. Home +agreed it was "interesting and curious," and the subject began +to attract some attention in medical circles. + +In November, 1789, Dr. Jenner inoculated his eldest child +Edward, aged 18 months, with some swinepox virus, and as +nothing untoward happened, he inoculated him again with +swinepox on April 7, 1791. The child had a slight illness, very +like vaccinia, from which he rapidly recovered. The moment for +the crucial experiment was not yet; it came in due time, but +Jenner had to wait five years for it, and five years are a long +time to a man who is yearning to perform his crucial +experiment. Happily for suffering humanity, in the early summer +of 1796 the opportunity came; the hour and the man were there +together. + +Cowpox had broken out on a farm near Berkeley and a dairy maid +called Sarah Neames contracted the disease. On May 14, 1796, +Dr. Jenner took some fluid from a sore on this woman's hand and +inoculated it by slight scratching into the arm of a healthy +boy eight years old, by name James Phipps. The boy had the +usual "reaction" or attack of vaccinia, a disorder +indistinguishable from the mildest form of smallpox. After an +interval of six weeks, on July 1, Jenner made the most +momentous but justifiable experiment, for he inoculated James +Phipps with smallpox by lymph taken from a sore on a case of +genuine, well-marked, human smallpox, AND THE BOY DID NOT TAKE +THE DISEASE AT ALL. Jenner waited till the nineteenth of the +month, and finding that the boy had still not developed +variola, he could hardly write for joy. "Listen," he wrote to +Gardner, "to the most delightful part of my story. The boy has +since been inoculated for the smallpox which, aS I VERNTURED TO +PREDICT, produced no effect. I shall now pursue my experiments +with redoubled ardor." + +Here we are behind the scenes at a great discovery; "as I +ventured to predict"; prediction is part of scientific +theorizing; there is a place for legitimate prediction as there +is for experimentation. All discoverers have made predictions; +Harvey predicted the existence of the capillaries, Halley +predicted the return of his comet, Adams predicted the place of +the planet Neptune, the missing link in the evolutionary series +of the fossil horses had been predicted long before it was +actually found by Professor Marsh. Pasteur predicted that the +sheep inoculated with the weak anthrax virus would be alive in +the anthrax-infected field, while those not so protected would +all be dead. A prediction verified is a conclusion +corroborated, an investigator encouraged. + +Early in 1797, through another outbreak of cowpox, Jenner was +able to inoculate three persons with variola, only to find as +before that they were immune from smallpox. He now felt himself +justified in preparing a paper for the Royal Society, the +highest scientific tribunal in England. The council, however, +returned him his paper with the remark that in their opinion +the amount of evidence was not strong enough to warrant its +publication in the Transactions. Jenner was wise enough not to +be discouraged, and so in June, 1798, he published the paper +himself under the title, "Inquiry into the causes and effects +of the Variolae-Vacciniae, a disease discovered in some of the +western counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and +known by the name of cowpox." This historic pamphlet, which +ranks with the great classics of medicine, was dedicated to Dr. +O. H. Parry, of Bath. Later on the Royal Society was sagacious +enough to elect the very man whose paper it had previously +refused. + +While in London attending to the publication of his pamphlet, +Dr. Jenner called on the great surgeon Mr. Cline, and left some +cowpox virus with him for trial. Cline inoculated a young +tubercular patient with vaccinia and later with smallpox in no +less than three places. In due time this patient did not show a +sign of smallpox. So impressed was Cline with this remarkable +result that he wrote to Jenner thus: "I think the substitution +of cowpox poison for smallpox one of the greatest improvements +that has ever been made in medicine. The more I think on the +subject, the more I am impressed with its importance." + +The word "vaccination" was coined by the French, so remarkable +for the aptness of their descriptive terms, and it has ever +since remained with us as a convenient expression for the +inoculation of vaccinia as protecting from variola.[4] + +[4] It is certainly not necessary to point out that the +principle of vaccination has been one of wide application in +modern medicine. Our word "vaccine" testifies to this. A +vaccine is a liquid, the result of bacterial growth, injected +into a patient in order to render him immune from that +particular disease which is caused by sufficient infection with +the microorganisms in question, e. g., of typhoid fever or of +plague. + + + +Dr. Jenner's views were now becoming known, and the critics and +the doubters had appeared: St. Thomas has always had a large +following. The most formidable of the early objectors was Dr. +Igenhouz, who had come to London to study inoculation for +variola, and had already inoculated, among other notable +persons, the Archduchess Theresa Elizabeth of Vienna. The +careless vaccinations of Doctors Pearson and Woodville at the +London Smallpox Hospital brought much apparent discredit on +Jenner's work. In all his early work Jenner used lymph obtained +directly from papules on the cow or calf, but Woodville in 1799 +showed that excellent results could be got from arm-to-arm +vaccination. As this latter method is a very convenient one, +the technique was widely adopted. We have to remember that we +are speaking of a period about sixty years before Lister gave +to suffering humanity that other great gift, antisepsis: and so +many arms "went wrong," not because of being vaccinated, but +because the scratches were afterwards infected by the +microorganisms of dirt. Jenner knew well the difference between +the reaction of clean vaccination and that of an infected arm, +but a great many medical men of his time did not, and so he was +constantly plagued with reports of vaccinations "going wrong" +when it was septic infection of uncleansed skin that had +occurred. The explanation of these things by letter consumed a +very great deal of his valuable time. By the end of 1799 a +large number of persons had, however, been successfully +vaccinated. As one Pearson proved troublesome by starting an +institution for public vaccination on principles which Jenner +knew to be wrong, and as Jenner found himself virtually +supplanted and misrepresented, he came up to London in 1800 to +vindicate his position. The King, the Queen and the Prince of +Wales, to whom he was presented, materially helped on the cause +by countenancing the practice of vaccination. Lord Berkeley, +his Lord of the Manor, was in this as in all things a kind and +wise patron. In the United States of America vaccination made +rapid progress, having been introduced there under the good +auspices of Dr. Waterhouse, professor of medicine at Cambridge, +Mass. The discovery was announced with true American +informality as "Something curious in the medical line," on +March 12, 1799. + +Things went even better on the continent of Europe; deCarro, of +Vienna, inaugurated vaccination with such zeal and +discrimination that it spread to Switzerland, France, Italy and +Spain. From Spain it passed over to Latin America. In Sicily +and Naples, "the blessed vaccine" was received by religious +processions. Sacco, of Milan, commenced vaccinating in 1801, +and in a few years had vaccinated 20,000. In Paris, a Vaccine +Institute was established; and Napoleon ordered all his +soldiers who had not had smallpox to be vaccinated. On Jenner's +application, the Emperor liberated several English prisoners +remarking--"What that man asks is not to be refused." Napoleon +voted 100,000 francs for the propagation of vaccination. Lord +Elgin introduced it into Turkey and Greece. The Empress of +Russia, Catherine II., was one of the greatest supporters of +Jennerian vaccination. She decreed that the first child +vaccinated in Russia should be called "Vaccinoff," should be +conveyed to Petrograd in an imperial coach, educated at the +expense of the state and receive a pension for life. The +Emperor of Austria and the King of Spain released English +prisoners at Jenner's request. There were statues of Jenner +erected abroad, at Boulogne and at Brunn, in Moravia, before +any in England. Thus the European countries showed their +gratitude to the Englishman whose patience, genius and absence +of self-seeking had rid them of the detestable world-plague of +smallpox. Vaccination was made compulsory by law in no less +than five European countries before it was so in the United +Kingdom in 1853. In eight countries vaccination is provided +free at the expense of the government. The clergy of Geneva and +of Holland from their pulpits recommended their people to be +vaccinated. In Germany, Jenner's birthday (May 17) was +celebrated as a holiday. Within six years, Jenner's gift to +humanity had been accepted with that readiness with which the +drowning clutch at straws. The most diverse climes, races, +tongues and religions were united in blessing vaccination and +its discoverer. The North American Indians forwarded to Dr. +Jenner a quaintly worded address full of the deepest gratitude +for what he had saved them from: "We shall not fail," said +these simple people, "to teach our children to speak the name +of Jenner, and to thank the Great Spirit for bestowing upon him +so much wisdom and so much benevolence." + +There are two allusions to smallpox in "Don Juan," which was +published in 1819, showing to what an extent Jennerian +teachings were in the air. The first is: + + The doctor paid off an old pox + By borrowing a new one from an ox. + (Canto I., stanza 129.) + +The second is: + + I said the smallpox has gone out of late, + Perhaps it may be followed by the great. +(Stanza 130.) + + + +Before 1812, Jenner had been made an honorary member of nearly +every scientific society in Europe, and had received the +freedom of the cities of London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Glasgow. +The Medical Society of London presented him with a gold medal +struck in his honor; in Berlin in 1812 there was a Jennerian +festival on the anniversary of Phipps's vaccination. Addresses +and diplomas were showered on him, and in 1813 the University +of Oxford conferred on him the degree of M.D. honoris causa. As +he refused point blank to pass the examination in Latin and +Greek required by the Royal College of Physicians of London, +Jenner never obtained admission into that learned body. When +some one recommended him to revise his classics so that he +might become an F.R.C.P. he replied, "I would not do it for a +diadem"; and then, thinking of a far better reward, added: "I +would not do it for John Hunter's museum." + +But while the pure in heart were thus receiving the blessing +offered them by the benovelent man of science, the pests of +society, those discontented and jaundiced ones who are always +to be found in the dark recesses of the cave of Adullam, were +not idle. Many of his medical colleagues did indeed sneer, as +some are always apt to do at any new thing however good. To all +these Jenner replied, and a very great deal of his valuable +time was consumed in arguing with them. But the sect of the +anti-vaccinators had arisen, and was to some extent organized. +Caricatures, lampoons, scurrilities, vulgarities and +misrepresentations, the mean, were scattered on all sides. +Nothing was too absurd to be stated or believed--that +vaccinated persons had their faces grow like oxen, that they +coughed like cows, bellowed like bulls and became hairy on the +body. One omniscient objector declared that, "vaccination was +the most degrading relapse of philosophy that had ever +disgraced the civilized world." A Dr. Rowley, evidently +imagining himself honored by a special participation in the +Divine counsels, declared that "smallpox is a visitation from +God, but cowpox is produced by presumptuous man. The former was +what Heaven had ordained, the latter is a daring violation of +our holy religion." It was rather hard to blame Dr. Jenner for +the origin of cowpox. It took much forbearance to endure this +sort of thing; but Jenner's was a first-class mind and he +evidently dealt leniently even with fools. It was not for the +first time in the world's history that a lover of mankind had +been spurned with the words--"He hath a devil and is mad." + +Besides enduring all these mental and physical worries, and the +annoyance that the Royal Jennerian Society established in 1802 +was so mismanaged that it collapsed in 1808, Jenner had spent a +very large sum of private money on the introduction of +vaccination. He had been, as he himself expressed it, "Vaccine +clerk to the whole world." Parliament, it is true, in 1801, +voted him a sum of 10,000 pounds which was not paid for three +years afterwards and was diminished by 1,000 pounds deducted +for fees, so that it barely recompensed him for his outlays. By +1806, the immensity of the benefit conferred upon his diseased +fellow-creatures having been recognized more perfectly in every +other country than his own, the British Parliament woke up, and +voted him a sum of 20,000 pounds, only one member representing +the anti-vaccinators opposing the grant. Parliament, which had +previously received from the Colleges of Physicians of London, +Edinburgh and Dublin the most favorable reports of the efficacy +of vaccination, decided to reestablish the Royal Jennerian +Institute. A subscription of 7,383 pounds from grateful India +reached Jenner in 1812. In 1814 he was in London for the last +time, when he was presented to the Emperor of Russia, Alexander +I., who told him that he had very nearly subdued smallpox +throughout that vast Empire. Jenner refused a Russian order on +the ground that he was not a man of independent means. + +The management of the Institute caused him much concern in his +later years; he disapproved of the personnel and of many of the +details of its working. One of the last worries of his life was +an article in the November number for 1822 of the famous +Edinburgh Review. Although it contained a good deal of praise, +it was not favorable to Jenner, who said of it, "I put it down +at 100,000 deaths at least." I have ascertained that this +article was not written by the celebrated Francis Jeffrey, +although he was editor of the Review until 1829. + +Jenner's life, apart from his great discovery and his +developing the practice of vaccination, has not much incident +in it. He was born on May 17, 1749, the son of the Rev. Stephen +Jenner, vicar of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England, the same +Berkeley in whose castle, Edward II., the vanquished at +Banockburn, was murdered in 1327. Jenner's mother's name was +Head. Edward went to school at Wotton-under-Edge and at +Cirencester, and began to study medicine with a Mr. Ludlow, a +surgeon at Sodbury near Bristol. In his twenty-first year, +Jenner went to London as a pupil of the great John Hunter, in +whose house, he lived two years, during which time he was +entered as a medical student at St. George's Hospital. It is +interesting to know that while still a student he was asked by +Sir Joseph Banks to arrange and catalogue the zoological +specimens brought home by the circumnavigator Captain Cook in +his first voyage of 1771. Jenner devoted considerable attention +to natural history, to geology and to the study of fossils, on +which topics he kept up correspondence with Hunter long after +he left London. In the year 1788 he married a Miss Kingscote, +and settled down to practice in his native place. Mrs. Jenner +died in 1815, after which date Jenner never left Berkeley +again. + +Curiously enough, it was not until 1792 that Jenner obtained +the degree of M.D., and it was not from an English university +at all, but from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. +This university, the smallest although the oldest of the +Scottish universities, has therefore the honor of being the +Alma Mater to the epoch-making Englishman. I have seen the +entry of the name in the list of graduates for the year 1792; +it has evidently been misspelled, for the name is corrected. +The first foreign university to recognize Jenner's eminence was +Gottingen. In 1794 Jenner had an attack of typhus fever. Jenner +never cared for London or a city life, and although in 1808 he +was persuaded to take a house in town, he soon gave it up and +went back to his beautiful Gloucestershire. For many years he +practiced during the season in the pleasant health-resort of +Cheltenham. He loved the country, he studied lovingly the +living things around him there: many are familiar with a piece +of verse he wrote on "The signs of rain." + +The year 1810 was a sad one for Jenner: his eldest son died, +and that noticeably depressed his health. In 1823 he presented +a paper to the Royal Society on the migration of birds, a +subject not even yet fully cleared up. On January 26, in the +same year, he was stricken with paralysis on the right side and +died within twenty-four hours. His body was buried in the +chancel of the parish church of Berkeley, where there is a +memorial window placed by public subscription. In person, +Edward Jenner was short and rather heavily built; his +expression of face was pleasant with a touch of sadness. All +reports agree that in dress he was conspicuously neat, looking +more like a gentleman-farmer than a physician, with his blue +coat, yellow buttons, red waistcoat, buff breeches and +top-boots.[5] + +[5] He was painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence, by Northcote and by +Vigneron. + + + +There is no disguising the fact that during his lifetime Dr. +Jenner was much more appreciated in foreign countries than in +England. The medico-social club of Alverton, near where he +lived, would not listen to him when he addressed them on +vaccination. The effort to collect enough money from the +medical men of England in order to place a marble statue to +Jenner in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral, was successful only +after a long delay. An attempt to erect a statue in London died +of apathy; but in 1858, 32 years after he died, a statue was +erected in Trafalgar Square. In 1862 it was removed to a quiet +corner of Kensington gardens; and perhaps its surroundings, the +trees, the flowers and the birds he loved are more suitable +than the effigies of those national heroes who served their +country by taking, not by saving life. No, Nelson the hero is +hardly the suitable companion for Jenner the hero. + +There is no doubt that Jenner's medical contemporaries, at +least in England, failed to appreciate the magnitude of the +gift their colleague had presented not merely to his own +country, but to the world at large. The discovery had, of +course, been led up to by several different lines of +indication, but this in no way detracts from the genius of +Jenner in drawing his memorable inductions from the few facts +which others had known before his time. The fame of Newton is +no whit diminished because Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo lived +and worked before him, the credit due to Harvey is none the +less because many before his time had worked on the problem of +the heart and vessels, and because some of them, notably +Cesalpinus, came within a very little of the discovery of the +circulation; the achievements of Darwin are not to be belittled +because Lamarck, Malthus or Monboddo had notions in accordance +with the tenor of his great generalization of evolution among +living beings. Certainly Jenner had precursors; but it was his +genius and his genius alone which, putting together the various +fragments of knowledge already possessed, gave us the grand but +simple induction based on his own experiments that vaccinia +prevents from variola. It was too simple and too new to be +appreciated in all its bearings either by the medical men or +the laity of his own day. Its impressiveness is not inherent in +it, as it is in the mathematical demonstration of universal +gravitation, as it is in the atomic theory or in that of the +survival of the fittest through natural selection. The English +country doctor merely said in essence--"let me give you cowpox +and you will not get smallpox." Unless the fact of this +immunity is regarded as possessed by all the nations of the +world for ever more there is nothing particularly impressive in +it; and so it failed to impress his contemporaries. It is only +when we contrast the loathsomeness and danger of smallpox with +the mildness and safety of vaccinia and varioloid that we grasp +the greatness of the work which Jenner did for mankind. The +very simplicity of vaccination detracts from its impressiveness +unless its results are viewed through the vista of the +centuries. We need the proper historical perspective in this as +in all else. Thus viewed, however, the simplicity of the +procedure and the universality of its application are most +imposing. Vaccination does not, indeed, dazzle the scientific +imagination like some of the other generalizations of biology, +but it is one that has been gloriously vindicated by the +subsequent history of the world's hygiene. + +Jenner knew himself to be a benefactor of the human race; he +would have been insincere if he had pretended otherwise; he +finished his first paper with these words: "I shall endeavor +still farther to prosecute this enquiry, an enquiry, I trust, +not merely speculative, but of sufficient moment to inspire the +pleasing hope of its becoming essentially useful to mankind"; +and on his death-bed he said, "I do not marvel that men are not +grateful to me, but I am surprised that they do not feel +grateful to God for making me a medium of good." + +In private life Dr. Jenner was amiable and kind-hearted. Dibden +said of him: "I never knew a man of simpler mind or of warmer +heart." He was particularly kind to the poor. Dr. Matthew +Baillie said of him: "Jenner might have been immensely rich if +he had not published his discovery." + +We may in conclusion examine some of the objections to and +criticisms of vaccination. The objections can be classified as +those entertained (a) by medical men and (b) those by the +public generally. + +The objections raised by medical men are now a matter of +ancient history. Each generation of medical men has refused at +first to admit any new teaching promulgated in its time; +physiological inertia is not at once overcome. The most +enlightened of Jenner's critics did really believe that he was +drawing too extensive an induction from insufficient data; this +was the position of the Royal Society in 1788; but the +Edinburgh reviewer of 1822 should have known better. The purely +technical criticisms of Jenner's work have by this time been +fully assessed and replied to. It is true that at one time it +was not clear what were the relationships of chickenpox and +smallpox, of vaccinia and variola, of vaccinia and varioloid, +of the various forms of pox in animals--cowpox, swinepox, +horsepox or grease--either inter se or to human smallpox. But I +do not suppose that in this year of grace 1914 there can be +found one properly trained medical man, acquainted with the +history of Jennerian vaccination, familiar with the ravages of +smallpox and with the protective power of vaccinia, who could +be induced, by no matter how large a bribe, to say that he +disapproved of vaccination or that he believed it did not +protect from smallpox. There are cranks in all walks of life, +but the medical crank who is also an anti-vaccinationist is +happily the rarest of them all. + +The lay objectors--the professed anti-vaccinators--are with us +yet in spite of some very serious lessons which have been +taught them. We may pass by the objectors of the class who +believe that vaccinated persons cough like cows and bellow like +bulls; these objections go into the limbo of old wives' fables +or into the category of wilful misrepresentation. Unfortunately +there is a large class of persons who can believe the absurdest +nonsense about any subject which is particularly distasteful to +them.[6] Another class of objection is the sentimental +repugnance to the idea of being given one of the diseases of +"the lower animals." Now the fact is that already we share a +great many diseases with the lower animals, a few of them being +tuberculosis, anthrax, rabies, tetanus, cancer, +pleuro-pneumonia, certain insect-borne diseases, some parasitic +worm diseases and some skin diseases like favus. As the +knowledge of the lowly origin of many of our diseases is more +widespread, this sort of objection will die out. + +[6] Antivaccinators constantly allude to calf-lymph as "filth"; +if lymph is filth, then I am able to assure them that each one +of them has about three liters of it in his own body. + + + +An objection which is worthy of more consideration is that in +being vaccinated a child is apt to contract some infectious +disease such as tuberculosis or syphilis which are the two most +dreaded. Now so long as arm-to-arm vaccination was the routine +practice, there was a remote probability that this sort of +accident might occur. It appears to be true that a few +accidents of this kind have occurred, just as a few arms have +become septic or had erysipelas develop in them. But when the +few such cases are compared with the millions and millions of +uncomplicated vaccinations, their importance becomes very +insignificant. Now that arm-to-arm vaccination is no longer +practiced, but fresh calf-lymph used for each child, these +accidental inoculations are a thing of the past. The ignorance +of cause and effect is responsible for a great deal of the most +childish objections to vaccination as to much else. One woman +lately told me that she could not have her child vaccinated +because a child in the same street was made a cripple for life +by being vaccinated. Could we have a better example of the +"post hoc sed non propter hoc."[7] + +[7] Now and again, however, we have the sad spectacle of some +one really well educated but apparently either ignorant of +logic or desirous of wilfully misrepresenting facts. The Hon. +Stephen Coleridge has an article in the June (1914) number of +the Contemporary Review which is, to say the least of it, +highly immoral in ethics and statistics. + +I shall examine only that part of it bearing on vaccination. +The statements are that in the last five recorded years, 58 +persons died from smallpox vaccination (he means vaccination +against smallpox), whereas in the same five years, 85 persons +died from smallpox itself. The inference we are intended to +draw from these figures is that to be vaccinated is nearly as +fatal as to have smallpox itself. + +Now this kind of argument is a very common one with +statistically immoral persons, and is known as the suppression +of the ratio. Before we can appreciate the fact that in five +years 58 persons died after being vaccinated, we at least need +to know the total number of persons who were vaccinated. If +only 58 persons were vaccinated and they all died, then the +mortality was 100 per cent., but if, as was practically the +case, thousands of infants in Great Britain were vaccinated in +five years, then if only 58 died after vaccination (although +not necessarily in consequence of it) the mortality falls some +thousands of a per cent. The suppression of the ratio, i. e., +58/many thousands is the deceit that is practiced. + +Fifty-eight per year for five years, is 11.6 deaths per year of +persons vaccinated: presumably these were infants: taking the +birth-rate in England as 30 per 1,000 living, we may say that +900,000 infants were born; deduct 100,000 as not vaccinated, we +have 800,000 infants vaccinated, of these 11.6 died after being +vaccinated, which is 0.0014 per cent. This is not much of a +mortality from any cause; but using Mr. Coleridge's own +figures, it is a splendid demonstration of the safety of +infant-vaccination, the opposite of what he pretends it shows. + +Mr. Coleridge proceeds to tell us that in five years 85 persons +died of smallpox in Great Britain, i. e., an average of 17 +persons per year. In other words 17 persons died of smallpox in +a country with 30 million inhabitants, or 0.000056 per cent. of +persons living, not a high mortality. And we strongly suspect, +may we hope, that those 17 were persons who had not been +vaccinated. + +But in Pre-Jennerian days, 17 persons died of smallpox out of +every 100 persons dying from all causes. + +Mr. Coleridge's figures, properly and honestly interpreted, +testify loudly to conclusions exactly the opposite of what he +desires to insinuate; he has no doubt taken the statistics of +the Registrar-General, but he has prostituted them. + +Mr. Coleridge's paper could not be a better example of the art +of concealing the causes of phenomena. + +He exhibits the following table: + +Deaths from smallpox per annum per a million living: + +1862-1870 ................................. 172.2 +1871-1880 ................................. 244.6 +1881-1890 ................................. 45.8 +1891-1900 ................................. 13.3 +1901-1910 ................................. 12.8 + +So that the table shows that since 1880 in Great Britain the +deaths from smallpox per million per year have declined until +they are only about 1/14th of their original number. + +The natural inference from these figures, viewed in the light +of the history of smallpox in Great Britain, is that compulsory +vaccination has been steadily eradicating the disease; but this +is not Mr. Coleridge's conclusion: He says it is due to the +large number of persons who have refused to be vaccinated! This +would be laughable if it were not really serious; it is sad and +serious that a man of Mr. Coleridge's education and social +position should so consistently mislead the uncritical readers +of the Contemporary Review to whose pages he has unfortunately +very free access. If Mr. Coleridge really believes these things +he is either very stupid or very ignorant; if he knows them to +be otherwise, but wilfully deceives the public, he is immoral. +He suffers from the worst form of bias, the anti-scientific. +{the end of long footnote} + + + +There is still that group of persons who object to +everything--anti-vivisection, anti-meat eating, anti-breakfast, +anti-hats and of course also anti-vaccination. They are anti +the usual and the normal that are quite good enough for the +most of people. They generally also believe that the earth is +flat; they are past praying for, all we can do with them is to +look them, like the difficulty of Jonah and the whale, "full in +the face and pass on." + +Many people at the present time allow themselves to be +persuaded into being anti-vaccinators because neither they nor +their deluders have ever known what an epidemic of smallpox is, +have never seen with their own eyes the awful spectacle of a +person suffering from smallpox in any of its forms--discrete, +confluent or hemorrhagic. Thanks to this very Jenner, the world +has now for 100 years been almost free from epidemic, virulent +smallpox and most perfectly so in the vaccinated countries, so +that millions, the majority, of Englishmen, have never seen a +case of smallpox at all. Not knowing the awful danger they have +escaped, through Great Britain having had compulsory +vaccination since 1853, they have become lax in their belief in +the necessity for the continuance of that precaution. "They +jest at scars that never felt a wound." Towns such as +Gloucester in England, in which a large number of children have +been allowed to grow up unvaccinated, have always been visited +sooner or later by a serious outbreak of smallpox. It must be +so; the laws of natural phenomena can not be changed to suit +the taste of those persons who are mentally incapable of +understanding them. They can not be evaded; ignorance of the +law is no more an excuse in the realm of natural than of +man-made law. + +We now come to that undesirable product of present-day, +grandmotherly legislation, the conscientious objector. As I am +not a politician, I shall not say anything for or against the +policy of inserting in a bill which makes vaccination +compulsory a clause giving to the conscientious objector the +power or right to refuse to have his child vaccinated, but as a +medical man who knows a little of the history of medicine, I +can only describe it as gratuitous folly. I am one of those who +believe that the laity should have no say in the matter of +whether any given procedure is or is not advantageous for the +public health. The efficacy of universal inoculation of +vaccinia as a prophylactic against variola is a question of +scientific medicine to be decided on technical grounds and +ought not to be a matter open to debate by the public at all. +It is perfectly monstrous to suppose that the ordinary person, +quite untrained to weigh evidence for or against the +advisability of the carrying out of a particular form of +national immunization against a horrid disease, is qualified to +form any opinion. He might as well be consulted on the +advisability of making the channel tunnel or on the safest type +of aeroplane or on any other subject involving the technical +training of the engineer. To permit the so-called "man in the +street" to say whether he shall or shall not permit the +carrying out of some important piece of civic hygiene is to +introduce a principle subversive of all system and obstructive +of all progress in the science of public health. It is absurd +that in a case like this the pronouncements of the judges are +to be submitted to the criticisms of the jury. England has +already had one or two pretty severe lessons through allowing +such places as Gloucester and Leicester to exercise their right +of private judgment on the question of vaccination. In +Gloucester where there was at one time a vigorous +anti-vaccination movement, a serious epidemic overtook the city +a few years ago (1896). What science pronounces to be +beneficial, the layman must submit to. What we want in these +days is less superstition and more faith--in science. I am +informed that there are more than 2,000 unvaccinated children +in the schools of this city at the present moment, and all +because a piece of legislation allows any unintelligent, +prejudiced or credulous parent to decide on the momentous +question of the vaccination of his children. + +Our quarantine regulations are extremely strict, and rightly +so, on the subject of smallpox; but is it not a farce to take +so much trouble about the health of our immigrants when inside +the city we are all the time encouraging a high degree of +receptivity towards this very disease? I should call this a +very clear case of straining at the international gnat and +swallowing the municipal camel. The community at present is at +the mercy of its least instructed members. A most sensible +suggestion is that if an outbreak of smallpox occurs in +Halifax, the cost of it should be borne by the unvaccinated and +by the anti-vaccinators. The fact is we have forgotten what +smallpox is like. In 1796 before Jennerian vaccination, the +death-rate from smallpox in England was 18.5 per cent. of +deaths from all causes; in London between 1838 and 1869 it was +1.4 per cent., while in 1871--the worst year for smallpox since +vaccination became compulsory--the deaths from smallpox were +barely 4.5 per cent. of deaths from all causes, a proportion +which was exceeded 93 times in the eighteenth century. At the +present moment the deaths from smallpox in London constitute a +little under 0.24 per cent. of deaths from all causes, or 77 +times less than in pre-Jennerian times. + +According to MacVail, in the pre-vaccination period smallpox +was nine times as fatal as measles and seven and one half times +as fatal as whooping cough. To-day in the vaccinated community +its fatality is negligable, in the unvaccinated it is as high +as it was in the Middle Ages. In the city of Berlin, where +vaccination is absolutely compulsory, there is no smallpox +hospital at all; the cases of smallpox in that city being only +a few unvaccinated foreigners. In 1912 the deaths in New York +City were as follow: 671 from measles, 614 from scarlatina, 500 +from typhoid fever, 187 from whooping cough and 2 from +smallpox. + +In London there were in 48 years of the seventeenth century no +less than 10 epidemics of smallpox; in the whole of the +eighteenth, 19; and in the nineteenth no epidemic at all during +which smallpox was responsible for more than one tenth of the +deaths from all causes in any one year. + +In Sweden, the highest death-rate before vaccination was 7.23 +per 1,000 persons, the lowest 0.30; under permissive +vaccination the highest was 2.57, the lowest 0.12; under +compulsory vaccination the highest was 0.94, the lowest 0.0005. + +It is so frequently said that the disappearance of smallpox is +due not to vaccination, but to improved general hygiene, that +we must look into this criticism with some care. In the first +place, a large diminution in the mortality from smallpox +occurred before there was any great change in the unsanitary +conditions of the English towns, before there was any enforcing +of the isolation of patients either in hospitals or in their +own homes. Since the introduction of vaccination, measles and +whooping cough still remain in the status quo ante, while +smallpox has been exterminated in all fully vaccinated +communities, these two diseases of children are as prevalent as +ever in England even although the general sanitary conditions +have been immensely improved in that country. Of course the +effects of vaccination wear out in time, and that is why it is +well to be revaccinated once or twice. Now there has been a +remarkable progressive change in the age-incidence of smallpox +"which can only be explained," says Dr. Newsholme, "on the +assumption that vaccination protects children from smallpox and +that the protection diminishes, though it never entirely +disappears, as age advances. + +The "conscience clause" should be immediately removed from the +act in which it was inserted on the grounds that it is weak and +reactionary in principle, not in the interests of the +development of the legislative aspect of the science of public +health, and that it permits in certain unintelligent +communities quite a considerable number of unvaccinated +children to grow up as a permanent menace to their town and +district. + +When the history of medicine becomes more widely known, when +the principles of prophylactic inoculation are more generally +understood, when respect for science is the rule rather than +the exception, when great achievements in the saving rather +than the destroying of life are objects of national veneration, +then we may hope to see the day when it will be unhesitatingly +admitted that the discovery by Dr. Edward Jenner, the +Englishman, was one of the most momentous in the history of the +human race, and that his life was one of the noblest, most +unselfish and, in its far-reaching effects, most important that +has ever been lived on this planet. + + + +THE VALUE OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH + +BY W. A. HAMOR + +MELLON INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY OF +PITTSBURGH + +THE aim of all industrial operations is toward perfection, both +in process and mechanical equipment, and every development in +manufacturing creates new problems. It is only to be expected, +therefore, that the industrial researcher is becoming less and +less regarded as a burden unwarranted by returns. +Industrialists have, in fact, learned to recognize chemistry as +the intelligence department of industry, and manufacturing is +accordingly becoming more and more a system of scientific +processes. The accruement of technical improvements in +particularly the great chemical industry is primarily dependent +upon systematic industrial research, and this is being +increasingly fostered by American manufacturers. + +Ten thousand American chemists are at present engaged in +pursuits which affect over 1,000,000 wage-earners and produce +over $5,000,000,000 worth of manufactured products each year. +These trained men have actively and effectively collaborated in +bringing about stupendous results in American industry. There +are, in fact, at least nineteen American industries in which +the chemist has been of great assistance, either in founding +the industry, in developing it, or in refining the methods of +control or of manufacture, thus ensuring profits, lower costs +and uniform outputs. + +At the recent symposium on the contributions of the chemist to +American industries, at the fiftieth meeting of the American +Chemical Society in New Orleans, the industrial achievements of +that scientific scout, the chemist, were brought out +clearly.[1] + +[1] In this connection, see Hesse, J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 7 +(1915), 293. + + + +The chemist has made the wine industry reasonably independent +of climatic conditions; he has enabled it to produce +substantially the same wine, year in and year out, no matter +what the weather; he has reduced the spoilage from 25 per cent. +to 0.46 per cent. of the total; he has increased the shipping +radius of the goods and has made preservatives unnecessary. In +the copper industry he has learned and has taught how to make +operations so constant and so continuous that in the +manufacture of blister copper valuations are less than $1.00 +apart on every $10,000 worth of product and in refined copper +the valuations of the product do not differ by more than $1.00 +in every $50,000 worth of product. The quality of output is +maintained constant within microscopic differences. Without the +chemist the corn-products industry would never have arisen and +in 1914 this industry consumed as much corn as was grown in +that year by the nine states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, +Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey +and Delaware combined; this amount is equal to the entire +production of the state of North Carolina and about 80 per +cent. of the production of each of the states of Georgia, +Michigan and Wisconsin; the chemist has produced over 100 +useful commercial products from corn, which, without him, would +never have been produced. In the asphalt industry the chemist +has taught how to lay a road surface that will always be good, +and he has learned and taught how to construct a suitable road +surface for different conditions of service. In the cottonseed +oil industry, the chemist standardized methods of production, +reduced losses, increased yields, made new use of wastes and +by-products, and has added somewhere between $10 and $12 to the +value of each bale of cotton grown. In the cement industry, the +chemist has ascertained new ingredients, has utilized +theretofore waste products for this purpose, has reduced the +waste heaps of many industries and made them his starting +material; he has standardized methods of manufacture, +introduced methods of chemical control and has insured +constancy and permanency of quality and quantity of output. In +the sugar industry, the chemist has been active for so long a +time that "the memory of man runneth not to the contrary." The +sugar industry without the chemist is unthinkable. The Welsbach +mantle is distinctly a chemist's invention and its successful +and economical manufacture depends largely upon chemical +methods. It would be difficult to give a just estimate of the +economic effect of this device upon illumination, so great and +valuable is it. In the textile industry, he has substituted +uniform, rational, well-thought out and simple methods of +treatment of all the various textile fabrics and fibers where +mystery, empiricism, "rule-of-thumb" and their accompanying +uncertainties reigned. In the fertilizer industry, it was the +chemist who learned and who taught how to make our immense beds +of phosphate rock useful and serviceable to man in the +enrichment of the soil; he has taught how to make waste +products of other industries useful and available for +fertilization and he has shown how to make the gas works +contribute to the fertility of the soil. In the soda industry, +the chemist can successfully claim that he has founded it, +developed it and brought it to its present state of perfection +and utility, but not without the help of other technical men; +the fundamental ideas were and are chemical. In the leather +industry, the chemist has given us all of the modern methods of +mineral tanning, and without them the modern leather industry +is unthinkable. In the case of vegetable-tanned leather he has +also stepped in, standardized the quality of incoming material +and of outgoing product. In the flour industry the chemist has +learned and taught how to select the proper grain for specific +purposes, to standardize the product, and how to make flour +available for certain specific culinary and food purposes. In +the brewing industry, the chemist has standardized the methods +of determining the quality of incoming material and of outgoing +products, and has assisted in the development of a product of a +quality far beyond that obtaining prior to his entry into that +industry. In the preservation of foods, the chemist made the +fundamental discoveries; up to twenty years ago, however, he +took little or no part in the commercial operations, but now is +almost indispensable to commercial success. In the water supply +of cities, the chemist has put certainty in the place of +uncertainty; he has learned and has shown how, by chemical +methods of treatment and control, raw water of varying quality +can be made to yield potable water of substantially uniform +composition and quality. The celluloid industry and the +nitro-cellulose industry owe their very existence and much of +their development to the chemist. In the glass industry the +chemist has learned and taught how to prepare glasses suitable +for the widest ranges of uses and to control the quality and +quantity of the output. In the pulp and paper industry, the +chemist made the fundamental observations, inventions and +operations and to-day he is in control of all the operations of +the plant itself; to the chemist also is due the cheap +production of many of the materials entering into this +industry, as well as the increased and expanding market for the +product itself. + +Sufficient has been presented to show that certain industries +of the United States have been elevated by an infusion of +scientific spirit through the medium of the chemist, and that +manufacturing, at one time entirely a matter of empirical +judgment and individual skill, is more and more becoming a +system of scientific processes. The result is that American +manufacturers are growing increasingly appreciative of +scientific research, and are depending upon industrial +researchers--"those who catalyze raw materials by brains"--as +their pathfinders. It is now appropriate to consider just how +industrialists are taking advantage of the universities and the +products of these. + +THE METHODS EMPLOYED IN THE ATTACK OF INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS[2] + +[2] See also Bacon, Science, N. S., 40 (1914), 871. + +When an industry has problems requiring solution, these +problems can be attacked either inside or outside of the plant. +If the policy of the industrialist is that all problems are to +be investigated only within the establishment, a research +laboratory must be provided for the plant or for the company. +At present, in the United States, probably not more than one +hundred chemical manufacturing establishments have research +laboratories or employ research chemists, although at least +five companies are spending over $100,000 per year in research. +In Germany, and perhaps also in England, such research +laboratories in connection with chemical industries have been +much more common. The great laboratories of the Badische Anilin +und Soda Fabrik and of the Elberfeld Company are striking +examples of the importance attached to such research work in +Germany, and it would be difficult to adduce any stronger +argument in support of its value than the marvelous +achievements of these great firms. + +A frequent difficulty encountered in the employment of +researchers or in the establishment of a research laboratory, +is that many manufacturers have been unable to grasp the +importance of such work, or know how to treat the men in charge +so as to secure the best results. The industrialist may not +even fully understand just what is the cause of his +manufacturing losses or to whom to turn for aid. If he +eventually engages a researcher, he is sometimes likely to +regard him as a sort of master of mysteries who should be able +to accomplish wonders, and, if he can not see definite results +in the course of a few months, is occasionally apt to consider +the investment a bad one and to regard researchers, as a class, +as a useless lot. It has not been unusual for the chemist to be +told to remain in his laboratory, and not to go in or about the +works, and he must also face the natural opposition of workmen +to any innovations, and reckon with the jealousies of foremen +and of various officials. + +From the standpoint of the manufacturer, one decided advantage +of the policy of having all problems worked out within the +plant is that the results secured are not divulged, but are +stored away in the laboratory archives and become part of the +assets and working capital of the corporation which has paid +for them; and it is usually not until patent applications are +filed that this knowledge, generally only partially and +imperfectly, becomes publicly known. When it is not deemed +necessary to take out patents, such knowledge is often +permanently buried. + +In this matter of the dissemination of knowledge concerning +industrial practice, it must be evident to all that there is +but little cooperation between manufacturers and the +universities. Manufacturers, and especially chemical +manufacturers, have been quite naturally opposed to publishing +any discoveries made in their plants, since "knowledge is +power" in manufacturing as elsewhere, and new knowledge gained +in the laboratories of a company may often very properly be +regarded as among the most valuable assets of the concern. The +universities and the scientific societies, on the other hand, +exist for the diffusion of knowledge, and from their standpoint +the great disadvantage of the above policy is this concealment +of knowledge, for it results in a serious retardation of the +general growth and development of science in its broader +aspects, and renders it much more difficult for the +universities to train men properly for such industries, since +all the text-books and general knowledge available would in all +probability be far behind the actual manufacturing practice. +Fortunately, the policy of industrial secrecy is becoming more +generally regarded in the light of reason, and there is a +growing inclination among manufacturers to disclose the details +of investigations, which, according to tradition, would be +carefully guarded. These manufacturers appreciate the facts +that public interest in chemical achievements is stimulating to +further fruitful research, that helpful suggestions and +information may come from other investigators upon the +publication of any results, and that the exchange of knowledge +prevents many costly repetitions. + +INDUSTRIAL FELLOWSHIPS + +If the manufacturer elects to refer his problem to the +university or technical school--and because of the facilities +for research to be had in certain institutions, industrialists +are following this plan in constantly increasing numbers--such +reference may take the form of an industrial fellowship and +much has been said and may be said in favor of these +fellowships. They allow the donor to keep secret for three +years the results secured, after which they may be published +with the donor's permission. They also secure to him patent +rights. They give highly specialized training to properly +qualified men, and often secure for them permanent positions +and shares in the profits of their discoveries. It should be +obvious at the outset that a fellowship of this character can +be successful only when there are close confidential relations +obtaining between the manufacturer and the officer in charge of +the research; for no such cooperation can be really effective +unless based upon a thorough mutual familiarity with the +conditions and an abiding faith in the integrity and sincerity +of purpose of each other. It is likely to prove a poor +investment for a manufacturer to seek the aid of an +investigator if he is unwilling to take such expert into his +confidence and to familiarize him with all the local and other +factors which enter into the problem from a manufacturing +standpoint. + +THE MELLON INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH[3] + +[3] For a detailed description of the Mellon Institute and its +work, see Bacon and Hamor, J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 7 (1915), +326-48. + + + +According to the system of industrial research in operation at +the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research of the University +of Pittsburgh, which is not, in any sense of the word, a +commercial institution, a manufacturer having a problem +requiring solution may become the donor of a fellowship; the +said manufacturer provides the salary of the researcher +selected to conduct the investigation desired, the institute +furnishing such facilities as are necessary for the conduct of +the work. + +The money paid in to found a fellowship is paid over by the +institute in salary to the investigator doing the work. In +every case, this researcher is most carefully selected for the +problem in hand. The institute supplies free laboratory space +and the use of all ordinary chemicals and equipment. The +chemist or engineer who is studying the problem works under the +immediate supervision of men who are thoroughly trained and +experienced in conducting industrial research. + +At the present time, the Mellon Institute, which, while an +integral part of the University of Pittsburgh, has its own +endowment, is expending over $150,000 annually for salaries and +maintenance. A manufacturer secures for a small +expenditure--just sufficient to pay the salary of the fellow, +as the man engaged on the investigation is called--all the +benefits of an organization of this size, and many have availed +themselves of the advantages, twenty-eight companies +maintaining fellowships at the present time. + +Each fellow has the benefit of the institute's very excellent +apparatus, chemical and library equipment--facilities which are +so essential in modern research; and because of these +opportunities and that of being able to pursue post-graduate +work for higher degrees, it has been demonstrated that a higher +type of researcher can be obtained by the institute for a +certain remuneration than can be generally secured by +manufacturers themselves. There is a scarcity of men gifted +with the genius for research, and it requires much experience +in selecting suitable men and in training them to the desirable +degree of efficiency, after having determined the special +qualities required. Important qualifications in industrial +researchers are keenness, inspiration and confidence; these are +often unconsidered by manufacturers, who in endeavoring to +select, say, a research chemist, are likely to regard every +chemist as a qualified scientific scout. + +All researches conducted at the Mellon Institute are surrounded +with the necessary secrecy, and any and all discoveries made by +the fellow during the term of his fellowship become the +property of the donor. + +When the Mellon Institute moved into its $350,000 home in +February, 1915, the industrial fellowship system in operation +therein passed out of its experimental stage. During the years +of its development no inherent sign of weakness on the part of +any one of its constituent factors appeared; in fact, the +results of the fellowships have been uniformly successful. +While problems have been presented by companies which, upon +preliminary investigation, have proved to be so difficult as to +be practically impossible of solution, there have been so many +other problems confronting these companies that important ones +were found which lent themselves to solution; and often the +companies did not realize, until after investigations were +started, just what the exact nature of their problems was and +just what improvements and savings could be made in their +manufacturing processes. + +Fellowships at the Mellon Institute are constantly increasing +in the amounts subscribed by industrialists for their +maintenance and, as well, in their importance. The renewal, +year after year, of such fellowships, as those on baking, +petroleum and ores, goes to show the confidence which +industrialists have in the Mellon Institute. Again, the large +sums of money which are being spent by companies in bringing +small unit plants to develop the processes which have been +worked out in the laboratory, demonstrate that practical +results are being secured. + +Where there have been sympathy and hearty cooperation between +the Mellon Institute and the company concerned, the institute +has been able to push through to a successful conclusion large +scale experiments in the factory of the company, which in the +beginning of the fellowship seemed almost impossible: it may be +said that the results of the fellowships at the Mellon +Institute indicate that a form of service to industry has been +established, the possibilities of which no man can say. + + + +A FEW CLASSIC UNKNOWNS IN MATHEMATICS + +BY PROFESSOR G. A. MILLER + +UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS + +KING HIERO is said to have remarked, in view of the marvelous +mechanical devices of Archimedes, that he would henceforth +doubt nothing that had been asserted by Archimedes. This spirit +of unbounded confidence in those who have exhibited unusual +mathematical ability is still extant. Even our large city +papers sometimes speak of a mathematical genius who could solve +every mathematical problem that was proposed to him. The +numerous unexpected and far-reaching results contained in the +elementary mathematical text-books, and the ease with which the +skilful mathematics teachers often cleared away what appeared +to be great difficulties to the students have filled many with +a kind of awe for unusual mathematical ability. + +In recent years the unbounded confidence in mathematical +results has been somewhat shaken by a wave of mathematical +skepticism which gained momentum through some of the popular +writings of H. Poincare and Bertrand Russell. As instances of +expressions which might at first tend to diminish such +confidence we may refer to Poincare's contention that +geometrical axioms are conventions guided by experimental facts +and limited by the necessity to avoid all contradictions, and +to Russell's statement that "mathematics may be defined as the +subject in which we never know what we are talking about nor +whether what we are saying is true." + +The mathematical skepticism which such statements may awaken is +usually mitigated by reflection, since it soon appears that +philosophical difficulties abound in all domains of knowledge, +and that mathematical results continue to inspire relatively +the highest degrees of confidence. The unknowns in mathematics +to which we aim to direct attention here are not of this +philosophical type but relate to questions of the most simple +nature. It is perhaps unfortunate that in the teaching of +elementary mathematics the unknowns receive so little +attention. In fact, it seems to be customary to direct no +attention whatever to the unsolved mathematical difficulties +until the students begin to specialize in mathematics in the +colleges or universities. + +One of the earliest opportunities to impress on the student the +fact that mathematical knowledge is very limited in certain +directions presents itself in connection with the study of +prime numbers. Among the small prime numbers there appear many +which differ only by 2. For instance, 3 and 5, 5 and 7, 11 and +13, 17 and 19, 29 and 31, constitute such pairs of prime +numbers. The question arises whether there is a limit to such +pairs of primes, or whether beyond each such pair of prime +numbers there must exist another such pair. + +This question can be understood by all and might at first +appear to be easy to answer, yet no one has succeeded up to the +present time in finding which of the two possible answers is +correct. It is interesting to note that in 1911 E. Poincare +transmitted a note written by M. Merlin to the Paris Academy of +Sciences in which a theorem was announced from which its author +deduced that there actually is an infinite number of such prime +number pairs, but this result has not been accepted because no +definite proof of the theorem in question was produced. + +Another unanswered question which can be understood by all is +whether every even number is the sum of two prime numbers. It +is very easy to verify that each one of the small even numbers +is the sum of a pair of prime numbers, if we include unity +among the prime numbers; and, in 1742, C. Goldbach expressed +the theorem, without proof, that every possible even number is +actually the sum of at least one pair of prime numbers. Hence +this theorem is known as Goldbach's theorem, but no one has as +yet succeeded in either proving or disproving it. + +Although the proof or the disproof of such theorems may not +appear to be of great consequence, yet the interdependence of +mathematical theorems is most marvelous, and the mathematical +investigator is attracted by such difficulties of long +standing. These particular difficulties are mentioned here +mainly because they seem to be among the simplest illustrations +of the fact that mathematics is teeming with classic unknowns +as well as with knowns. By classic unknowns we mean here those +things which are not yet known to any one, but which have been +objects of study on the part of mathematicians for some time. +As our elementary mathematical text-books usually confine +themselves to an exposition of what has been fully established, +and hence is known, the average educated man is led to believe +too frequently that modern mathematical investigations relate +entirely to things which lie far beyond his training. + +It seems very unfortunate that there should be, on the part of +educated people, a feeling of total isolation from the +investigations in any important field of knowledge. The modern +mathematical investigator seems to be in special danger of +isolation, and this may be unavoidable in many cases, but it +can be materially lessened by directing attention to some of +the unsolved mathematical problems which can be most easily +understood. Moreover, these unsolved problems should have an +educational value since they serve to exhibit boundaries of +modern scientific achievements, and hence they throw some light +on the extent of these achievements in certain directions. + +Both of the given instances of unanswered classic questions +relate to prime numbers. As an instance of one which does not +relate to prime numbers we may refer to the question whether +there exists an odd perfect number. A perfect number is a +natural number which is equal to the sum of its aliquot parts. +Thus 6 is perfect because it is equal to 1 + 2 + 3, and 28 is +perfect because it is equal to 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14. Euclid +stated a formula which gives all the even perfect numbers, but +no one has ever succeeded in proving either the existence or +the non-existence of an odd perfect number. A considerable +number of properties of odd perfect numbers are known in case +such numbers exist. + +In fact, a very noted professor in Berlin University developed +a series of properties of odd perfect numbers in his lectures +on the theory of numbers, and then followed these developments +with the statement that it is not known whether any such +numbers exist. This raises the interesting philosophical +question whether one can know things about what is not known to +exist; but the main interest from our present point of view +relates to the fact that the meaning of odd perfect number is +so very elementary that all can easily grasp it, and yet no one +has ever succeeded in proving either the existence or the +non-existence of such numbers. + +It would not be difficult to increase greatly the number of the +given illustrations of unsolved questions relating directly to +the natural numbers. In fact, the well-known greater Fermat +theorem is a question of this type, which does not appear more +important intrinsically than many others but has received +unusual attention in recent years on account of a very large +prize offered for its solution. In view of the fact that those +who have become interested in this theorem often experience +difficulty in finding the desired information in any English +publication, we proceed to give some details about this theorem +and the offered prize. The following is a free translation of a +part of the announcement made in regard to this prize by the +Konigliche Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Gottingen, Germany: + +On the basis of the bequest left to us by the deceased Dr. Paul +Wolskehl, of Darmstadt, a prize of 100,000 mk., in words, one +hundred thousand marks, is hereby offered to the one who will +first succeed to produce a proof of the great Fermat theorem. +Dr. Wolfskehl remarks in his will that Fermat had maintained +that the equation + +x <superscript Greek 1> + y <superscript Greek 1> = +z <superscript Greek 1> + +could not be satisfied by integers whenever <Greek l> is an odd +prime number. This Fermat theorem is to be proved either +generally in the sense of Fermat, or, in supplementing the +investigations by Kummer, published in Crelle's Journal, volume +40, it is to be proved for all values of <Grrek 1> for which it +is actually true. For further literature consult Hibert's +report on the theory of algebraic number realms, published in +volume 4 of the Jahreshericht der Deutschen +Mathernatiker-Vereinigung, and volume 1 of the Encyklopadie der +mathematischen Wissenschaften. + +The prize is offered under the following more particular +conditions. + +The Konigliche Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften in Gottingen +decides independently on the question to whom the prize shall +be awarded. Manuscripts intended to compete for the prize will +not be received, but, in awarding the prize only such +mathematical papers will be considered as have appeared either +in the regular periodicals or have been published in the form +of monographs or books which were for sale in the book-stores. +The Gesellschaft leaves it to the option of the author of such +a paper to send to it about five printed copies. + +Among the additional stipulations it may be of interest to note +that the prize will not be awarded before at least two years +have elapsed since the first publication of the paper which is +adjudged as worthy of the prize. In the meantime the +mathematicians of various countries are invited to express +their opinion as regards the correctness of this paper. The +secretary of the Gesellschaft will write to the person to whom +the prize is awarded and will also publish in various places +the fact that the award has been made. If the prize has not +been awarded before September 13, 2007, no further applications +will be considered. + +While this prize is open to the people of all countries it has +become especially well known in Germany, and hundreds of +Germans from a very noted university professor of mathematics +to engineers, pastors, teachers, students, bankers, officers, +etc., have published supposed proofs. These publications are +frequently very brief, covering only a few pages, and usually +they disclose the fact that the author had no idea in regard to +the real nature of the problem or the meaning of a mathematical +proof. In a few cases the authors were fully aware of the +requirements but were misled by errors in their work. Although +the prize was formally announced more than seven years ago no +paper has as yet been adjudged as fulfilling the conditions. + +It may be of interest to note in this connection that a +mathematical proof implies a marshalling of mathematical +results, or accepted assumptions, in such a manner that the +thing to be proved is a NECESSARY consequence. The +non-mathematician is often inclined to think that if he makes +statements which can not be successfully refuted he has carried +his point. In mathematics such statements have no real +significance in an attempted proof. Unknowns must be labeled as +such and must retain these labels until they become knowns in +view of the conditions which they can be proved to satisfy. The +pure mathematician accepts only necessary conclusions with the +exception that basal postulates have to be assumed by common +agreement. + +The mathematical subject in which the student usually has to +contend most frequently with unknowns at the beginning of his +studies is the history of mathematics. The ancient Greeks had +already attempted to trace the development of every known +concept, but the work along this line appears still in its +infancy. Even the development of our common numerals is +surrounded with many perplexing questions, as may be seen by +consulting the little volume entitled "The Hindu-Arabic +Numerals," by D. E. Smith and L. C. Karpinski. + +The few mathematical unknowns explicitly noted above may +suffice to illustrate the fact that the path of the +mathematical student often leads around difficulties which are +left behind. Sometimes the later developments have enabled the +mathematicians to overcome some of these difficulties which had +stood in the way for more than a thousand years. This was done, +for instance, by Gauss when he found a necessary and sufficient +condition that a regular polygon of a prime number of sides can +be constructed by elementary methods. It was also done by +Hermite, Lindemann and others by proving that epsilon and rho +are transcendental numbers. While such obstructions are thus +being gradually removed some of the most ancient ones still +remain, and new ones are rising rapidly in view of modern +developments along the lines of least resistance. + +These obstructions have different effects on different people. +Some fix their attention almost wholly on them and are thus +impressed by the lack of progress in mathematics, while others +overlook them almost entirely and fix their attention on the +routes into new fields which avoid these difficulties. A +correct view of mathematics seems to be the one which looks at +both, receiving inspiration from the real advances but not +forgetting the desirability of making the developments as +continuous as possible. At any rate the average educated man +ought to know that there is no mathematician who is able to +solve all the mathematical questions which could be proposed +even by those having only slight attainments along this line. + + + +THE ABORIGINAL ROCK-STENCILLINGS OF NEW SOUTH WALES + +BY DR. CHAS. B. DAVENPORT + +COLD SPRING HARBOR, N. Y. + +IN a number of places in eastern Australia curious aboriginal +markings are found on the faces of the sandstone cliffs. A good +idea of them is given by the photographs. These came from +Wolgan Gap near Wallerang in the Blue Mountain region of New +South Wales. They are found on overhanging rocks that have +served as shelters or camping places for the aborigines and +which doubtless have protected their works of art. + +These stencillings are made by a sort of spatter work, +something like that in vogue a generation ago in this country, +using leaves, etc., as forms. The rocks at Wolgan Gap are a +coarse sandstone stained almost black by an iron oxide derived +from included bands of ironstone. These black surfaces were +selected by the artists. Nearby in the rock is a band of shale +which had disintegrated at its exposed edge to a white powder. +The native artist put some of this white powder in his mouth, +placed his hand or foot upon the rock, and blew the moistened +powder upon and around his outstretched fingers or toes. When +he removed them they were outlined on the rock. Since the +sandstone is coarse and deeply pitted, the moist powder was +blown into minute cavities where it has remained despite the +erosive activities of some generations. The presence of the +powder is shown on the photographs as a sort of halo around the +object. The hands are either right or left, and, in some cases, +both hands seem to have been stencilled at once. Sometimes the +whole arm and hand are stencilled together, and in one of the +photographs a boomerang is shown. The age of these stencils is +not known. They were first discovered at Wolgan Gap about sixty +years ago, but others have been known for a longer time, for +instance, those at Greenwich, Parametta River, near Sydney. + +The significance of these stencillings has been the subject of +some controversy. The natives may have been induced to make +them as boys carve their names on benches or even rocks. The +materials for making the stencillings were present and, the +example once having been set, others would emulate it. It is +interesting that similar stencillings of the hands were made by +cave men on the walls of some of the European caves, as, for +instance, those of Aurignac in southern France. Evidently +spatter work is no modern pastime. + + + +THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE + +SUBSTITUTES FOR WAR + +THIS war, beyond measure disastrous to civilization, is a trial +also of our democracy. We may hope that it is an old-world war +and an old-men's war, repugnant to the genius of our newer +life. The statements of some of our public men and the contents +of some of our newspapers can not be read without +discouragement. But it is also true that there has perhaps not +appeared a cartoon in any American newspaper tending to glorify +war, and no legislation has so far been enacted in preparation +for war. There is good reason to believe that the people have +not been infected by the contagion of blood. + +As Professor Patrick argued in a recent issue of the Monthly, +man is by genetic inheritance a fighting and a playing animal, +not an animal delighting in steady work. The ape and the tiger +will be exterminated elsewhere in nature before they will be +suppressed in man. It is a slow process, but surely proceeding. + +The writer of this note has determined the proportion of each +century in which the leading nations have been engaged in war. +The curve thus found has no great reliability; for it does not +take into account the percentages of the peoples concerned, but +its course clearly indicates that even under circumstances as +they have been, wars will come to an end. And there is good +reason to believe that the newer condition--universal education +and universal suffrage, democratic control, improved economic +conditions of living for the people, the scientific +attitude--will tend to bend the curve more rapidly toward the +base line of permanent "peace on earth and good will to men." + +While man has inherited instincts which exhibit themselves in +playing and fighting, the same instincts may by social control +be diverted to playing the games of art or science, to fighting +disease and vice. It is rarely wise or feasible to attempt to +suppress instincts; they should be directed so as to provide +desirable conduct. Loyalty to family, to group, to neighborhood +and to nation can not be lightly cast away for an abstract +cosmopolitanism. But it can be expressed otherwise than by +seizing everything in sight by cunning or by violence. + +William James, the great psychologist, in one of his brilliant +essays published in The Popular Science Monthly for October, +1910, tells us that history is a bath of blood; we inherit the +war-like type; our ancestors have bred pugnacity into our bone +and marrow; showing the irrationality and horror of war does +not prevent it; but a moral equivalent can be found by +enlisting an army to toil and suffer pain in doing the hard and +routine work of the world. It is doubtful, however, if the +"gilded youths" to whom James refers would accept +"dish-washing, clothes-washing and window-washing, +road-building and tunnel-making, foundries and stoke-holes," as +a substitute for war, and for the great mass of the people +there is more than enough of these things. It is to escape from +them that we seek excitement and adventure, intoxication by +drugs and war. + +Professor Cannon, of Harvard University, proposes international +football and other athletic contests as substitutes for war. +The adrenal glands, whose secretions excite the combative and +martial emotions, must function, and their activity, he argues, +can be directed in this way. Mr. Bryan has just now made the +proposal that we build six great national roads by which armies +might be collected for defence; the secretary of the navy has +founded a Naval Inventions Board; the postmaster general has +suggested that aeroplanes be used to deliver mail in order that +we may have an aerial corps ready for service. There may be an +element of the absurd in some of these proposals, as there +would be in using submarines to catch cod fish, so that there +might be practise in building and managing such crafts for +peaceful pursuits. There is, however, psychological +justification for aiming to direct the emotions so that their +discharge is not destructive, but of benefit to the nation and +to the world. Such would be the development of our national +resources, the construction of railways, roads, waterworks and +the like; social and political reforms; progress in the care of +public health, in education and in scientific research. It is +proposed that the next congress should spend half a billion +dollars on the army and navy. It is possible that on a +plebiscite vote, exactly under existing conditions, a majority +would vote to make the department of war a department of public +works, military defence being only one of its functions, and to +spend the sum proposed on public works useful in case of war, +but not an incitement to war. + +NATIONAL WEALTH AND PUBLIC INDEBTEDNESS + +WHILE the lives and the wealth of the European nations are +being sacrificed on a scale hitherto unparalleled, it is well +in the interests of those nations, as well as of our own, that +we conserve the lives and wealth of our own people. The +greatest wealth of a nation is its children, its productive +workers, its scientific men and other leaders, its accumulated +knowledge and social traditions. These are immeasurable, but +the Bureau of the Census has recently prepared a report on the +material wealth and indebtedness, according to which it is +estimated that the total value of all classes of property in +the United States, exclusive of Alaska and the insular +possessions, in 1912, was $187,739,000,000, or $1,965 per +capita. This estimate is presented merely as the best +approximation which can be made from the data available and as +being fairly comparable with that published eight years ago. +The increase between 1904 and 1912 was 75 per cent., for the +total amount and 49 per cent. for the per capita. Real estate +and improvements, including public property, alone constituted +$110,677,000,000, or 59 per cent. of the total, in 1912. The +next greatest item, $16,149,000,000, was contributed by the +railroads; and the third, $14,694,000,000, represented the +value of manufactured products, other than clothing and +personal adornments, furniture, vehicles and kindred property. + +The net public-indebtedness in 1913 amounted to $4,850,461,000. +This amount was made up as follows: National debt, +$1,028,564,000, or $10.59 per capita; state debt, $345,942,000, +or $3.57 per capita; county debt, $371,528,000, or $4.33 per +capita; and municipal debt, $2,884,883,000, or $54.27 per +capita. Thus the average urban citizen's share of the net +federal, state, county and municipal debt combined was $72.76; +and the average rural citizen's share of the net federal, state +and county debt combined was $18.49. + +The total federal debt in 1910 was $2,916,205,000, of which +amount $967,366,000 was represented by bonds, $375,682,000 by +non-interest-bearing debt (principally United States notes or +"greenbacks"), and $1,573,157,000 by certificates and notes +issued on deposits of coin and bullion. Against this +indebtedness there was in the treasury $1,887,641,000 in cash +available for payment of debt, leaving the net national +indebtedness at $1,028,564,000, or $10.59 per capita. The +increase in the net indebtedness between 1902 and 1913 amounted +to 6 per cent., but for the per capita figure there was a +decrease of 13 per cent. The burden due to the national debt is +thus very light in comparison with that imposed by the +indebtedness of other great nations. + +The state debt, however, rests still more easily on the +shoulders of the average citizen, being only one third as great +as that of the nation. The total state indebtedness in 1913 was +$422,797,000, and the net debt--that is, the total debt less +sinking-fund assets--was $345,942,000, or $3.57 per capita. The +net debt increased by 44.5 per cent. between 1902 and 1913, and +the per capita net debt by 18 per cent. + +The total county debt in 1913 amounted to $393,207,000, of +which amount $371,528,000, or $4.33 per capita, was net debt. +The net indebtedness increased by 89 per cent. between 1902 and +1913, and the per capita net indebtedness by 55 per cent. By +far the greatest item of indebtedness in this country is that +of municipalities. This amounted in 1913 to an aggregate of +$3,460,000,000, of which $2,884,883,000, or $54.27 per capita, +represented net indebtedness. The rate of increase in net +indebtedness between 1902 and 1913 was 114 per cent. + +While the nations of Europe are involving themselves in the +toils of debts, we should use our vast surplus wealth to pay +the national, state and municipal debts, even those contracted +for public improvements. We save every year about $100 for each +adult and child of the country and waste about an equal sum. It +would be well if this wealth could be invested for the benefit +of each, and education and scientific research are the most +productive of all investments. + + + +SCIENTIFIC ITEMS + +WE record with regret the death of Karl Eugen Guthe, professor +of physics in the University of Michigan and dean of the +Graduate School, in Hanover, Germany; of John Howard Van +Amringe, long dean of Columbia College and professor of +mathematics; of Carlos J. Finlay, known for his advocacy of the +theory that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes; of A. J. +Herbertson, of Wadham College, Oxford, professor of geography +in the university; of Julius von Payer, the distinguished polar +explorer and artist, of Vienna, and of Guido Goldsehmiedt, +professor of chemistry in the University of Vienna. + +DR. JACQUES LORE, of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical +Research, has been elected a foreign fellow of the Linnean +Society, London.--Dr. David Bancroft Johnson, president of +Winthrop Normal and Industrial College, of Rockhill, S. C., has +been elected president of the National Education Association, +in succession to Dr. David Starr Jordan, chancellor of Stanford +University. + +A MEMORIAL to Johann C. Reil, the anatomist, has been erected +in Halle. It stands in front of the university clinic, the seat +of his labors until called to Berlin in 1810. He died in 1813, +aged fifty-five years.--A bronze bas-relief--the work of Mr. S. +N. Babb--is about to be erected in St. Paul's Cathedral in +memory of Captain Scott and his companions who perished in the +Antarctic. At the request of the committee responsible for the +memorial an inscription has been written by Lord Curzon, which +reads as follows: "In memory of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, +C.V.O., R.N., Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson, Captain Lawrence E. G. +Oates, Lieut. Henry R. Bowers and Petty Officer Edgar Evans, +who died on their return journey from the South Pole in +February and March, 1912. Inflexible of purpose, steadfast in +courage, resolute in endurance in the face of unparalleled +misfortune. Their bodies are lost in the Antarctic ice. But the +memory of their deeds is an everlasting monument." + + + +THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY + +NOVEMBER, 1915 + +PAPUA, WHERE THE STONE-AGE LINGERS + +BY DR. ALFRED GOLDSBOROUGH MAYER + +WITH their undaunted spirit for braving the wilds, the English +entered New Guinea in 1885. For centuries the great island had +remained a mere outline upon the map the fever-haunted glades +of its vast swamps and the broken precipices of its mountain +ranges having defied exploration, more than the morose and +savage character of its inhabitants. Even in the summer of +1913, Massy Baker the explorer, discovered a lake probably 100 +miles or more in shore-line, which had remained hidden in the +midst of the dark forests of the Fly and Strickland River +regions, and here savages still in the stone age, who had never +seen a white man, measured the potency of their weapons against +the modern rifle. + +To-day there are vast areas upon which the foot of the white +man has not yet trodden, and of all the regions in the tropical +world New Guinea beckons with most alluring fascination to him +to whom adventure is dearer than life. + +Far back in the dawn of European exploration, the Portuguese +voyager Antonio de Abreu, may have seen the low shores of +western New Guinea, but it is quite certain that sixteen years +later, in 1527, Don Jorge de Meneses cruised along the coast +and observed the wooly-headed natives whom he called "Papuas." +The name "New Guinea" was bestowed upon the island by the +Spanish captain, Ynigo Ortz de Retes, in 1515, when he saw the +negroid natives of its northern shores. + +Then there came and passed some of the world's greatest +navigators. Torres wandering from far Peru, to unknowingly +discover the strait which bears his name; Dampier, the +buccancer-adventurer, and, in 1768, the cultured, esthetic +Bougainville, who was enraptured by the beauty of the deep +forest-fringed fjords of the northeastern coast. Cook, greatest +of all geographers, mapped the principal islands and shoals of +the intricate Torres Strait in 1770; and a few years later came +Captain Bligh, the resourceful leader of his faithful few, +crouching in their frail sail boat that had survived many a +tempest; since the mutineers of the Bounty had cast them adrift +in the mid-Pacific. In the early years of the nineteenth +century the scientifically directed Astrolabe arrived, under +the command of Dumont D'Urville, and, later, Captain Owen +Stanley in the Rattlesnake, with Huxley as his zoologist, Then, +in 1858, came Alfred Russel Wallace, the codiscoverer of +Darwinism, who, by the way, is said to have been the first +Englishman who ever actually resided in New Guinea. + +The daring explorers and painstaking surveyors came and went, +but the great island remained a land of dread and mystery, +guarded by the jagged reefs of its eastern shores, and the +shallow mud flats, stretching far to sea-ward beyond the mouths +of the great rivers of its southern coast. So inaccessible was +Papua that even the excellent harbor of Port Moresby, the site: +of the present capital, was not discovered until 1873. One has +but to stifle for a while in the heavy air that flows lifeless +and fetid over the lowlands as if from a steaming furnace, or +to scent the rank odors of the dark swamps, where for centuries +malaria must linger, to appreciate the reason for the +long-delayed European settlement of the country. But those who +blaze the path of colonial progress are not to be deterred by +temperatures or smells; let us remember that Batavia, "the +white man's graveyard," is now one of the world's great +commercial centers; and Jamaica, the old fever camp of the +British army, is now a health resort for tourists. + +Papua, the land of the tired eyes and the earnest face, of the +willing spirit and the weary body, waning as strength fails +year by year in malaria and heat, the land wherein the heart +aches for the severed ties of wife and home; its history has +hardly yet begun, but the reward of generations of heroism will +be the conquest of another empire where England's high +standards of freedom are to he raised anew. A victory of peace +it is to be, as noble as any yet achieved in war; and great +through its death roll, and forgotten though the workers be, +the fruits of their labors will bless that better world Great +Britain is preparing for those of ages yet to come. + +There are great resources in Papua with its area of 90,500 +square miles. Untrodden forests where the dark soil moulders +beneath the everlasting shade; swamps bearing a harvest of +thousands of sago and nipa palms, and mountains in a riot of +contorted peaks rising to a height of 13,200 feet in the Owen +Stanley range. + +It is still a country of surprises, as when petroleum fields, +probably 1,000 square miles in area, were discovered only about +four years ago along the Vailala River, the natives having +concealed their knowledge of the bubbling gas springs through +fear of offending the evil spirits of the place. It is evident +that although the country has been merely glanced over, there +are both agricultural and mineral resources of a promising +nature in Papua. It remains but for modern medicine to +over-come the infections of the tropics for the region to rise +into prominence as one of the self-supporting colonies of the +British empire. + +The early history of British occupation centers around the +striking personality of James Chalmers, the great-hearted, +broad-minded, missionary, one of the most courageous who ever +devoted his life to extending the brotherhood of the white +man's ideals. Chafing, as a young man, under the petty +limitations of his mission in the Cook Islands, he sought New +Guinea, as being the wildest and most dangerous field in the +tropical Pacific. Here, for twenty-five years, he devoted his +mighty soul to the work of introducing the rudiments of +civilization and Christianity to the most sullen and dangerous +savages upon earth. Scores of times his life hung in the +balance of native caprice; wives and friends died by his side, +victims to the malignant climate and to native spears, while he +seemed to possess a charmed life; until, true to his +prediction, he was murdered by the cannibals of Dopina at the +mouth of the Fly River in 1901. + +Hundreds of scattered tribes had learned to revere their great +leader "Tamate," as they called him, who brought peace and +prosperity to his followers. Yet a danger to Papua that he +himself foresaw and did all in his power to avert came as a +result of the introduction of the very civilization of which he +was the champion, for with peace came new wants that the most +unscrupulous of traders at once sought to supply at prices +ruinous to the social and moral welfare of the natives. + +Also, the proximity of Queensland threatened to become a +menace; for Chalmers himself was well aware of the dark history +of the "blackbird trade" wherein practical slavery was forced +upon the indentured laborers, lured from their island homes to +toil as hopeless debtors upon the Australian plantations. A +government of the natives for the native interests he desired; +not one administered from the Australian mainland in the +interest of alien whites. The hopes of Chalmers were only +partially realized, for Papua is still only a territory of +Australia. + +In most respects this condition appears to be unfortunate. The +crying needs of a new country are usually peculiarly local and +not likely to be appreciated by a distant ruling power. +Moreover, Australia is itself an undeveloped land and requires +too large a proportion of its own capital for expansion at home +to be a competent protector of a colony across the sea. One +feels that Papuan development might have proceeded with greater +smoothness had the colony been more directly under the British +empire, rather shall an Australian dependency. + +The strategic necessity that Australia should command both the +northern and the southern shores of Torres Straits might still +have been secured without the sacrifice of any important +initiative in matters of government upon the part of Papua. + +The cardinal evil that Chalmers feared has, however, been +averted. The natives still own 97 1/2 per cent. of the entire +land area, and wise laws guard them in this precious +possession, and aim to protect them from all manner of unjust +exploitation. It is much to the credit of the government that +the cleanest native villages and the most healthy, ambitious +and industrious tribes, are those nearest the white +settlements. Contact between the races has resulted in the +betterment, not in the degradation, of the Papuan natives. + +The touch of a master hand is apparent in a multitude of +details in managing the natives of Papua; and it is of interest +to see that in broad essentials the plan of government is +adapted from that which the English have put to the test of +practice in Fiji; the modifications being of a character +designed to meet the conditions peculiar to Melanesia, wherein +the chiefs are relatively unimportant in comparison with their +role in the social systems of the Polynesians and Fijians. +Foremost in the shaping of the destiny of Papua stands the +commanding figure of Sir William Macgregor, administrator and +lieutenant governor from 1888 to 1898. As a young man Macgregor +was government physician in Fiji, where he became prominent not +only as a competent guardian of the health of the natives, but +as a leader in the suppression of the last stronghold of +cannibalism along the Singatoka River. In Papua his tireless +spirit found a wide field for high endeavor, and upon every +department of the government one finds to-day the stamp of his +powerful personality. Nor did he remain closeted in Port +Moresby, a stranger to the races of his vast domains, for over +the highest mountains and through the densest swamps his +expeditions forced their way; the Great Governor always in the +van. It was thus that he conquered the fierce Tugeri of the +Dutch border, who for generations had been the terror of the +coasts; and wherever his expeditions passed, peace followed, +and the law of the British magistrate supplanted the caprice of +the sorcerer. + +But his hardest fight was not with the mountain wilds or the +malarious morasses. It was to secure from the powerful ones of +his own race the privileges of freemen for the natives of +Papua. + +In his youth he had seen the blessings that came with the +advent of British rule in Fiji; and here, in broad New Guinea, +upon a vaster scale, he strove to make fair play the dominant +note in the white man's treatment of a savage race. + +Arrayed against Chalmers and Macgregor were conservatism and +suspicion founded in ancient precedent, and a commercial +avarice that saw in native exploitation the readiest means to +convert New Guinea into a "white man's country." Aversion there +was also in high places to embarking upon a possibly fruitless +experiment, involving generations of labor and expense for a +remote and uncertain harvest. Chalmers and Macgregor, however, +through the force of their high convictions and the wisdom of +their wide experience, won the great fight for fairness; for +civilization's cardinal victories are those, not of the +soldier, but of the civil servant who dares risk his reputation +and his all for those things he deems just and generous; and +when Papua comes to erect statues to her great leaders, those +of these two patriots must surely occupy the highest places, as +champions of the liberties of the weak. The noble policy of +Macgregor is still, and let us hope it long may be, the keynote +of the administration in Papua, which to-day is being ably +carried forward under the great governor's disciple, the +Honorable John H. P. Murray. + +The proclamation given by Captain Erskine in 1884 declared that +a British Protectorate had become essential for the +safeguarding of the lives and property of the natives of New +Guinea and for the purpose of preventing the occupation of the +country by persons whose proceedings might lead to injustice, +strife and bloodshed, or whose illegitimate trade might +endanger the liberties and alienate the lands of the natives. + +It is, however, one thing for a government to declare its +altruistic intentions, but often quite another to carry them +into effect. + +In Papua, every effort has been made to prevent robbery of the +natives by unscrupulous whites. The natives are firmly secured +in the possession of their lands, which they can neither sell, +lease nor dispose of, except to the government itself. Thus the +natives and the government are the only two landlords in the +country. To acquire land in Papua, the European settler must +rent it from the government, for he is not permitted to acquire +fee simple rights. The whites are thus tenants of the +government, and are subject to such rules and regulations as +their landlord may decree. The tenant is, however, recognized +as the creator and owner of any improvements he may erect upon +the land, and, at the expiration of his lease, the government +undertakes to pay him a fair compensation for such +improvements, provided he has lived up to the letter of +regulations respecting his tenure. + +For agricultural land a merely nominal rental is demanded, +ranging from nothing for the first ten years to a final maximum +of six pence per acre; yet this system has had the effect of +retarding European settlement, for, although its area is twice +that of Cuba, Papua had but 1,064 whites in 1912, and only one +one hundred and seventy-fourth of the territory is held under +lease. + +Men of the type who can conquer the primeval forests and create +industries prefer to own their land outright, and are apt to +resent the restrictions of complex government regulations, +however wisely administered. Socialism, while it may in some +measure be desirable in old and settled communities, serves but +to dull that sense of personal freedom which above all spurs +the pioneer onward to success in a wild and dangerous region. + +Possibly in the end, the government may find it advantageous to +permit certain lands to be acquired by Europeans, in fee +simple; for until this is done the settlement of the country +must proceed with extreme slowness. Moreover, mere tenants +owning nothing but their improvements, and even these being +subject to government appraisement, may be unduly tempted to +drain, rather than to develop, the resources of the land they +occupy. + +But the chief aim of the Papuan government is to introduce +civilization among the natives, and a slow increase in the +European population is of primary necessity to the +accomplishment of this result. + +At present the natives are not taxed, the chief sources of +revenue being derived from the customs duties upon imports, the +bulk of which are consumed by the Europeans, and this source of +income is supplemented by an annual grant of about 25,000 +pounds from the Australian Commonwealth, but, due to the duties +upon food and necessities, the cost of living is higher than it +should be in a new country. + +Judging, however, from the experience of the English in Fiji +and of the Dutch in Java, the natives would be benefited rather +than oppressed by a moderate poll tax to be paid in produce, +thus developing habits of industry, and in some measure +offsetting the evil effects of that insidious apathy which +follows upon the sudden abolition of native warfare. + +Every effort should also he made to encourage and educate the +Papuans in the production and sale of manufactured articles. +One must regret the loss of many arts and crafts among the +primitive peoples of the Pacific, which, if properly fostered +under European protection to insure a market and an adequate +payment for their wares, would have been a source of revenue +and a factor of immeasurable import in developing that self +respect and confidence in themselves which the too sudden +modification of their social and religious Systems is certain +to destroy. The ordinary mission schools are deficient in this +respect, devoting their major energies to the "three R's" and +to religious instruction, and, while it is pleasing to observe +a boy whose father was a cannibal extracting cube roots, one +can not but conclude that the acquisition of some money-making +trade would be more conducive to his happiness in after life. + +It is not too much to say that the chief problem in dealing +with an erstwhile savage race is to overcome the universal loss +of interest and decline in energy which inevitably follows upon +the development of that semblance of civilization which is +enforced with the advent of the white man. The establishment of +manual training schools wherein arts and crafts which may be +profitably practiced by the natives as life-professions, is a +first essential to the salvation of the race. These schools +should and would in no manner interfere with the religious +teaching received from missionaries, but would indeed be a most +potent factor in the spread of true Christianity among the +natives. Whether Christianity be true or false does not affect +the case, for the natives are destined to be dominated by +Christian peoples, and it primarily essential that they should +understand at least the rudiments of Christian ideals and +behavior. + +The realization of the importance of training them to the +pursuit of useful arts and trades, which would enable the +natives to become self-supporting in the European sense, has +been perceived by certain thinkers among the missionaries +themselves, and in certain regions efforts are being made the +success of which should revolutionize our whole method of +dealing with the problem of introducing civilization among a +primitive people. + +Keep their minds active and their hands employed in +self-supporting work and their morals and religion will safely +fall into accord with Christian standards. + +Up to the present native education has been left to the devoted +efforts of the missionaries, who have more than 10,000 pupils +under their charge, but the time is coming when the government +should cooperate in establishing trade schools wherein crafts, +providing life-vocations to the natives, may be taught. + +There may be more than 275,000 natives in Papua, but, due to +lack of knowledge of the country, the actual number is unknown. + +Among the mountain fastnesses, defending themselves in +tree-houses, one finds a frizzly-headed black negrito-like race +hardly more than five feet in height. These are probably +remnants of the "pigmy" pre-Dravidian or Negrito-Papuan +element, which constituted the most ancient inhabitants of the +island and who long ago were driven inland from the coveted +coast. + +The burly negroid Papuans of the Great River deltas of western +Papua differ widely from the lithe, active, brown-skinned, +mop-headed natives of the eastern half of the southern coast; +and Professors Haddon and Seligmann have decided that in +eastern New Guinea many Proto-Polynesian, Melanesian and +Malayan immigrants have mingled their blood with that of the +more primitive Papuans. Thus there are many complexly +associated ethnic elements in New Guinea, and often people +living less than a hundred miles apart can not understand one +another; in fact, each village has its peculiar dialect. Social +customs and cultural standards in art and manufacture vary +greatly from the same cause, and each tribe has some remarkable +individual characteristics. In the Fly-River region, the +village consists of a few huge houses with mere stalls for the +families, which crowd for defence under the shelter of a single +roof. Along the southern side of the eastern end of the island, +however, each family has its own little thatched hut, and these +are often built for defense upon piling over the sea, reminding +one of the manner of life of the prehistoric Swiss-lake +dwellers. + +Nearly 12,000 natives are at present employed by the whites as +indentured laborers in Papua, their terms of service ranging +from three years, upon agricultural work, to not more than +eighteen months in mining. Their wages range from about $1.50 +to $5.00 per month, and all payments must be made in the +presence of a magistrate and in coin or approved bank notes. + +At every turn both employer and employed are wisely +safeguarded; the native suffering imprisonment for desertion, +and the employer being prohibited from getting the blacks into +debt, or from treating them harshly or unjustly. Their +enlistment must be voluntary and executed in the presence of a +magistrate, and, after their term of service, the employer is +obliged to return them to their homes. + +One is impressed with the many manifestations of a fair degree +of efficiency on the part of the native laborers, who are +really good plantation hands and resourceful sailors. In fact, +trade has always been practiced to a considerable extent by the +shore tribes, the pottery of the eastern end of the coast being +annually exchanged for the sago produced by the natives of the +Fly River Delta. It is a picturesque sight to see the large +lakatois, or trading canoes, creeping along in the shadow of +the palm-fringed shores under the great wall of the mountains, +the lakatoi consisting of a raft composed of six or more canoes +lashed together side by side, and covered by a platform which +bears a thatched hut serving to house the sailors and their +wares. The craft is propelled by graceful crescent-shaped +lateen sails of pandanus matting and steered by sweeps from the +stern. Trading voyages of hundreds of miles are often +undertaken, the lakatois starting from the east at the waning +of the southeast trade wind in early November and returning a +month or two later in the season of the northwest monsoon. + +The Papuan is both ingenious and industrious when working in +his own interest, and with tactful management he becomes a +faithful and fairly efficient laborer. Perhaps the most serious +defect in the present system of employment in Papua is the +usually long interval between payments. The natives are not +paid at intervals of less than one month and, often, not until +the expiration of their three-year term of service. With almost +no knowledge of arithmetic and possessed of a fund which seems +large beyond the dreams of avarice, he is practically certain +to be cheated by the dishonest tradesmen who flock vulture-like +to centers of commercial activity. This evil might be in large +measure prevented were the natives to be paid at monthly +intervals, for they would then gradually become accustomed to +the handling of money and would gain an appreciation of its +actual value. + +Generations must elapse before more than a moderate degree of +civilization is developed in Papua, but the foundations are +being surely and conservatively laid, and already in the +civilized centers natives respect and loyally serve their +British friends and masters. + +In common with many another British colony, the safeguard of +Papua lies not in the rifles of the whites, but in the loyal +hearts of the natives themselves, and in Papua, as in Fiji, the +native constabulary under the leadership of a mere handful of +Europeans may be trusted to maintain order in any emergency. As +Governor Murray truly states in his interesting book "Papua, or +British New Guinea," the most valuable asset the colony +possesses is not its all but unexplored mineral wealth or the +potential value of its splendid forests and rich soil, but it +is the Papuans themselves, and let us add that under the +leadership of the high-minded, self-sacrificing and +well-trained civil servants of Great Britain the dawn of Papuan +civilization is fast breaking into the sunlight of a happiness +such as has come to but few of the erstwhile savage races of +the earth. + +Without belittling the nobility of purpose or disregarding the +self-sacrificing devotion of the missionary for his task, let +us also grant to the civil servant his due share of praise. His +duty he also performs in the dangerous wilds of the earth; +beset with insidious disease, stifling in unending heat, exiled +from home and friends, with suspicious savages around him, he +labors with waning strength in that struggle against climate +wherein the ultimate ruin of his body is assured. Yet in his +heart there lives, growing as years elapse, the English +gentleman's ideal of service, and for him it is sufficient +that, though he is to be invalided and forgotten even before he +dies, yet his will have been one of those rare spirits who have +extended to the outer world his mother country's ideal of +justice and fair play. + + + +CONTACT ELECTRIFICATION AND THE ELECTRIC CURRENT + +BY PROFESSOR FERNANDO SANFORD + +STANFORD UNIVERSITY + +IN a previous paper in this journal, entitled "The Discovery of +Contact Electrification" (November, 1913), it was shown that +the production of electric charges by the mere contact of two +dissimilar metals was first discovered by Rev. Abraham Bennett, +in 1789, and that it was verified by a different method by +Tiberius Cavallo, in 1795. Meantime, in 1791, Dr. Galvani +discovered the twitching of a frog's muscle, due to electrical +stimulus. Galvani's discovery was described by himself as +follows:[1] + +[1] Translation from "Makers of Electricity," p 143. + +'I had dissected a frog and had prepared it, as in Figure 2 of +the fifth plate, and had placed it upon a table on which there +was an electric machine, while I set about doing certain other +things. The frog was entirely separated from the conductor of +the machine, and indeed was at no small distance away from it. +While one of those who were assisting me touched lightly and by +chance the point of his scalpel to the internal crural nerves +of the frog, suddenly all the muscles of its limbs were seen to +be so contracted that they seemed to have fallen into tonic +convulsions. Another of my assistants, who was making ready to +take up certain experiments in electricity with me, seemed to +notice that this happened only at the moment when a spark came +from the conductor of the machine. He was struck by the novelty +of the phenomenon, and immediately spoke to me about it, for I +was at the moment occupied with other things and mentally +preoccupied. I was at once tempted to repeat the experiment, so +as to make clear whatever might be obscure in it. For this +purpose I took up the scalpel and moved its point close to one +or the other of the crural nerves of the frog, while at the +same time one of my assistants elicited sparks from the +electric machine. The phenomenon happened exactly as before. +Strong contractions took place in every muscle of the limb, and +at the very moment when the sparks appeared, the animal was +seized as it were with tetanus.' + +Following this original observation, Galvani made a great many +experiments on the effect of electric stimulus upon the nerves +of frogs and other animals. He found that the twitching of the +frog's muscles could be produced by atmospheric electricity, +both at the time of lightning and at other times when no +lightning was visible. During these investigations he observed +that when the legs of the frog were suspended from an iron +railing by a hook through the spinal cord, and when this hook +was of some other metal than iron, the muscles would twitch +whenever the feet touched the iron railing. He tried out a +number of pairs of metals, and found that when the nerve was +touched by one metal and the muscle or another point on the +nerve was touched by another metal and the two metals were then +brought into contact or were connected through another metal or +through the human body, the muscles would contract as they +would when stimulated by electricity. + +Galvani concluded that the contraction in this case, as in the +earlier experiments, was produced by an electric stimulation, +and since the metals seemed to him to serve merely as the +conductors of the electric discharge, he concluded that the +source of the electricity must be in the tissues of the animal +body. This seemed all the more probable since it was known that +certain fishes and an electric eel were capable of giving +violent electric shocks. This electricity of the eels and +fishes had been named animal electricity, and Galvani concluded +that all animals were capable of producing this electricity in +the tissues of their bodies. + +He believed this electricity was to be found in various parts +of the body, but that it was especially collected in the nerves +and muscles. The especial property of this animal electricity +seemed to be that it discharged from the nerves into the +muscles, or in the contrary direction, and that to effect this +discharge it would take the path of least resistance through +the metal conductor or through the human body. Since during +this discharge the muscle was caused to contract, Galvani +concluded that the purpose of this animal electricity was to +produce muscular contractions. + +Galvani seems to have concerned himself principally with the +physiological processes which he believed gave rise to the +electric charges, but physicists began immediately to seek for +other sources of the electricity. The one observation which +seemed to offer a definite suggestion as to the possible source +of the electrical charge was the fact that, in general two +different metals must be used to connect the muscle and nerve +before a discharge would take place from the one to the other. +This made Galvani's theory that the metals served merely as +conductors seem improbable. On the other hand, it was sometimes +possible to get the muscular contractions by using a single +bent wire or rod to connect the nerve and muscle, especially if +the two ends were of different degrees of polish, or if one end +was warmer than the other. + +Volta was apparently the first to suggest that the electricity +which seemed to be generated in Galvani's experiments might +have its source in the contact of the two metals. Several +writers called attention to an apparent relation between +Galvani's experiments and a phenomenon announced by J. G. +Sulzer, in 1760. Sulzer found that if pieces of lead and silver +were placed upon the tongue separately no marked taste was +produced by either, but that if while both were on the tongue +the metals were brought into contact a strong taste was +produced which he compared to the taste of iron vitriol. Here +was a case of undoubted stimulation of the nerves of taste by +the contact of two metals, and it seemed not improbable that +other nerves might be stimulated in the same manner. In the +meantime Mr. John Robison had increased the Sulzer effect +greatly by building up a pile of pieces of zinc with silver +shillings and placing these in contact with the tongue and the +cheek. + +It was the question as to the possibility of producing the +electric charge by mere metallic contact which led Cavallo to +make his experiments upon contact electrification. Thus Cavallo +says in Volume III. of "A Complete Treatise on Electricity," +published in 1795: + +'The above mentioned singular properties, together with some +other facts, which will be mentioned in the sequel induced Mr. +Volta, to suspect that possibly in many cases the motions are +occasioned by a small quantity of electricity produced by the +mere contact of two different metals; though he acknowledges +that he by no means comprehends in what manner this can happen. +This suspicion being entertained by so eminent a philosopher as +Mr. Volta, induced Dr. Lind and myself to attempt some +experiment which might verify it; and with this in view we +connected together a variety of metallic substances in diverse +quantities, and that by means of insulated or not insulated +communications; we used Mr Volta's condenser, and likewise a +condenser of a new sort; the electrometer employed was of the +most sensible sort; and various other contrivances were used, +which it will be needless to describe in this place; but we +could never obtain the smallest appearance of electricity from +those metallic combinations. Yet we can infer to no other +conclusion, but that if the mere combination, or contact, of +the two metals produces any electricity, the quantity of it in +our experiments was too small to he manifested by our +instruments.' + +Later, on page 111 of the same volume, he says: + +'After many fruitless attempts, and after having sent to the +press the preceding part of this volume, I at last hit upon a +method of producing electricity by the action of metallic +substances upon one another, and apparently without the +interference of electric bodies. I say apparently so, because +the air seems to be in a great measure concerned in those +experiments, and perhaps the whole effect may be produced by +that surrounding medium. But, though the irregular, +contradictory, and unaccountable effects observed in these +experiments do not as yet furnish any satisfactory theory, and +though much is to be attributed to the circumambient air, yet +the metallic substances themselves seem to be endowed with +properties peculiar to each of them, and it is principally in +consequence of those properties that the produced electricity +is sometimes positive, at other times negative, and various in +its intensity.' + +Cavallo then proceeds to describe the experiments on contact +electrification which were described in the previous paper +referred to at the beginning of the article. + +Cavallo's experiments were evidently made in 1795. In the +following year Volta announced the discovery of the electrical +current. In a letter written to Gren's Neues Journal der +Physik, August, 1796, Volta says: + +'The contact of different conductors, particularly the +metallic, including pyrites and other minerals as well as +charcoal, which I call dry conductors, or of the first class +with moist conductors, or conductors of the second class, +agitates or disturbs the electric fluid, or gives it a certain +impulse. Do not ask in what manner: it is enough that it is a +principle and a great principle.' + +It will be seen that at this stage of his discovery Volta was +inclined to attribute tho origin of the current to the contact +between the metals and his moist "conductors of the second +class," though later in the same article he says it is +impossible to tell whether the impulse which sets the current +in motion is to be attributed to the contact between the metals +themselves or between the two metals and the moist conductor, +since either supposition would lead to the same results. + +Later, as was shown in the previous paper by the present writer +Volta came to regard the metallic contact as the cause of the +electromotive force. In a letter written to Gren in 1797 and +published as a postscript to his letter of August, 1796, Volta +says: + +'Some new facts, lately discovered, seem to show that the +immediate cause which excites the electric fluid, and puts it +in motion, whether it be an attraction or a repulsive power, is +to be ascribed much rather to the mutual contact of two +different metals, than to their contact with moist conductors.' + +The new facts, "lately discovered," to which Volta attributes +his change of view were his repetitions of Bennett's +experiments of 1789. + +Volta apparently thought that the current was not only set up +by the contact of the two metals of a pair, but that it was +kept up by the mutual action of the metals on each other. He +accordingly made no attempt to discover whether any changes +took place in his circuit while the current was being +generated. The chemical action on his metals and the +dissociation in his electrolyte seem to have entirely escaped +his attention. At least, he did not attach enough importance to +them to mention them anywhere in his description of his +apparatus. + +In the meantime a chemical explanation of the phenomena +observed by Galvani had been proposed in 1792 by Fabroni, a +physicist of Florence. After discussing the Sulzer phenomenon +already mentioned in this paper, Fabroni argues that the +peculiar taste caused by bringing the two metals into contact +while on the tongue is due to a chemical, rather than to an +electrical, action. He then discusses the different chemical +behavior of metals when taken singly and when placed in contact +with other metals. He says:[2] + +[2] The following quotations from Fabroni have been translated +by the present writer from the German of Ostwald's +"Elektrochemie," pp. 103, ff. + + + +I have already frequently observed that fluid mercury retains +its beautiful metallic luster for a long time when by itself; +but as soon as it is amalgamated with any other metal it +becomes rapidly dim or oxidized, and in consequence of its +continuous oxidation increases in weight. + +I have preserved pure tin for many years without its changing +its silvery luster, while different alloys of this metal which +I have prepared for technical purposes have behaved quite +otherwise. + +I have seen in the museum at Cortonne Etrusean inscriptions +upon plates of pure lead which are perfectly preserved to this +day' although they date from very ancient times; on the other +hand, I have found with astonishment in the gallery of Florence +that the so-called "piombi" or leaden medallions of different +popes, in which tin and possibly some arsenic have been mixed +to make them harder and more beautiful, have fallen completely +to white powder, or have changed to their oxides, though they +were wrapped in paper and preserved in drawers. + +In the same way I have observed that the alloy which was used +for soldering the copper plates upon the movable roof of the +observatory at Florence has changed rapidly and in places of +contact with the copper plates has gone over into a white +oxide. + +I have heard also in England that the iron nails which were +formerly used for fastening the copper plates of the sheathing +of ships were attacked on account of contact, and that the +holes became enlarged until they would slip over the heads of +the nails which held them in position. + +It seems to me that this is sufficient to show that the metals +in these cases exert a mutual influence upon each other, and +that to this must be ascribed the cause of the phenomena which +they show by their combination or contact. + +After discussing some of the experiments on nerve stimulation +which had been made by Galvani and others, Fabroni argues that +these are principally, if not wholly, due to chemical action, +and that the undoubted electrical phenomena which sometimes +accompany them are not the cause of the muscular contractions. + +In discussing the nature of the chemical changes produced in +two metals by their mutual contact, Fabroni says: + +'Since the metals have relationships with each other, the +molecules must mutually attract each other as soon as they come +into contact. One can not determine the force of this +attraction, but I believe it is sufficient to weaken their +cohesion so that they become inclined to go into new +combinations and to more easily yield to the influence of the +weakest solvents.' + +In order to further show the weakening of cohesion by the +contact of two metals, Fabroni describes the results of some +experiments which he has made. He says: + +'In order to assure myself of the truth of my assumptions, I +put into different vessels filled with water: + +(1) Separate pieces, for example, of gold in one, silver in +another, copper in the third, likewise tin, lead, etc. + +(2) In other similar vessels I put pieces of the same metals in +pairs, a more oxidizable and a less oxidizable metal in each +pair' but separated from each other by strips of glass + +(3) Finally, I put in other vessels pairs of different metals +which were placed in immediate contact with each other. + +The first two series suffered no marked change, while in the +latter series the more oxidizable metal became visibly covered +with oxide in a few instants after the contact was made.' + +Fabroni found that under the above circumstances his oxidizable +metals dissolved in the water, and in some cases salts were +formed which crystallized out. He then compares the metals in +contact with each other in water with the metals on the tongue +when brought into contact, as in Sulzer's experiment, and the +two metals touching each other by which different points on a +nerve were touched to produce the muscular twitchings in +Galvani's experiments, and concludes that the chemical action +upon the metals was the same in each case, and that the other +phenomena observed must have resulted from this chemical +action. It is not strange that when Volta showed later that an +electric current passed between the metals in all of tho above +cases Fabroni should regard the chemical action which he had +previously observed as the cause of this current. + +Ten years after the publication of Fabroni's original paper, +Volta wrote a letter to J. C. Delamethrie which was published +in Vol. I of Nicholson's Journal. This letter was written after +the chemical changes in the voltaic cell had received a great +deal of attention by many experimenters, the most prominent of +whom was Davy. To show that Volta's theory as to the source of +the current was not affected by these investigations, a +quotation from this letter is given below. + +'You have requested me to give you an account of the +experiments by which I demonstrate, in a convincing manner, +what I have always maintained, namely, that the pretended +agent, or GALVANIC FLUID, is nothing but common electrical +FLUID, and that this fluid is incited and moved by the simple +MUTUAL CONTACT OF DIFFERENT CONDUCTORS, particularly the +metallic; strewing that two metals of different kinds, +connected together, produce already a small quantity of true +electricity, the force and kind of which I have determined; +that the effects of my new apparatus (which might be termed +electromotors), whether consisting of a pile, or in a row of +glasses, which have so much excited the attention of +philosophers, chemists, and physicians; that these so powerful +and marvelous effects are absolutely no more than the sum total +of the effects of a series of several similar metallic couples +or pairs; and that the chemical phenomena themselves, which are +obtained by them, of the decomposition of water and other +liquids, the oxidation of metals, &c., are secondary effects; +effects, I mean, of this electricity, of this continual current +of electrical fluid, which by the above mentioned action of the +connected metals, establishes itself as soon as we form a +communication between the two extremities of the apparatus, by +means of a conducting bow; and when once established, maintains +itself, and continues as long as the circuit remains +interrupted.'[3] + +[3] This seems to be a misprint for uninterrupted. + + + +Further along in the same letter Volta reiterates his +conviction that the contact of the two metals furnishes the +true motive power of the current. Thus he says (p. 138): + +'As to the rest, the action which excites and gives motion to +the electric fluid does not exert itself, as has been +erroneously thought, at the contact of the wet substance with +the metal, where it exerts so very small an action, that it may +be disregarded in comparison with that which takes place, as +all my experiments prove, at the place of contact of different +metals with each other. Consequently the true element of my +electromotive apparatus, of the pile, of cups, and others that +may be constructed according to the same principles, is the +simple metallic couple, or pair, composed of two different +metals, and not a moist substance applied to a metallic one, or +inclosed between two different metals, as most philosophers +have pretended. The humid strata employed in these complicated +apparatus are applied therefore for no other purpose than to +effect a mutual communication between all the metallic pairs, +each to each, ranged in such a manner as to impel the electric +fluid in one direction, or in order to make them communicate, +so that there may be no action in a direction contrary to the +others.' + +At the end of the above letter as published in Nicholson's +Journal, the editor, William Nicholson, comments at length on +Volta's theory of the source of current in the cell and calls +attention to the fact that Davy had already made cells by the +use of a single metal and two different liquids. At the +conclusion of his comments he calls attention to the fact that +Bennett and Cavallo had performed experiments with contact +electrification prior to Volta's experiments, and says in +conclusion, after referring to Bennett, + +'This last philosopher, as well as Cavallo, appears to think +that different bodies have different attractions or capacities +for electricity; but the singular hypothesis of electromotion, +or a perpetual current of electricity being produced, by the +contact of two metals is, I apprehend, peculiar to Volta.' + +This peculiar theory of Volta's probably never gained many +adherents and was necessarily abandoned as soon as the energy +relations of the current were considered, but the controversy +as to whether the electrical current or the accompanying +chemical changes was the primary phenomenon soon became +transferred to a quite different field, viz., to the origin of +the electrical charges which Bennett had shown resulted from +the contact of different metals. Bennett attempted to account +for the phenomena which he had observed on the hypothesis that +different substances "have a greater or less affinity with the +electric fluid," and Cavallo says: + +'I am inclined to suspect that different bodies have different +capacities for holding the electric fluid.' + +Volta reaches a similar conclusion after repeating some of +Bennett's experiments. In referring to this decision of Volta +as to the origin of the electric charge in contact +electrification, Ostwald says: + +'We stand here at a point where the most prolific error of +Electrochemistry begins, the combating of which has from that +time on occupied almost the greater part of the scientific work +in this field.' + +The error, from Ostwald's point of view, lies in the assumption +that the transference of electricity from the one metal to the +other is a primary phenomenon of metallic contact. He, with +many others, including some of the most distinguished +physicists and chemists of the past century, regard the +electrical transference as a secondary phenomenon resulting +from the previous oxidation of one of the metals. Thus Lodge, +in discussing the opposite electrification of plates of zinc +and copper when brought into contact says: + +'The effective cause of the whole phenomenon in either case is +the greater affinity of oxygen for zinc rather than copper.' + +The apparent conflict of opinion between those who hold that +the different affinities of the metals for oxygen is the cause +of the rearrangement of their electrical charges when brought +into contact and those who hold with Bennett and Cavallo that +the metals in their natural state have different affinities for +the electrical fluid must disappear when we recognize that all +affinity, and consequently the affinity for oxygen, must be an +electrical attraction. If zinc has an affinity for oxygen, it +must be because the zinc is either electropositive or +electronegative to oxygen. If it has a greater affinity for +oxygen than copper has, then the zinc must be either +electropositive or electronegative to copper. This being the +case, and both being conductors, it is not surprising that some +electricity will flow from one to the other when the two metals +are brought into contact. + +Those writers who attribute the oxidation theory of contact +electrification to Fabroni apparently overlook the fact that +not oxidation, but the weakening of the cohesion of at least +one of the metals due to their contact, was the primary +phenomenon in Fabroni's theory. When this is remembered, it is +seen that the observations of Bennett and Fabroni, instead of +furnishing arguments for two conflicting theories, actually +serve, as all true scientific observations must, to supplement +each other. + +Thus we now know that cohesion or affinity is an electrical +attraction between the atoms or molecules of a body. The only +known methods of changing the electrical attraction between two +bodies whose distances and directions from other bodies remain +constant is by varying the magnitude of their charges or by +changing the specific inductive capacity of the medium between +them. Bennett observed that when two pieces of different metal +in their normal electrical condition are placed in contact, +there is a redistribution of the charges of their surface +atoms. Fabroni observed under the same conditions a change in +the surface cohesion of the two metals. + +To the present writer this seems the actual sequence of +phenomena, viz., a redistribution of the charges of the surface +atoms of the metals, a consequent change in surface cohesion +and a resultant oxidation of one of the metals. + + + +ON CERTAIN RESEMBLANCES BETWEEN THE EARTH AND A BUTTERNUT + +BY PROFESSOR A, C. LANE + +TUFTS COLLEGE + +THE drama of the earth's history consists in the struggle +between the forces of uplift and the forces of degradation. The +forces of uplift are mainly the outward expression of the inner +energy and heat of the earth, whether they be the volcano +belching its ashes thousands of meters into the air, or the +earthquake, with the attendant crack or fault in the earth's +crust, leading to a sudden displacement, and sending, far and +wide, a death-dealing shock, or those mountain-building +actions, which, though they may be as gentle and gradual as +might be produced by the breathing of mother earth and the +uplifting of her bosom thereby, nevertheless, end in the huge +folds of our mountain ranges. + +Against these, there are always working the forces of +degradation--the slow rotting of weathering caused by the +direct chemical action of the moist atmosphere or the +alternation of hot and cold which crumbles rocks far above the +line where rain never falls. Once the rock is rotten and +decayed, it yields readily to the forces of degradation, which +drag it down--the beating of the rain, the rush of the +avalanche or of the landslide, the tumult of the torrent, the +quieter action of the muddy river in its lower reaches or the +mighty glacier which transfers fine and coarse material alike +toward the sea. + +These actions are always going on. Are they always equally +balanced, or are there periods when the forces of elevation are +more active, the forces of degradation not so powerful, as +against other times in which the forces of degradation alone +are at work? If there is inequality in the balance and struggle +of these contending forces, the great periods or acts in the +geologic drama might thus be marked off as Chamberlin suggests. +Newbery, Schuchert and others have pointed out that there seem +to have been great cycles of sedimentation which may be +interpreted as due to the alternate success, first of the +factors of elevation, then of those of degradation. + +Suppose, for instance, that there has been an epoch of +elevation, that mountain chains have been lifted far into the +sky and volcanoes have sent their floods of lava forth, and +fault-scarped cliffs run across the landscape and that then, +for a while, the forces of elevation cease their work. Little +by little, the mountains will be worn down to a surface of less +and less relief, approaching a plain as a hyperbola approaches +its asymptote--a surface which W. M. Davis has called +peneplain. + +But where will the material thus worn go? Into the sea. Going +into the ocean it will raise the level of the sea slowly but +surely. At present, for every four feet of elevation taken off +the land, there will be something like one foot rise of the +ocean level, and this rise may take only thirty thousand +years--a long time in human history, but not so long in the +history of the earth. All the time, then, that the forces of +the atmosphere are wearing down the surface of the earth to the +sea level the sea is rising and its waves are producing a plain +of marine denudation which rises slowly to meet the peneplain +which is produced by degradation. In the beginning of this +cycle, where the forces of degradation have their own way, +coarse material may be brought down by torrents from the +mountains, and the glaciers, which find their breeding place in +these high elevations, may drag down and deposit huge masses of +boulder clay. But, little by little as the mountains are +lowered, the sediments derived from them will become finer and +finer and glaciers will find fewer and fewer sources. + +Not only that, but the growth of seas extending over the +continents will tend to change the climate, we shall have a +moister, more insular climate, we shall have a greater surface +of evaporation, and thus, on the whole, a more equable +temperature throughout the world. We know that, at present, the +extremes of cold and hot are found far within the interior of +the continents. Continental climates are the climates of +extremes, and on the whole extremes are hurtful to life. So +then as the forces of degradation tend to lower the continents +beneath the sea level glaciers and deserts and desert deposits +alike must also disappear. Vegetation will clothe the earth, +and marine life swarm in the shallow seas of the broadening +continental shelf. Under the mantle of vegetation, mechanical +erosion will be less, that is, the breaking up of rocks into +small pieces without any very great change, but the rich soil +will be charged with carbon dioxide, and chemical activity will +still go on. Rivers will still contain carbonates, even though +they carry very little mud, and in the oceans the corals and +similar living forms will deposit the burden of lime brought +into the sea by the rivers. Thus, if forces of degradation have +their own way, in time there will be a gradual change in +dominant character, from coarse sediments to fine, from rocks +which are simply crumbled debris to rocks that are the product +of chemical decay and sorting, so that we have the lime +deposited as limestone in one place and the alumina and silica, +in another. We shall have a change from local deposits, marine +on the edges of large continents, or land deposits, very often +coarse, with fossils few and far between, to rocks in which +marine deposits will spread far over the present land in which +will appear more traces of that life that crowded in the +shallow warm seas which form on the flooded continents. We +shall have a transition from deposits which may be largely +formed on the surface of the continents. lakes, rivers, salt +beds and gypsum beds, due to the drying up of such lakes and +the wind-blown deposits of the steppes, to deposits which are +almost wholly marine. + +Now, I need not say (to those who are familiar with geology) +that we have indications of just such alternations in times +passed. There are limestones abounding in fossils, with a +cosmopolitan life very wide spread to be recognized in every +continent, such as used to be known as the Trenton limestone, +the mountain limestone, the chalk. Perhaps every proper system +and period should be marked by such a limestone in the middle. +The time classed as late Permian and Triassic on the other hand +was one of uplift, disturbance, volcanic action and extreme +climates, which gave us the traps of Mt. Tom, the Palisades of +the Hudson, the bold scenery of the Bay of Fundy and the gypsum +and red beds which are generally supposed to be quite largely +formed beneath the air and beds of tillite formed beneath +glaciers. Then in the times succeeding, in many parts of the +world, degrading forces were more effective than uplifting so +that the mountains became lower, and the seas extended farther +over the continents. Then the prevalence of lime sediments was +so great that the "chalk" was thought to be characteristic +everywhere. And about the time the "chalk" the land was reduced +to a peneplain. A similar cycle may be traced from the +Keweenawan rocks to the group of limestones so widespread over +the North American continent and so full of fossils, which to +older geologists and oil drillers have been known, in a broad +way, as Trenton. + +All this introduces a question--to which I wish to suggest an +answer--How is it that these cycles came to be? Were the outer +rock crust of the earth perfectly smooth the oceans would cover +it to the depths of thousands of feet and it is only by the +wrinkling of such a crust that any part of it appears above the +ocean. If the earth had a cool thin crust upon a hot fluid +interior, and that thin crust were able to sustain itself +during geologic ages so that the shrinkage should accumulate +within, until finally collapse came, giving an era of uplift, +it is obvious that we could account for such cycles. There is +very clear evidence that the outermost layer of the earth's +crust is but a thin shell like the outer shuck or exocarp of a +butternut, so thin that it is not at all possible that it can +sustain itself for more than a hundred miles or so, or for more +than a very few years at the outside. Hayford's[1] +investigations are the latest that show that the continents +project because, on the whole, they are lighter, they float, +that is, above the level of the oceans because there is a mass +of lighter rock below, like an iceberg in the sea. Here the +likeness between nut and earth fails and it would be more like +the earth if the outer shuck were thicker in certain large +areas. If this extra lightness or "isostatic compensation" is +equally distributed, Hayford finds[2] that the most probable +value of the limiting depth is 70 (113 km.) miles, and +practically certain that it is somewhere between 50 (80 km.) +and 100 (150 km.) miles; if, on the other hand, this +compensation is uniformly distributed through a stratum 10 (16 +km.) miles thick at the bottom of the crust so that there is a +bulging of the crust down into a heavier layer below to balance +the projection of the mountains above, as I think much more +likely, then the most probable depth for the bottom of the +outer layer is 37 (60 km.) miles. This layer is much thinner +than the outer layer of the figure and is supposed to yield to +weight placed as, though more slowly than, new thin ice bends +beneath the skater. + +[1] The figure of the earth and isostasy from measurements in +the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and Labor, 1909, p. 175. + +[2] loc. cit., p. 175. + + + +There are a number of facts which support this so-called theory +of isostasy, according to which the crust of the earth is not +capable of sustaining any very great weight, though it may be +at the outside rigid, but is itself essentially like a flexible +membrane resting on a layer of viscous fluid. However viscous +this fluid may be and rigid to transitory quickly shifting +strains like those produced by the earth's rotation, it does +NOT REMAIN AT REST in a state of strain (at any rate if this +strain passes limits which are relatively quite low). Not only +are, according to Hayford's observations, the inequalities of +the North American continent compensated for by lighter +material below, so that the plumb- bob deflections are only one +twentieth what they would be if they rested upon a rigid +substratum of uniform density, but other facts that lead to the +same conclusion are the apparent tendency of areas of +sedimentation to slowly settle under their load, the apparent +settling of the Great Lake region under a load of ice and +springing up again since the removal of the ice. But if the +theory of isostasy is true, one would at first say that there +could be no great accumulation through a geologic period of +stresses which would finally yield in the shape of folded +mountain ranges. It has, in fact, been suggested that mountain +ranges have been slowly folded and lifted as the stress which +produced them accumulated and this would seem to be true if one +considers only the outer crust, but on the other hand, as we +have pointed out, there are indications in the history of the +earth of periods of relative quiescence followed by periods of +relatively considerable disturbance. + +How can these two theories be reconciled in accordance with +what we know of the laws of physics and chemistry and those of +the earth's interior? It seems to me they can by making +suppositions which are perfectly natural regarding the state of +the earth's interior. + +We are at liberty to suppose if the facts point that way that +there are the following layers in the earth's masses:--First, +the external, rigid and brittle layer; second, a layer under +such temperature and pressure that it is above its plastic +yield point and may be considered as a viscous fluid. The +pressure must continue to increase toward the center. We do not +know what is the temperature, but it is perfectly possible that +at a greater depth the earth may become rigid once more if the +effect of pressure in promoting solidity and rigidity +continues, as Bridgman tells me he thinks probable. We do not +even have to assume a change in the chemical composition of the +earth's substance, though it is perfectly allowable. This, +then, will be a third layer, once more rigid, perhaps extending +to the center and of very considerable thickness and capable of +accumulating strain from long periods. Blanketed as it would be +by thousands of meters of the first two layers, any change must +be relatively slow. + +Kelvin in his computation of the age of the earth from cooling +assumed for the interior of the earth constant conditions. It +is now generally accepted that this is not probable, and that +whether it cooled from a gas or coagulated from planetesimals, +it became solid first at the center which then would be +hottest, and both Becker[3] and A. Holmes[4] assume an initial +temperature gradient. If that gradient were greater than the +gradient of steady flow the conditions of steady flow would be +approached most rapidly at the exterior, the loss of heat and +energy would be altogether from within and it is easy to +arrange for conditions mathematically in which almost all the +loss of energy would come from the very interior, near the +center. What will be the effect? A paradoxical one, if the part +outside the center is rigid enough to be self-sustaining. The +central core will become a gas! + +[3] Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 26, 1915, p. 197, etc. +[4] Geological Magazine, March and April, 1913. + + + +This is so contrary to our ordinary experience and ideas, in +which loss of heat tends to change from gas to fluid and solid, +that we must look into it a little to make it sound reasonable. +The recent brilliant work of P. W. Bridgman (contrary to the +earlier speculations of Tammann) indicates that the effect of +increased pressure, at high temperature, makes a substance +solid and crystalline. Crowd any atoms close enough together, +and no matter how fast they expand or contract under the +influence of heat the crystalline atomic forces will get to +work when they are crowded within their range, and the closest +packing, hence that which will yield most to the pressure, +hence that which is likely to take place, is when they are all +regularly arranged facing the same way. Such an arrangement we +call crystalline. Just so when they want to pack the most +people into the car of an elevator they ask them to all face to +the front. Keep this metaphor a moment. Any one who should try +to penetrate such a crowd would find it a hard job. They would +offer a very effective rigidity. Now suppose them to sweat in +those confined quarters their fat away, their phlogiston, their +caloric. If the walls of the car remained rigid while the +individuals therein shrunk they might after a while be able to +turn around or even move around in a car. Such is then the +supposed condition of the atoms in the FOURTH, the central, +layer of the earth's crust. This assumes that the middle layer +is rigid and sustains itself, like the shell of a nut, as in +the figure, while within the atoms are in a less rigid +condition. That such a shell might be self-sustaining is +suggested by an experiment of Bridgman, who put a marble with a +gas bubble in it under a pressure of something like 150,000 +pounds to the square inch without producing any perceptible +change. + +As loss of energy from the earth's interior went on this +central core of gas would enlarge until the middle shell was +hardly self-supporting. Then, probably at some time of +astronomic strain when the earth's, orbit was extra elliptical, +it would collapse, in collapsing generate heat, and so stop the +process. The collapse would be transmitted to the viscous layer +which might be increased, motions set up in it, and so a +wrinkling of the outer thin crust on which we live. + +Then there would be four layers to the earth like the butternut +of the figure. First, the inner kernel of gas; second, the hard +shell or endocarp; third, a viscous layer like the sarcocarp or +pulp, and outside of all the wrinkled crust of exocarp. If such +is the structure of the earth we may have in the very structure +of the earth itself a reason why from time to time there are +collapses of the middle layer leading to elevations of portions +of the outer rind, and marking off the chapters in geological +history, the lines between geological systems. + +There are reasons in facts of observation for believing that +such is the structure of the earth, of which I have as yet said +nothing. We see the interior of a glass marble, I saw the +bubble in the interior of Bridgman's glass marble, how? By +waves, vibrations, which start from the sun or some other +source, and going through it reach my eye. Though the earth is +not penetrated by sunlight it is penetrated by the waves and +vibrations that start from that jar produced by a crack which +we call an earthquake. These vibrations can be received by that +eye of the geologist called a seismograph. The seismologist +tells us there are three kinds of waves sent out in an +earthquake. If you notice the explosion of a blast at a little +too close distance you will notice that you see it first, then +hear it, and then perhaps a little later a few chips of rock +may come flying past your ears. These three things correspond +somewhat to the three kinds of waves which spread forth from an +earthquake. But in the case of the explosion we see the blast +first, then hear later. The waves which produce the sensation +of sight are, we know, lateral disturbances, the waves which +produce the sensation of sound are waves of condensation, whose +motion is in the direction of their propagation and they come +later. In the case of the jars of earth, the reverse is true. +The first set of waves to arrive are the waves which are due to +compression--vibrations in the direction in which the waves are +produced--and correspond to sound waves. Later come waves which +are transverse sidewise disturbances of the solid mass of the +earth. As we can easily see, in an earthquake jar traveling +from the opposite end of the earth, there should be no +insurmountable difficulty in recognizing the jar, which is a +direct upthrow from one which would tilt it to the right or +left. Now there is a law of Laplace by which the velocity of +spread of sound waves through gas may be calculated. That this +law should hold at temperatures and pressures so high as those +that must exist in the middle of the earth is, of course, a +question, but it will be interesting to see how nearly the +actual velocity of about 10 kilometers a second compares with +the velocity which such waves should have in gas of a density +and under a pressure such as a gas near the center of the earth +must have. Using Oldham's figures (and they seem to be +confirmed by the recent investigations of E. Rudolph and S. +Szirtes[18]), we find that the time of transmission of these +first and fastest preliminary compression tremors is about +twice the velocity of such a jar according to Laplace's law in +as dense a mass of gas, provided the ratio of the specific heat +of a gas at constant pressure to that of a gas at constant +volume remains 1.4, which is for many substances. But as it is +1.6 for mercury the discrepancy is not more than I had +expected. + +[5] Gerlands, "Beitrage zur Geophysik," XI., Band, 1 Heft, +1911, p. 132. "Das kolumbianische Erdbeben am 31 January, +1906." + + + +The second preliminary tremors arriving later are due to the +lateral disturbance. Their propagation is much less rapid when +the point of origin is nearly opposite the point of receival. +In other words there is a core within the earth about 0.4 of +the radius in radius, in which according to Oldham, these +lateral waves have much less velocity. Now in a gas there is +less resistance to lateral displacement than in a solid, and +the less the resistance the less the velocity, so that this +fact fits in with the idea of a gaseous core perfectly. If +there is such n core, moreover, of less rigidity it would have +less refraction. Consequently waves not striking the border +above the angle of total reflection would be totally reflected, +and just as around a bubble there is a dark border where the +light does not get through so at a certain distance from the +source of an earthquake there would be a circle (it is really +about 140 degrees of arc away), where no second tremors would +be felt. Here again, though seismograph stations are as yet +few, fact and theory are apparently going to correspond. + +The last type of earthquake waves follow around the outer layer +of the crust. + +There is one farther line of verification to which I had +addressed myself. Is it likely that the loss of heat and energy +from the central nucleus, at the rate which we know at the +surface from a central nucleus of anything like 0.4 the radius +of the earth, would give a shrinkage of anything like the +amount indicated by the mountain ranges, in anything like the +time which we are led to assign on other grounds to the +geologic periods? + +Rudski has also attempted to connect the shrinkage and age of +the earth. Both these methods depend on how fast the earth is +losing heat, that is on the geothermal gradient. Since at +present, owing to the apparently large but unknown contribution +of radioactivity to that gradient we know very little about +what the other portion is, it seems unwise to give any figures, +especially as almost all the numerical data are largely guess +work. It will, however, be fair to say that very long times for +the age of the earth seem to be indicated, nearer millions of +millions than millions unless the radius of the gaseous core +was mainly small or its rate of contraction with loss of +temperature high. + + + +THE CASH VALUE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH + +BY PROFESSOR T. BRAILSFORD ROBERTSON + +UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA + +THERE can be no doubt that the average man and woman in Europe +and America to-day professes a more or less nebulous feeling of +respect and admiration for the scientific investigator. This +feeling is not logical, for very few have ever met or seen a +scientist, fewer still have ever seen the inside of a +scientific laboratory, and hardly any have ever seen scientific +research in the making. + +The average man in the street or man of affairs has no very +clear conception of what manner of man a "scientist" may be. No +especial significance attaches in his mind to the term. No +picture of a personality or his work arises in the imagination +when the word "scientist" is pronounced. More or less +indefinitely, I suppose, it is conceded by all that a scientist +is a man of vast erudition (an impression by the way which is +often strikingly incorrect) who leads a dreary life with his +head buried in a book or his eye glued to telescope or +microscope, or perfumed with those disagreeable odors which, as +everybody knows, are inseparably associated with chemicals. The +purpose of this life is not very clear, but doubtless a vague +feeling exists in the minds of most of us that people who are +willing to pursue such an unattractive career must be worthy of +admiration, for despite all the triumphs of commercialism, +humanity still loves idealism, even idealism which seems +objectless because it is incomprehensible. + +From time to time the existence of the scientific man is +recalled to the popular mind by some extravagant headlines in +the daily press, announcing some utterly impossible "discovery" +or some extravagantly nonsensical dictum made by an alleged +"scientist." The "discovery" was never made, the dictum never +uttered, but no matter; to-morrow its place will be taken by +the latest political or matrimonial scandal, and the public, +with excellent good sense, will forget all about it. + +From time to time, also, there creeps gradually into the public +consciousness a sense that SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED. Brief +notices appear in the press, at first infrequently and then +more frequently, and an article or two in the popular +monthlies. The public becomes languidly interested in a new +possibility and even discusses it, sceptically. Then of a +sudden we are awakened to the realization of a new power in +being. The X-ray, wireless telegraphy or the aeroplane has +become the latest "marvel of science," only to develop in a +very brief period into a commonplace of existence. + +Many indeed are aware that we owe these "marvels" to scientific +research, but very few indeed, to the shame of our schools be +it spoken, have attained to the faintest realization of the +indubitable fact that we owe almost the entirety of our +material environment, and no small proportion of our social and +spiritual environment, to the labors of scientists or of their +spiritual brethren. + +Long ago, in ages so remote that no record of them survives +save our heritage of labor well achieved, some pastoral savage, +more reflective and less practical than his brethren, took to +star-gazing and noting in his memory certain strange +coincidences. Doubtless he was chidden by his tribal leaders +who were hard-headed men of affairs, skilled in the +questionable art of imposing conventional behavior upon unruly +tribesmen. But he was an inveterate dreamer, this prehistoric +Newton and the fascination of the thing had gripped his mind. +In due time he was gathered to his fathers, but not before he +had passed on to a few chosen ones the peculiar coincidences he +had observed. And thus, from age to age coincidence was added +to coincidence and the result of all this "unpractical" labor +was, at long last, a calendar. Let who will attempt to estimate +the cash value of this discovery; I will not attempt the +impossible. I will merely ask you to picture to yourselves +humanity in the condition of the Australian Aboriginal or of +the South African Bushman; devoid of any means of estimating +time or season save by the daily passage of the sun, and I ask +you, "supposing that through some vast calamity, a calamity +greater even than the present war, humanity could at a stroke +evolve a calendar, would it be worth while?" I for one think it +would. + +The evolution of the calendar is not an inapt illustration of +the methods of science, and of the part which it has played in +shaping the destiny of man. Out of the unregarded labors of +thousands of forgotten men, and a few whom we now remember, has +sprung every detail of that vast complex of machinery, method +and measurement in which to-day we live and move and have our +being. In all ages scientific curiosity guided by the +scientific discipline of thought has forced man into new and +more complex paths of progress. Lacking the spirit of research, +a nation or community is merely parasitic, living upon the +vital achievements of others, as Rome based her civilization +upon the civilization of the Greeks. Only an indefinite and +sterile refinement of the existing environment is possible +under such circumstances, and humanity stays stationary or +sinks back into the semibarbarism of the middle ages. + +The few scattered students of nature of that day picked up the +clue to her secrets exactly as it fell from the hands of the +Greeks a thousand years before. The foundations of mathematics +were so well laid by them that our children learn their +geometry from a book written for the schools of Alexandria two +thousand years ago. Modern astronomy is the natural +continuation and development of the work of Hipparchus and of +Ptolemy; modern physics of that of Democritus and of +Archimedes; it was long before biological science outgrew the +knowledge bequeathed to us by Aristotle, by Theophrastus and by +Galen.[1] + +[1] T. H. Huxley, "Science and Culture." + + + +If, therefore, we ask ourselves what has been the value of +science to man, the answer is that its value is practically the +value of the whole world in which we find ourselves to-day, or, +at any rate, the difference between the value of our world and +that of a world inhabited by Neolithic savages. + +The sweeping nature of this deduction may from its very +comprehensiveness fail to carry conviction to the reader. But +concrete illustrations of the value which scientific research +may add to our environment are not far to seek. They are +afforded in abundance by the dramatic achievements of the past +century of human progress, in which science has begun painfully +and haltingly to creep into its true place and achieve its true +function. + +In the year 1813 many important events occurred. The power of +Napoleon was crumbling in that year and countless historians +have written countless pages describing innumerable events, +great and small, which accompanied that colossal downfall. But +one event of that year, of which we do not read in our +historical memoirs and school books was the discovery by Sir +Humphry Davy, in the humble person of a bookbinder's +apprentice, of the man who will probably stand out forever in +the history of science as the ideal scientific man--Michael +Faraday. The manner of this discovery is revealed by the +following conversation between Sir Humphry Davy and his friend +Pepys. "Pepys, what am I to do, here is a letter from a young +man named Faraday; he has been attending my lectures, and wants +me to give him employment at the Royal Institution--what can I +do?" "Do?" replied Pepys, "put him to wash bottles; if he +refuses he is good for nothing." "No, no," replied Davy; "we +must try him with something better than that." The result was, +that Davy engaged him to assist in the laboratory at weekly +wages.[2] + +[2] J. Tyndall, "Faraday as a Discoverer." + + + +Davy made many important discoveries, but none of his +discoveries was more important than his discovery of Faraday, +and of all the events which occurred in the year 1813, the +entry of Faraday into the Royal Institution was not the least +significant for humanity. + +On the morning of Christmas day, 1821, Faraday called his wife +into his laboratory to witness, for the first time in the +history of man, the revolution of a magnet around an electric +current. The foundations of electromagnetics were laid and the +edifice was built by Faraday upon this foundation in the +fourteen succeeding years. In those years and from those +labors, the electro-motor, the motor generator, the electrical +utilization of water power, the electric car, electric +lighting, the telephone and telegraph, in short all that is +comprised in modern electrical machinery came actually or +potentially into being. The little rotating magnet which +Faraday showed his wife was, in fact, the first electric motor. + +What was the cash value to humanity of those fourteen years of +labor in a laboratory? + +According to the thirteenth census of the United States, the +value of the electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies +produced in this country alone, in 1909 was $221,000,000. In +1907, the value of the electric light and power stations in the +United States was $1,097,000,000, of the telephones +$820,000,000, and the combined income from these two sources +was $360,000,000. Nor does this represent a tithe of the +values, as yet barely realized, which these researches placed +at our disposal. Thus in its waterfalls, the United States is +estimated to possess 150,000,000 available horse-power, which +can only be realized through the employment of Faraday's +electro-motor. This corresponds, at the conservative figure of +$20 per horse-power per annum to a yearly income of +$3,000,000,000, corresponding at 4 per cent. interest to a +capital value of $75,000,000,0000.[3] + +[3] M. T. Bogert, "The Function of Chemistry in the +Conservation of our National Resources," Journal of the +American Chemical Society, February, 1909. + + + +Such was the Christmas gift which Michael Faraday presented to +the world in 1821. + +Faraday died a poor man in 1867, neither for lack of +opportunity nor for lack of ability to grasp his opportunities, +but because as his pupil Tyndall tells us, he found it +necessary to choose between the pursuit of wealth and the +pursuit of science, and he deliberately chose the latter. This +is not a bad thing. It is perhaps as it should be, and as it +has been in the vast majority of cases. But another fact which +can not be viewed with like equanimity is that of all the +inexhaustible wealth which Faraday poured into the lap of the +world, not one millionth, not a discernible fraction, has ever +been returned to science for the furtherance of its aims and +its achievements, for the continuance of research. + +There is no regular machinery for securing the permanent +endowment of research, and it is always and everywhere a barely +tolerated intruder. In the universities it crouches under the +shadow of pedagogy, and snatches its time and its materials +from the fragments which are left over when the all-important +business of teaching the young what others have accomplished +has been done. In commercial institutions it occasionally +pursues a stunted career, subject to all the caprices of +momentary commercial advantage and the cramped outlook of the +"practical man." The investigator in the employ of a commercial +undertaking is encouraged to be original, it is true, but not +to be too original. He must never transcend the "practical," +that is to say, the infinitesimal rearrangement of the +preexisting. The institutions existing in the world which are +devoted to research and, research alone can almost be counted +on the fingers. The Solvay Institute in Brussels, the Nobel +Institute in Stockholm, the Pasteur Institute in France, the +Institute for Experimental Therapy at Frankfort, The Kaiser +Wilhelm Institutes at Berlin, The Imperial Institute for +Medical Research at Petrograd, the Biologisches Versuchsanstalt +at Vienna, the Biological Station at Naples, the Royal +Institution in London, the Wellcome Laboratories in England and +at Khartoum, the Smithsonian, Wistar, Carnegie and Rockefeller +Institutes in the United States; the list of research +institutes of important dimensions (excluding astronomical +observatories) is, I believe, practically exhausted by the +above enumeration, and many of them are woefully undermanned +and underequipped. At least two of them, the Solvay Institute +wholly, and the Frankfort Institute for Experimental Therapy in +part, owe their existence and continuance to scientific men, +Solvay and Ehrlich, who have contrived to combine the pursuit +of wealth and of science, and have dedicated the wealth thus +procured to the science that gave it birth. + +In 1900 the value of the manufacturing industries in the United +States which had been developed from patented scientific +inventions was no less than $395,663,958 per annum,[4] +corresponding to a capital value of about $10,000,000,000. It +is impossible to arrive at any accurate estimate of the +proportion of this wealth which finds its way back to science +to provide equipment and subsistence for the investigator, who +is creating the wealth of the future. But the capital endowment +of the Rockefeller and Carnegie Institutes, the two wealthiest +institutes of research in the world is, according to the 1914 +issue of Minerva, only $29,000,000. The total income (exclusive +of additions to endowments) of all the higher institutions of +learning in the United States in 1913, was only $90,000,000, of +which a minute percentage was expended in research. + +[4] 12th census, Vol. 10, Part 4. + + + +If science produces so much wealth, is there no contrivance +whereby we can cause a small fraction of this wealth to return +automatically to science and to furnish munitions of war for +fresh conquests of nature? A very small investment in research +often produces colossal returns. In 1911 the income of the +Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry was only +$21,000. In 1913 the income of the Institute for Experimental +Therapy at Frankfort, where "606" was discovered, was only +$20,000; that of the Imperial Institute for Medical Research at +Petrograd was $95,000, and that of the National Physical +Laboratory in England (not exclusively devoted to research) was +$40,000. Yet these are among the most famous research +institutions in the world and have achieved results of +world-wide fame and inestimable value both from a financial +standpoint and from the standpoint of the physical, moral and +spiritual welfare of mankind. + +In 1856, Perkin, an English chemist, discovered the coal-tar +(anilin) dyes. The cost of this investigation, which was +carried out in an improvised, private laboratory was +negligible. Yet, in 1905, the United States imported $5,635,164 +worth of these dyes from Europe, and Germany exported +$24,065,500 worth to all parts of the world.[5] To-day we read +that great industries in this country are paralyzed because +these dyes temporarily can not be imported from Germany. All of +these vast results sprang from a modest little laboratory, a +meager equipment and the genius and patience of one man. + +[5] U. S. Census Bureau Bull. 92. + + + +W. R. Whitney, director of the research laboratory of the +General Electric Company, points out that the collective +improvements in the manufacture of filaments for electric +lamps, from 1901 to 1911, have saved the consumer and producer +no less than $240,000,000 annually. He adds with apparently +unconscious naivete that the expenses of the research +laboratory in his charge aggregate more than $100,000 +annually![6] A handsome investment, this, which brings in some +two hundred million for an outlay of one hundred thousand. + +[6] "Technology and Industrial Efficiency," McGraw-Hill Book +Co., 1911. + + + +According to Huxley the discovery by Pasteur of the means of +preventing or curing anthrax, silkworm disease and chicken +cholera, a fraction of that great man's life work, added +annually to the wealth of France a sum equivalent to the entire +indemnity paid by France to Germany after the war of 1870. + +Humanity has not finished its conquest of nature; on the +contrary, it has barely begun. The discipline of thought which +has carried humanity so far is destined to carry it further +yet. Business enterprise and politics, the all-absorbing +interests of the majority of mankind, work in an endless +circle. Scientific research communicates a thrust to this +rotation which converts the circle into a spiral; the apex of +that spiral lies far beyond our vision. We have, not decades, +not centuries, not thousands of years before us; but, as +astronomy assures us, in all probability, humanity has millions +of years of earthly destiny to realize. Barely three thousand +years of PURPOSEFUL scientific research have brought the +uttermost ends of the earth to our doors; have made +civilization and excluded much of the most brutal and +brutalizing in life. Not more than two hundred years of +research have made us masters where we were slaves; masters of +distance, of the air, of the water, of the bowels of the earth, +of many of the most dreaded aspects of disease and suffering. +Only for forty years have we practiced antisepsis; only for +sixty years have we had anesthetics; yet life to-day is +well-nigh inconceivable without them. And all of this has been +accomplished without any forethought on the part of the +acknowledged rulers and leaders of mankind or any save the most +trumpery and uncertain provision for research. What will the +millions of years which stretch in front of us bring of power +to mankind? We can barely foreshadow things too vast to grasp; +things that will make the imaginings of Jules Verne and H. G. +Wells seem puny by comparison. The future, with the uncanny +control which it will bring over things that seem to us almost +sacred--over life and death and development and thought +itself--might well seem to us a terrifying prospect were it not +for one great saving clause. Through all that may happen to +man, of this we may be sure, that he will remain human; and +because of that we can face the future unafraid and confident +that because it will be greater, it will also be better than +the present. + +What can we do to accelerate the coming of this future? Not +very much, it is true, but we can surely do something. We can +not create geniuses, often we can not discern them, but having +discerned, surely we can use them to the best advantage. It is +true that all scientific research has depended and will depend +upon individuals; Simon Newcomb expresses the matter thus: + +'It is impressive to think how few men we should have to remove +from the earth during the past three centuries to have stopped +the advance of our civilization. In the seventeenth century +there would only have been Galileo, Newton and a few other +contemporaries, in the eighteenth they could almost have been +counted on the fingers, and they have not crowded the +nineteenth.'[7] + +[7] "Inventors at Work," Iles, Doubleday Page, 1906. + + + +The first thing we have to do is to discover such men, to learn +to know them or suspect them when we meet them or their works. +The next is to give them moral and financial recognition, and +the means of doing their work. Our procedure in the past has +been the reverse of this. I quote from a letter of Kepler to +his friend Moestlen: + +'I supplicate you, if there is a situation vacant at Tubingen, +do what you can to obtain it for me, and let me know the prices +of bread, wine and other necessaries of life, for my wife is +not accustomed to live on beans.' + +The founder of comparative psychology, J. H. Fabre, that +"incomparable observer" as Darwin characterized him, is now +over ninety years of age, and until very recently was actually +suffering from poverty. All his life his work was stunted and +crippled by poverty, and countless researches which he was the +one human being qualified by genius and experience to +undertake, remain to this day unperformed because he never +could command the meager necessary equipment of apparatus. + +Once again, what can we do? + +No small proportion of the population of a modern community are +alumni of some institution of higher learning, and one thing +that these can do is to see to it by every means in their power +that some measure of the spirit of academic freedom is +preserved in their alma mater. That the spirit of inquiry and +research is not merely tolerated therein but fostered and +substantially supported, morally and financially. + +As members of the body politic, we can assist the development +of science in two ways. Firstly, by doing each our individual +part towards ensuring that endowment for the university must +provide not only for "teaching adolescents the rudiments of +Greek and Latin" and erecting imposing buildings, but also for +the furtherance of scientific research. The public readily +appreciates a great educational mill for the manufacture of +mediocre learning, and it always appreciates a showy building, +but it is slow to realize that that which urgently and at all +times needs endowment is experimental research. + +Secondly, it is vital that public sentiment should be educated +to the point of providing the legal machinery whereby some +proportion, no matter how small, of the wealth which science +pours into the lap of the community, shall return automatically +to the support and expansion of scientific research. The +collection of a tax upon the profits accruing from inventions +(which are all ultimately if indirectly results of scientific +advances) and the devotion of the proceeds from this tax to the +furtherance of research would not only be a policy of wisdom in +the most material sense, but it would also be a policy of bare +justice. + + + +THE PHYSICAL MICHELANGELO + +BY JAMES FREDERICK ROGERS, M.D. + +NEW HAVEN, CONN. + +You will say that I am old and mad, but I answer that there is +no better way of keeping sane and free from anxiety than by +being mad. + +HAD Michelangelo been less poetic and more explicit in his +language, he might have said there is nothing so conducive to +mental and physical wholeness as saturation of body and mind +with work. The great artist was so prone to over-anxiety and +met (whether needlessly or not) with so many rebuffs and +disappointments, that only constant absorption in manual labor +prevented spirit from fretting itself free from flesh. He +toiled "furiously" in all his mighty undertakings and body and +mind remained one and in superior harmony--in abundant +health--for nearly four score and ten years. + +This Titan got his start in life in the rugged country three +miles outside Florence: a place of quarries, where stone +cutters and sculptors lived and worked. His mother's health was +failing and it was to the wife of one of these artisans that +her baby was given to nurse. Half in jest, half in earnest, +Michelangelo said one day to Vasari: + +'If I have anything good in me, that comes from my birth in the +pure air of your country of Arezzo, and perhaps also from the +feet that with the milk of my nurse, I sucked in the chisels +and hammers wherewith I make my figures.' + + +He began his serious study of art (and with it his course in +"physical training") at fourteen, when he became apprenticed to +a painter. He was not vigorous as a child, but his bodily +powers unfolded and were intensified through their active +expression of his imagination. + +His life was devoted with passion to art. He had from the start +no time for frivolity. Art became his religion--and required of +him the sacrifice of all that might keep him below his highest +level of power for work. His father early warned him to have a +care for his health, "for," said he, "in your profession, if +once you were to fall ill you would be a ruined man." To one so +intent on perfection and so keenly alive to imperfection such +advice must have been nearly superfluous, for the artist could +not but observe the effect upon his work of any depression of +his bodily well-being. He was, besides, too thrifty in all +respects to think of lapsing into bodily neglect or abuse. He +was severely temperate, but not ascetic, save in those times +when devotion to work caused him to sleep with his clothes on, +that he might not lose time in seizing the chisel when he +awoke. He ate to live and to labor, and was pleased with a +present of "fifteen marzolino cheeses and fourteen pounds of +sausage--the latter very welcome, as was also the cheese." Over +a gift of choice wines he is not so enthusiastic and the +bottles found their way mostly to the tables of his friends and +patrons. When intent on some work he usually "confined his diet +to a piece of bread which he ate in the middle of his labors." +Few hours (we have no accurate statement in the matter) were +devoted to sleep. He ate comparatively little because he worked +better: he slept less than many men because he worked better in +consequence. Partly for protection against cold, partly perhaps +for economy of time, he sometimes left his high dog-skin boots +on for so long that when he removed them the scarf skin came +away like the skin of a moulting serpent. + +He dressed for comfort and not to mortify the flesh. Upon the +receipt of a present of some shirts from his nephew he writes: + +'I am very much surprised ye should have sent them to me, for +they are so coarse that there is not a farm laborer here who +would not be ashamed to wear them.' + +He is much pleased with a finer lot selected later by his +nephew's new wife. Perhaps he did not come up to modern notions +of cleanliness (he was early advised by his father never to +bathe but to have his body rubbed instead) but he was clean +inside, which can not be said of all who make much of a +well-washed skin. + +His intensity of purpose and fiery energy expressed themselves +in his features and form. "His face was round, his brow square, +ample," and deeply furrowed: "the temples projected much beyond +the ears"; his eyes were "small rather than large," of a dark +(some said horn) color and peered, piercingly, from under heavy +brows. The flattened nose was the result of a blow from a rival +apprentice. He evidently looked the part, though for such +mental powers one of his colossal statues would seem a more +fitting mold. + +Michelangelo experienced some illnesses, all but two of them of +minor moment. In 1531 he "became alarmingly ill, and the Pope +ordered him to quit most of his work and to take better care of +his health." That the illness was a storm merely of the surface +is evidenced sufficiently in that his fresco of the "Last +Judgment," probably the most famous single picture in the +world, was begun years later and completed in his sixty-sixth +year. In the work of this epoch there is more than ever the +evidence of a pouring forth of energy amounting almost to what +the critics call violence--to terribleness of action. It was +not until the age of seventy that an illness which seemed to +mark any weakening of his bodily powers came upon him. At +seventy-five, symptoms of calculus (a disease common in that +day at fifty) appeared, but, though naturally pessimistic, he +writes, "In all other respects I am pretty much as I was at +thirty years." He improved under careful medical treatment, but +the illness and his age were sufficient to cause him to "think +of putting his spiritual and temporal affairs in better order +than he had hitherto done." + +He wielded the brush and the chisel with consummate skill in +his seventy-fifth year. With the later loss of cunning his +energy found vent more in the planning and supervising of +architectural works, culminating in the building of St. +Peter's, but even in these later years he took up the chisel as +an outlet for superfluous energy and to induce sleep. Though +the product of his hand was not good, his health was the better +for this mutual exercise of mind and body. In his eighty-sixth +year he is said to have sat drawing for three consecutive hours +until pains and cramps in his limbs warned him that he had not +the endurance of youth. For exercise, when manual labor proved +a disappointment, he often took horseback rides. There was no +invalidism about this great spirit, and it was not until the +day before his death that he would consent to go to bed. + +In a poem of his last years he burlesques his infirmities in +his usual vigorous manner. + +'I live alone and wretched, confined like the pith within the +bark of the tree.... My voice is like a wasp imprisoned within +a sack of skin and bone. ... My teeth rattle like the keys of +an old musical instrument.... My face is a scarecrow.... There +is a ceaseless buzzing in my ears--in one a spider spins his +web, in the other a cricket chirps all night.... My catarrh, +which causes a rattle in my throat, will not allow me to +sleep.--Fatigue has quite broken me, and the hostlery which +awaits me is Death.' + +Few men at his age have had less reason to find in themselves +other than the changes to be expected with the passing of years +and in prose he acknowledged that he had no more affections of +the flesh than were to be expected at his age. Codiva pictures +him in his last years as "of good complexion; more muscular and +bony than fat or fleshy in his person: healthy above all +things, as well by reason of his natural constitution as of the +exercise he takes, and habitual continence in food and sexual +indulgence." His temperance and manual industry and his +"extraordinary blamelessness in life and in every action" had +been his source of preservation. He was miserly, suspicious, +quarrelsome and pessimistic, but the effects of these faults +were balanced by his better habits of thought and action. That +he, like most great men, felt keenly the value of health, is +evidenced not only by his own practice, but by his oft repeated +warnings to his nephew when choosing a wife to see that +whatever other qualities she might have she be healthy. The +blemish of nearsight he considered a no small defect and +sufficient to render a young woman unworthy of entry into the +proud family of the Buonarroti. To his own father he wrote: +"Look to your life and health, for a man does not come back +again to patch up things ill done." + +One of those who look beneath unusual human phenomena for signs +of the pathologic finds Michelangelo "affected by a degree of +neuropathy bordering closely upon hysterical disease." What a +pity that more of us do not suffer from such degrees of +neuropathy--and how much better for most of us if we had such +enthusiasm for perfection, and such mania for work, at least of +that health-bringing sort in which there is absorbing colabor +of brain and hand. True it is that "there is no better way of +keeping sane and free from anxiety than by being mad." + + + +THE CONSERVATION OF TALENT THROUGH UTILIZATION + +BY PROFESSOR JOHN M. GILLETTE + +STATE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA + +TO raise the question of how to conserve talent is not an idle +inquiry. We are in no immediate danger of famine. Yet there is +an enormous interest being devoted to what is known as the +conservation of soil. Our forests contain an abundance of +timber for near purposes, and when they are gone we shall +probably find a better substitute in the direction of concrete. +Still agitation and discussion proceed relative to the +conservation of our timber supply. We hear of conservation of +childhood, of conservation of health, of conservation of +natural scenery. It is a period of agitation for conservation +of resources all along the line. This is all good. Real +intelligent foresight is manifesting itself. Civilized man +demonstrates his superiority over uncivilized man most in the +exercise of anticipation and prescience. + +As compared with other natural resources, genius and talent are +relatively scarce articles. This is at least the popular +impression as to their quantity. Even scientific men, for the +most part, incline to this opinion. Unless we are able to +demonstrate that they are quite abundant this opinion must be +accepted. I shall seek to show that the estimate of the amount +of talent in existence which is usually accepted is too small. +However, we are in no peril of so inflating the potential +supply of talent and genius in the course of our remarks that +they may be regarded as universal. Nor are we likely to +discover such a rich lode of this commodity that the world may +run riot in its consumption of the visible supply. Talent +promises to remain so scarce that, granting for the moment that +it is a useful agent, its supply must be conserved. + +I shall use the term talent so as to include genius. Both +talent and genius are of the same kind. Their essential +difference consists in degree. Increase what is commonly called +talent in the direction of its manifestation and it would +develop into genius. Genius is commonly thought of as something +abnormal, in the sense that it is essentially eccentric. A +genius is generally spoken of as an eccentric, erratic, +unbalanced, person. The eccentricity is then taken as +constituting the substance of the quality of genius. This is +undoubtedly a mistake. Because some geniuses have been erratic, +the popular imagination has formed its picture of all genius as +unbalanced. The majority of the world's men of genius have been +as balanced and normal in their judgments as the average man. +We may think of a genius as like the ordinary man in his +constitution. He has the same mental faculties, the same +emotions, the same kind of determinizing ability. What makes +him a genius is his power of concentration in his given field +of work. The moral quality, or zeal to accomplish, or energy +directed toward intellectual operations stands enormously above +that of the average individual. If we could confer this quality +of moral will on the common normal man possibly we would raise +him to that degree which we term genius. + +In order to determine the worth of conserving talent we must +estimate its value as a commodity, as a world asset. I shall, +therefore, turn my attention first to discovering a method of +reckoning the value of eminent men. + +One method open to us is what may be called the individualistic +test. Under this method we think of the individual as +individual or of his work as a concrete case of production. One +phase of this is the individual's estimate of his own powers. +We may inquire what is the man's appreciation of his own worth. +This is precarious because of two difficulties. There is an +egotistical element in individuals. It is inherent as a +historical agent of self-preservation. Most of us are like +primitive groups. The ethnologist expects to find every tribe +or horde of savages claiming to be THE PEOPLE. They ascribe +superior qualities to their group. In their names for their +group they call themselves the people, the men, and so on, +indicating their point of view. + +Again, an individual, however honestly he might try, could not +estimate his own worth accurately. Let any of us attempt to see +ourselves as others see us and we shall discover the difficulty +of the undertaking. We are not able to get the perspective +because our personal feelings, our necessary selfish +self-appreciation, puts our judgments awry. Others close to us +may do little better. They are likely to either underrate us or +to exaggerate our qualities and powers. In the United States we +are called on to evaluate Mr. Taft and Mr. Roosevelt. Is either +of them a great man? Has either of them been a great president? +Opinions differ. We are too close to them. We do not know. We +give them credit, perhaps, for doing things which the age would +have worked out in spite of them. Or we think things would have +come inevitably which their personal efforts, it will be found, +were responsible for establishing. We have not yet been able to +determine accurately just how great Abraham Lincoln was. It is +almost half a century since he did his work. But we live in the +presence of the personal relative to him yet. Sentiment enters +in and obfuscates judgment. + +If we turn to the product itself as mere product we are at a +loss. Unless we ask what is the import of the work we confess +we do not know. A man in Connecticut has made a manikin. It +walks, talks, does many of the things which human beings do. +But it is not alive, it is not serviceable, it can accomplish +nothing. Suppose the maker passes his life in making probably +the most intricate and perfect mechanism which has been made. +Is he a genius? We may admit that the products manifest great +ingenuity on the part of their creator, yet we feel repelled +when we think of calling the maker a genius. + +The community method of rating talent is far more satisfactory. +The inventor is related to his time or to human society by +means of the usefulness of his invention. The statesman is +rated by means of the deep-seated influence for improvement he +has had on his age. The educator finds his evaluation in the +constructive spirit and method he displays in bringing useful +spirit and methods to light. The scientist is measured by the +uplift his discovery gives to the sum and substance of human +welfare. If a product which some individual creates can not be +utilized by society, its creator is not regarded as having made +a contribution to human progress. As a consequence he does not +get a rating as genius. To get the appraisal of mankind the +product of the man of talent must get generally accepted, must +fill the want of society generally or of some clientele. If a +man produces something merely ingenious, something which does +not serve a considerable portion of humanity in the way of +satisfying a want, if his creation does not pass into use, he +does not step into the current of the world's history as a +fruitful factor, he fails to attain to the rank of talent. + +This objective measure of the value of the producer puts talent +into direct relation to the concept of social evolution and +progress. Society has been an evolution. Collective humanity +has gone through distinctive metamorphoses. Distinct strides in +advance have been made, tendencies have manifested themselves, +conditions have changed so that larger satisfactions have +ensued, democracy in the essential wants of mankind has been +wrought out. Society is more complex in its quantitative +aspect. It is more serviceable by reason of its greater +specialization. Since progress stands for improvement it has +come to be regarded as a desirable thing. + +In the sociological conception of things the genius possesses a +specific social function. He is not a passing curiosity. He is +not produced for amusement. He does not stand unrelated. He is +the product of his age, is articulated with its life, performs +an office which is of consequence to it. He is the connecting +link between the past and the future. He takes what was and so +combines it anew as to produce what is to be. He is the +innovator, the initiator, the agent of transformation, the +creator of a new order. Hence he is the exceptional man. The +masses of men are imitators. They make nothing new, add nothing +to the mechanism of social structure, introduce no new +functions, produce no achievements, do nothing which changes +the order of things. The common people are quite as important +for the purposes of society as are the talented. Society must +be conserved most of the time or we should all float down the +stream of change too rapidly for comfort. Hence the function of +the great mass of individuals is to seize and use the +achievements which the creators, the talented have brought into +existence. We may conclude, therefore, that if society is to be +improved and if the lives of the great body of human beings are +to be endowed with more and more blessings, material and +spiritual, we must look to the men of talent, the men of +achievement, and to them 'alone, for the initiation of these +results. + +We may say, then, that we have discovered not only the method +of estimating the value of talent, but also in what its value +consists. If progress is desirable, talent by means of which +that progress is secured is likewise valuable. And, like other +things, its value is measured by its scarcity. It is now +incumbent on us to attempt to discover the extent of the supply +of this commodity, both actual and possible. + +I shall refer to two estimates of the amount of talent in +existence which have been made because they differ so much in +their conclusions as to the extent of talent, and because they +exhibit quite different view-points and methods. + +The great English scientist and benefactor of the race, Sir +Francis Galton, in his work entitled "Hereditary Genius" made a +computation of the number of men of eminence in the British +Isles. This estimate was made nearly a half-century ago and has +generally been accepted as representing actual conditions. One +means of discovering the number was by taking a catalogue of +"Men of The Times" which contained about 2,500 names, one half +of which were Americans and Europeans. He found that most of +the men were past fifty years of age. Relative to this he +states: + +'It appears that in the cases of high (but by no means in that +of the highest) merit, a man must outlive the age of fifty to +be sure of being widely appreciated. It takes time for an able +man, born in the humbler ranks of life, to emerge from them and +to take his natural position.'[1] + +[1] Cattell's investigations of American men of science +disproves this statement for Americans. He finds that only a +few men enter the ranks of that class of men after the age of +fifty, and that none of that age reach the highest place. The +fecund age is from 35 to 45; ("American Men of Science," p. +575.) + + + +After eliminating the non-British individuals he compared the +number of celebrities above fifty with males of the same age +for the whole British population. He found about 850 who were +above fifty. Of this age there were about 2,000,000 males in +the British Isles. Hence the meritorious were as 425 to +1,000,000, and the more select were as 250 to 1,000,000. He +stated what he considered the qualifications of the more select +as follows: + +'The qualifications for belonging to what I call the more +select part are, in my mind, that a man should have +distinguished himself pretty frequently either by purely +original work, or as a leader of opinion. I wholly exclude +notoriety obtained by a single act. This is a fairly well +defined line, because there is not room for many men to become +eminent.' + +Mr. Galton made another estimate by studying an obituary list +published in The Times in 1868. This contained 50 men of the +select class. He considered it broader than his former estimate +because it excluded men dying before they attained their +broadest reputation, and more rigorous because it excluded old +men who had previously attained a reputation which they were +not able to sustain. He consequently lowered the age to 45. In +Great Britain there were 210,000 males who died yearly of that +age. This gave a result of 50 men of exceptional merit to +210,000 of the population, or 238 to the million. + +His third estimate was made by the study of obituaries of many +years back. This led to similar conclusions, namely, that about +250 to the million is an ample estimate of the number of +eminent men. He says: + +'When I speak of an eminent man, I mean one who has achieved a +position that is attained by only 250 persons in each million +of men, or by one person in each 4,000.' + +The other estimate of the amount of talent in existence has +been made by one of our most eminent American sociologists, the +late Lester F. Ward. The elaborate treatment of this matter is +found in his "Applied Sociology," and offers an illustration of +a most rigorous and thorough application of the scientific +method to the subject in question. The essential facts for the +study were furnished by Odin in his work on the genesis of the +literary men of France, although Candole, Jacoby and others are +laid under contribution for data. Maps, tables and diagrams are +used whenever they can be made to secure results. Odin's study +covered the period of over five hundred years of France and +French regions, or from 1300 to 1825. Out of over thirteen +thousand literary names he chose some 6,200 as representing men +of genius, talent or merit, the former constituting much the +smaller and the latter much the larger of the total number. + +The object of Ward's investigation is to discover the factor or +factors in the situation which are responsible for the +production of genius. In the course of examination it was seen +that certain communities were very much more prolific than +others in producing talent. Paris, for instance, produced 123 +per 100,000; Geneva, Switzerland, 196; certain chateaux as many +as 200, and some communities none at all or very few. After +considering the various factors which account for the high rate +in certain localities and the low rate or absence of merit in +others the conclusion is reached that we should expect the +presence of the meritorious class generally in even greater +numbers than it has existed in the most fruitful regions of the +French people. + +Mr. Ward's studies have led him to conclude that talent is +latent in society, that it exists in greater abundance than we +have ever dared to expect, that all classes possess it equally +and would manifest it equally if obstacles were removed or +opportunities offered for its development. Education is the key +to the situation in his estimation. It affords the opportunity +which latent talent requires for its promotion, and if this +were intelligently applied to all classes and to both sexes +alike instead of securing one man of talent for each 4,000 +persons as Mr. Galton held, we would be able to mature one for +every 500 of our population. This would represent an +eight-hundred-per-cent. increase of the talented class, an +eight-fold multiplication. It is an estimate of not the number +of the talented who are known to be such, but of society's +potential or latent talent.[2] + +[2] Investigations made on school children by the Binet test +indicate Ward's estimate is conservative. It has been found +that from two to three out of every hundred children are of +exceptional ability, thus belonging to the talented, or at +least merit class. + + + +Because these estimates are so divergent, it may be worth while +to consider the reason for the difference. And in taking this +up we come to the fundamentally distinct point of view of the +two investigators. Mr. Galton's work is an illustration of the +view which regards talent as a product of the hereditary +factors. Mr. Galton believed that heredity accounts for talent +and that it is so dominant in the lives of the talented that it +is bound to express itself as talent. In his estimation there +is no such thing as latent genius, because it is in the nature +of genius that it surmounts all obstacles. He says: + +'By natural ability, I mean those qualities of intellect and +disposition, which urge and qualify a man to perform acts which +lead to reputation. I do not mean capacity without zeal, nor +zeal without capacity, nor even a combination of both of them, +without an adequate power of doing a great deal of very +laborious work. But I mean a nature which, when left to itself, +will, urged by an inherent stimulus, climb the path that leads +to eminence, and has strength to reach the summit--one which, +if hindered or thwarted, will fret and strive until the +hindrance is overcome, and it is again free to follow its +labor-saving instinct.'[2] + +[3] "Hereditary Genius," pp. 37-8. + + + +This in reality amounts to saying that the genius is +omnipotent. Nothing can prevent the development of the genius. +He is master of all difficulties by the very fact that he is a +genius. It is also equivalent, by implication, to saying that +obstacles can have no qualifying effect on the course of such +an individual. A great difficulty is no more to him than a +small one. Hence no matter in what circumstances he lives he is +always bound to gain the maximum of his development. He could +not be either greater or less than he is, notwithstanding the +force of circumstances, whether obstructive or propitious. The +energy of a genius is thus differentiated from all other forms +of energy. Other forms of energy are modified in their course +and effects by preventing obstacles. Add to or subtract from +the impediments and the effect of the energy is changed by the +amount of the impediments. But this doctrine completely +emancipates human energy, when manifested in the form of +genius, from the working of the law of cause and effect. + +It is especially noteworthy that it is not what we should +expect in view of the place and function of the environment in +the course of evolution. To say the least environment enjoys a +very respectable influence in selecting and directing the +forces of development. Some men have gone so far as to make the +external factors account for everything in society. Discounting +this claim, the minimum biological statement is that the +environment exercises a selective function relative to organic +forms and variations. It opposes itself to the transmission +strain, and if unfavorable to it, may eliminate it entirely. To +be able to accomplish this it must be regarded as having an +influence on all forms. And as there are all grades of +environment from the most unfavorable to the most propitious, +similarly constituted organisms living in those various +environments must perforce fare differently, some being +hindered others being promoted in varying degrees. That is, +should the most able by birth appear in the most unfavorable +environment they could not be expected to make the same gains +in life as similar congenitally able who appear in the most +favorable conditions. + +Mr. Ward, on the contrary, holds that genius, like all other +forms of human ability, is the product of circumstances. It is +determined in its raw form by heredity, to be sure. In similar +circumstances it will affect more than the average man. But +like all other forms of energy it is subject to the law of +causality. It is not omnipotent so that it is able to set at +naught the effects of opposing forces. Nor can it develop in +the absence of nourishing circumstances. Deprive it of cultural +opportunities and it is like the sprout of the majestic tree +which is deprived of moisture, or the great river cut off from +the supply of snow and rain. In other words, it is a product of +all the factors at work in its being and environment, and the +internal can not manifest itself or its powers without the +presence of the external. Modify the external factors to a +perceptible degree and the individual is modified to the same +degree. + +In seeking to find the factors which are accountable for the +development of talent Mr. Ward takes into consideration those +of the physical environment, the ethnological, the religious, +the local, the economic, the social, and the educational. Each +one of these items is given a searching examination as to its +force. I shall briefly deal with each of these in turn, giving +the import of the findings in each case and as many of the +basic facts as possible in a small space. + +By a consideration of French regions by departments, provinces, +and principal sections, as to their yield of talent, the +physical environment was found to have had no perceptible +influence. The mountain-situated Geneva and the lowland Paris +produced alike prolifically talented men. The valley of the +Seine and that of the Loire competed for hegemony in fecundity. +The facts contradicted the highland theory, the lowland theory, +the coast theory, and every other theory of the dominance of +physical environment. + +To get at the influence of the ethnological factor the Gaulic, +Cimbrian, Iberian, Ligurian and Belgic elements of the +population were examined as to their fecundity in talent. Odin +confesses to being unable to discover "the least connection +between races and fecundity in men of letters." Attention was +paid likewise to races speaking other than French language. +Again there was a conflict of facts. Inside of France +ethnological elements exerted "no appreciable influence upon +literary productivity." In Belgium and Lorraine, where the +German language dominated, it was found that French literature +mastered the situation, thus indicating that a common language +does not necessitate a common literature. The conclusion +ethnologically is that races possess an equality in yielding +talent. + +The religious factor was found to have been more influential +formerly in bringing to light talent than at the close of the +five-hundred-year period. From 1300 to 1700 the church +furnished on the average 37.8 per cent. of all literary talent. +Its fecundity dropped to 29 in the period from 1700 to 1750. +Between 1750 and 1825 it produced but 6.5 of the talent. As +Galton has shown, eminent men were killed or driven out during +the period of religious persecution in Spain, France and Italy. +The celibacy of the clergy which gave undisturbed leisure may +have been an element in making the church productive in the +earlier years. On the other hand, the quieting effect of family +life of the protestant ministry seems to have had a propitious +influence in later times, as there appeared a relative increase +among protestant clergy of talent, while the output among the +catholic clergy continued to decline. + +In this investigation the local environment appeared to have +the most influence in the production of talent. Odin gave +witness to having a suspicion that somewhere there was a +neglected factor. The facts connected talent with the cities in +an overwhelming manner. The statement that genius is the +product of the rural regions seems to have had no legs to stand +on. The majority of the talented were born in the cities and +practically all of them were connected with city life. + +In proportion to population the cities produced 12.77, almost +thirteen times as many men of talent as rural regions. The +whole of France produced 6,382, the number selected by Odin as +the more meritorious of the men of letters. If all France had +been as productive as Paris it would have yielded 53,640; if as +fecund as the other chief cities, it would have produced +22,060; but if only as fertile as the country the number would +have fallen to 1,522. + +It would seem that the matter of population has something to do +with the production of talent. Aggregations of population offer +frequent contact of persons, division of labor, competition +between individuals, a better coordination of society for +cooperative results, neutralization of physical qualities, and +the ascendancy of innovation over the conservative attitude. It +is not the mere density of population which is the effective +element. It is rather the dynamic density which is productive, +that is, the manifestation of the common life and spirit. City +life is specialized in structure and function, rendering men +more interdependent and cooperative. Specialization means moral +coalescence + +The chateaux of France are very prolific in producing talent. +They yielded 2 per cent. of all the talent of the period, +seemingly out of proportion to their importance. + +Why are certain of the cities and the chateaux more fertile +than most cities and the country in producing the talented? We +have a general reply in the statement as to the dynamic density +of cities. A further analysis finds those communities are +possessed of elements which the country does not have. Odin +calls them "properties." They are the location of the +political, administrative and judicial agencies of society; +they are in possession of great wealth and talent; they are +depositories of learning and the tools of information. The +avenues which open upon talent and the tools and agencies by +means of which the passage to it is to be made segregate +themselves in cities and towns + +As the result of his investigation into the distribution of men +of science in the United States, Professor Cattell arrives at +nearly the same conclusion. He writes: + +'The main factors in producing scientific and other forms of +intellectual performance seem to be density of population, +institutions and social traditions and ideals. All these may be +ultimately due to race, but, given the existing race, the +scientific productivity of the nation can be increased in +quantity, though not in quality, almost to the extent that we +wish to increase it.'[4] + +[4] "American Men of Science," Second edition, p. 654. + + + +It is interesting to note that nearly all of the women of +talent have been born in cities and chateaux. This means that +women had to be born where the means of development were to be +had, as they were not free to move about in society, as were +men. + + + +Periods Rich Poor +1300-1500 24 1 +1500-1550 39 4 +1551-1600 42 -- +1601-1650 84 5 +1651-1700 73 4 +1701-1725 36 3 +1726-1750 53 7 +1751-1775 86 8 +1776-1800 52 12 +1801-1825 73 11 + ---- ---- +Total 562 57, or 9 per cent. + + + +The economic factor has been an important one in offering the +leisure which is necessary for the development of talent. Men +who have to use their time and energy wholly in the support of +themselves and families are deprived of the leisure which +productivity and creativeness in work demands. Of the French +men of letters 35 per cent. belonged to the wealthy or noble +class, 42 per cent. to the middle class, and 23 per cent. to +the working class. Odin was able to discover the economic +environment of 619 men of talent. They were distributed by +periods between the rich and poor as shown in the table on page +169. + +Of one hundred foreign associates of the French Academy the +membership of the wealthy, middle and working classes were 41, +52 and 7. A combination of two other of Candole's tables yields +for those classes in per cents 35, 42 and 23. In ancient and +medieval times practically all of the talented came from the +wealthy class. On the whole, but about one eleventh of the men +of talent had to fight with economic adversity. But when we +remember that the wealthy class formed but a small portion of +the population in each period, probably not more than one +fourth, this means that as compared with members of the working +class individuals of the wealthy class had forty or fifty times +as good a chance of rising to a position of eminence. The +contrast is so sharp that Odin is led to exclaim, "Genius is in +things, not in man." + +The social and the economic factors are so closely intertwined +that the influence of the social environment is already seen in +treating the economic. The social deals with matter of classes +and callings. The upper classes are of course the wealthier +classes so that the social and economic measures largely agree. +In Mr. Galton's inquiry into the callings of English men of +science which he made in 1873, it appears that out of 96 +investigated 9 were noblemen or gentlemen, 18 government +officials, 34 professional men, 43 business men, 2 farmers and +1 other. Unless the one other was a working man the workers +produced none of these 96 men of science. Odin's classification +of the French men of letters gives to the nobility 25.5 per +cent., to government officials 20.0, liberal professions 23.0, +bourgeoise 11.6, manual laborers 9.8. Only a little over one +fifth of the talented were produced by the two lower classes. +Yet in numerical weight those classes constituted 90 per cent. +of the population. Data from four other European countries show +very much the same results, except that the workers and +bourgeoise classes make a better showing. It is unquestionable, +therefore, that the opportunities for developing talent or +genius are largely withheld from the working class and bestowed +on the upper classes. + +We have yet one other factor to treat in the production of +talent, namely, the educational. The facts relative to the +education of the talented contradicts the assumption usually +made that genius depends on education and opportunity for none +of its success, but rises to its heights in spite of or without +them. + +Of 827 men of talent (not merit class) Odin was able to +investigate as to their education he found that only 1.8 per +cent. had no education or a poor education, while 98.2 per +cent. had a good education. This number investigated was 73 per +cent. of all men of that class, and it is fair to assume that +about the same proportion of educated existed in the other 27 +per cent. whose education was not known. Of the 16 of poor or +no education 13 were born in Paris, other large cities, or +chateaux, and three in other localities. Thus they had the +opportunities presented by the cities. Facts as to talented men +in Spain, Italy, England and Germany indicate that anywhere +from 92 to 98 per cent. have been highly educated, and probably +the latter per cent. is correct. + +These figures can have but one meaning. They indicate that +talent and genius are dependent on educational and conventional +agencies of the cultural kind, as are other human beings for +their evolution. Otherwise we should expect the figures to be +reversed. If education and cultural opportunities count for +naught, then we should expect that, at a time when education +was by no means universal, the 90 or 98 per cent. Of genius +would mount on their eagle wings and soar to the summits of +eminence, clearing completely the conventional educational +devices which society had established. + +Our conclusion, therefore, is that social and economic +opportunities afford the leisure as well as cultural advantages +for the improvement of talent; that the local environment is of +vital importance, offering as it does the cultural advantages +of cities of certain kinds and of chateaux, and that of the +local environment the educational facilities are of the +supremest importance. Consequently, it appears that Mr. Ward's +estimate of one person of talent to the 500 instead of Mr. +Galton's estimate of one to the 4,000 does not seem strained. +Produce in society generally the opportunities and advantages +which Geneva, Paris and the chateaux possessed and which gave +them their great fecundity in talent, and all regions and +places will yield up their potential or latent genius to +development and the ratio will be obtained. + +This position is likely to be criticized, unless it is +remembered that we admit that there is a hereditary difference +at birth, and that all we seek to establish is that, given +these differences, what conditions are likely to mature and +develop the men of born talent. Thus after the appearance of my +"Vocational Education" I received a letter from Professor +Eugene Davenport in which he makes this statement: + +'Ward's arguments as here employed seem to show that +environment is a powerful factor in bringing out talent even to +the exclusion of heredity. I doubt if you would care to be +understood to this limit, and yet where you enumerate on page +61 the reasons why certain cities are fecund in respective +talents, you seem to have overlooked the fact that if these +cities have been for many generations centers of talent to such +an extent as to provide exceptional environmental influences, +the same conditions would also provide exceptional parentage, +so that the birthrate of talent would be much higher in such a +region than the normal. In other words, the very same +conditions which would provide exceptional opportunities for +development also and at the same time provide an exceptional +birth condition. This is the rock on which very many arguments +tending to compare heredity and environment wreck +themselves.'[5] + +[5] This is a criticism that needs to be met. Mr. George R. +Davies of this institution has submitted facts in a paper which +appeared in the March number of the Quarterly Journal of the +University of North Dakota, which fills in the gap. He shows +relative to American cities that there has been little or no +segregation of talented parentage. + + + +We have arrived at a point where we are able to consider the +question of the conservation of talent. A position of advantage +has been gained from which to view this question. For we have +seen that talent has a decidedly important and indispensable +social function to perform. It is the creative and contributive +agency, the cause of achievement, and a vital factor in +progress. Its conservation is consequently devoutly to be +desired. We have also discovered the fact that, while a rare +commodity, it is present in society in a larger measure than we +have commonly believed. If progress is desirable in a measure +it is likely to be desirable in a large measure. If talent is +able to carry us forward at a certain rate with the development +of a minimum of the quantity that is in existence we should be +able to greatly accelerate our progress if all that is latent +could be developed and put into active operation. Further, we +have obtained some insight into the conditions which favor the +development of talent and likewise some of the obstacles to its +manifestation. If it abounds where certain conditions are +present in the situation and fails to appear where those +conditions are absent, we have a fertile suggestion as to the +method of social control and direction which will bring the +latent talent to fertility. + +We must undoubtedly hold that if a larger supply of talent +exists than is discovered, developed and put to use that, +since, as we have seen, it is so valuable when estimated in +terms of social progress, we are dealing wastefully with +talent. We are allowing great ability to go to waste since we +are leaving it lie in its undeveloped form. Therefore one of +the problems of the proper conservation of talent consists in +finding a method of discovering and releasing this valuable +form of social energy. + +When we come to inquire how this may be done, how this +discovery is to take place, we must take for our guide the +facts which were found to bear on the maturing of talent in the +above studies. We discovered that the local environment seemed +to contain the influential element in bringing forth talent. +When that local environment was analyzed it turned out that the +items of opportunity for leisure and the facilities for +education were the most fruitful factors. Leisure is absolutely +essential to afford that opportunity for self-development which +is required even of the most talented. This can only be had +when the income of the individual is sufficient to give him a +considerable part of his active time for carrying out his +intellectual aspirations. We have great numbers of people whom +we have reason to believe are as able on the average, have as +large a proportion of talent as the well-to-do, whose poverty +is so crushing and whose days of toil are so long and so +consuming of energy that the element of leisure is lacking. It +is only an occasional individual of this class of people who is +able to secure the wealth which means a measure of leisure by +which he is able to mount out of obscurity. An improvement in +the physical conditions of life of these people, together with +an increase in their economic possibilities is a necessary +means to the proper conservation of the talent of this group. + +The cultural factor is one which must be made more omnipresent +than it is now before we shall be able to awake the latent +talent of the masses of people. There are certain sections of +all nations, and more especially of such nations as the United +States, where the population is widely scattered over vast +areas of farming regions in which the opportunities for +education and stimulative enterprises and institutions are +lacking or meager. The same is true of very large sections of +the populations of the cities. In both cases large +neighborhoods exist in which the lives of the people move in a +humdrum rut, never disturbed by matters which arouse the +creative element in human nature. Especially is this important +in the early years of life where the outlook for the whole +future of the individual is so strongly stamped. To come into +contact with no stimulus and arousing agent in the home, or the +neighborhood in the earliest years is to become settled into a +life-long habit of inert dullness. + +When we revert to the schools which so generally abound, we +fail to find the stimulating element in them which might be +regarded as the necessary opportunity to develop talent. The +vast majority of elementary teachers are persons whose +intellectual natures have never been aroused. Their imaginative +and sympathetic capacities lie undeveloped. Their work in the +school is conducted on the basis of memory. It is parrot work +and ends in making parrots of the pupils. The rational and +causal as agencies in education are hardly ever appealed to. +Until our teaching force is itself developed in the directions +and capacities which alone characterize the intellectual we can +not hope for much in the way of recovering the rich field of +latent talent from its infertility. + +Something remains to be said about the proper utilization of +talent which has been developed. Did all genius depend on the +hereditary factor and consequently we had developed all +individuals possessing exceptional ability into contributors +and creators, the question of their complete utilization by +society remains. That all able men and women are working at the +exact thing and in the exact place and under the exact methods +which will yield the greatest and most fruitful results for +society only the superficial could believe. Herbert Spencer +used up a very large part of his superb ability during the +larger portion of his life in the drudgery of making a living. +The work of the national eugenics laboratory of England is +carried on by a man of great talent, Professor Carl Pearson, in +cramped quarters and with insufficient equipment and support. +The enterprise is as important as any in England, that of +discovering the conditions and means of improving the human +race. The laboratory was built up in the first instance by the +sacrifice of Sir Francis Galton, and it is maintained by means +of the bequest of his personal fortune. + +These are but instances of the many which exist where talented +individuals are working under great handicaps which neither +promote their talent nor secure fecundity of results to +collective man. In nearly every line of human endeavor gifted +individuals are consuming in an unnecessarily wasteful manner, +from the point of view of social improvement, their splendid +abilities. In educational institutions trained experts and +specialists are doing the work which very ordinary ability of a +merely clerical kind could conduct, sacrificing the higher and +more fruitful attainments thereby. I have known a faculty of +some forty members who were compelled to register the term +standings by sitting in a circle and calling off the grades of +several hundred students student by student and class by class +for each student as it came their turn, while a clerk recorded +the grades. The process consumed about ten hours per member +each term, or something over a thousand hours a year for the +whole faculty. Both economically and socially it was expensive +and wasteful because a cheap clerk could have done the whole +far better and have released the talent for productive +purposes. + +We shall be wise when we realize the worth of our workable +talent and so establish its working conditions that it may +secure the full measure of its productiveness. If scientific +management for the mass of laborers of a nation is worth while +how much more serviceable would it be to extend its fructifying +influence to the most able members of the community. + +But how to proceed in order to make the discovery of the latent +talent is the pressing problem. For a long time our methods +promise to be as empirical as are those we employ for the +advancement of science. Relative to the latter, after +enumerating a large list of conditions for promoting science of +which we are ignorant, Professor Cattell says: + +'In the face of endless problems of this character we are as +empirical in our methods as the doctor of physic a hundred +years ago or the agricultural laborer to-day. It is surely time +for scientific men to apply scientific methods to determine the +circumstances that promote or hinder the advancement of +science.'[6] + +[6] "American Men of Science," p. 565. + + + +Since the discovery and utilization of genius and talent in +general are so closely related to the problem of the promotion +of science, his statement may be adopted to express the demand +existing in those directions. + + + +WAR, BUSINESS AND INSURANCE[1] + +[1] Chairman's address on Peace Day of the Insurance Congress, +Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, October +11, 1915. + +BY CHANCELLOR DAVID STARR JORDAN + +STANFORD UNIVERSITY + +THE complications behind the war in Europe are very many, +ruthless exploitation, heartless and brainless diplomacy, +futile dreams of national expansion (the "Mirage of the Map"), +of national enrichment through the use of force (the "Great +Illusion"), and withal a widespread vulgar belief in +indemnities or highway robberies as a means of enriching a +nation. + +All these would represent only the unavoidable collision, +unrest and ambition of human nature, were it not that every +element involved in it was armed to the teeth. "When blood is +their argument" in matters of business or politics, all +rational interests are imperilled. The gray old strategists to +whom the control of armament was assigned saw the nations +moving towards peaceful solution of their real and imaginary +difficulties. The young men of Europe had visions of a broader +world, one cleared of lies and hate and the poison of an +ingrowing patriotism. After a generation of doubt and pessimism +in which world progress seemed to end in a blind sack, there +was rising a vision of continental cooperation, a glimpse of +the time when science, always international, should also +internationalize the art of living. + +Clearly the close season for war was near at hand. The old men +found means to bring it on and in so doing to exploit the +patriotism, enthusiasm, devotion and love of adventure of the +young men of the whole world. + +The use of fear and force as an argument in politics or in +business--this is war. It is a futile argument because of +itself it settles nothing. Its conclusion bears no certain +relation to its initial aim. It must end where it should begin, +with an agreement among the parties concerned. War is only the +blind negation, the denial of all law, and only the recognition +of the supremacy of some law can bring war to an end. In time +of war all laws are silent as are all efforts for progress, for +justice, for the betterment of human kind. If history were +written truthfully every page in the story of war would be left +blank, or printed black, with only fine white letters in the +darkness to mark the efforts for humanity, which war can never +wholly suppress. + +In this paper I propose to consider only economic effects of +this war and with special reference to the great industry which +brings most of this audience together, the business of +insurance. + +The great war debts of the nations of Europe began with +representative government. Kings borrowed money when they +could, bankrupting themselves at intervals and sometimes +wrecking their nations. Kings have always been uncertain pay. +Not many loaned money to them willingly and only in small +amounts and at usurious rates of interest. To float a +"patriotic loan," it was often necessary to make use of the +prison or the rack. With the advent of parliaments and chambers +of deputies, the credit of nations improved and it became easy +to borrow money. There was developed a special class of +financiers, the Rothschilds at their head, pawnbrokers rather +than bankers, men able and willing to take a whole nation into +pawn. And with the advent of great loans, as Goldwin Smith +wisely observed, "there was removed the last check on war." + +With better social and business adjustments, and especially +with the progress of railways and steam navigation with other +applications of science to personal and national interests, the +process of borrowing became easier, as also the payment of +interest on which borrowing depends. Hence more borrowing, +always the easiest solution of any financial complication or +embarrassment. Through the substitution of regular methods of +taxation for the collection of tribute, the nations became +solidified. Only a solidified nation can borrow money. The +loose and lawless regions called Kingdoms and Empires under +feudalism were not nations at all. A nation is a region in +which the people are normally at peace among themselves. In +civil war, a nation's existence may be dissolved. + +In all the ages war costs all that it can. All that can be +extorted or borrowed is cast into the melting pot, for the sake +of self-preservation or for the sake of victory. If the nations +had any more to give war would demand it. The king could +extort, but there are limits to extortion. The nation could +borrow, and to borrowing there is but one limit, that of actual +exhaustion. + +Mr. H. Bell, cashier of Lloyd's Bank in London, said in 1913: + +'The London bankers are not lending on the continent any more. +We can see already the handwriting on the wall and that spells +REPUDIATION. The people of Europe will say: "We know that we +have had all this money and that we ought to pay interest on +it. But we must live; and we can not live and pay."' + +The chief motive for borrowing on the part of every nation has +been war or preparation for war. If it were not for war no +nation on earth need ever have borrowed a dollar. If provinces +and municipalities could use all the taxes their people pay, +for purposes of peace, they could pay off all their debts and +start free. In Europe, for the last hundred years, in time of +so-called peace, nations have paid more for war than for +anything else. It is not strange therefore that this armed +peace has "found its verification in war." It has been the "Dry +War," the "Race for the Abyss," which the gray old strategists +of the general staff have brought to final culmination. + +The debt of Great Britain began with the revolution of 1869, +with about $1,250,000. This unpopular move, known as Dutch +finance, was the work of William of Orange. Other loans +followed, based on customs duties with "taxes on bachelors, +widows, marriages and funerals," and the profits on lotteries. +At the end of the war of the revolution the debt reached +$1,250,000,000, and with the gigantic borrowings of Pitt, in +the interest of the overthrow of Napoleon, the debt reached its +highest point, $4,430,000,000. The savings of peace duly +reduced this debt, but the Boer war, for which about +$800,000,000 was borrowed, swept these savings away. When the +present war began the national debt had been reduced to a +little less than $400,000,000 which sum a year of world war has +brought up to $10,000,000,000. + +The debt of France dates from the French Revolution. Through +reckless management it soon rose to $700,000,000, which sum was +cut by paper money, confiscation and other repudiations to +$160,000,000. This process of easing the government at the +expense of the people spread consternation and bankruptcy far +and wide. A great program of public expenditure following the +costly war and its soon repaid indemnity raised the debt of +France to over $6,000,000,000. The interest alone amounted to +nearly $1,000,000,000. A year of the present war has brought +this debt to the unheard of figure of about $11,000,000,000. +Thus nearly two million bondholders and their families in and +out of France have become annual pensioners on the public +purse, in addition to all the pensioners produced by war. + +Germany is still a very young nation and as an empire more +thrifty than her largest state. The imperial debt was in 1908 a +little over $1,000,000,000. The total debt of the empire and +the states combined was about $4,000,000,000 at the outbreak of +the war. It is now stated at about $9,000,000,000, a large part +of the increase being in the form of "patriotic" loans from +helpless corporations. + +The small debt of the United States rose after the Civil War to +$2,773,000,000. It has been reduced to about $915,000,000, +proportionately less than in any other civilized nation. The +local debts of states and municipalities in this and other +countries are, however, very large and are steadily rising. As +Mr. E. S. Martin observes, + +'We have long since passed the simple stage of living beyond +our incomes. We are engaged in living beyond the incomes of +generations to come.' + +Let me illustrate by a supposititious example. A nation has an +expenditure of $100,000,000 a year. It raises the sum by +taxation of some sort and thus lives within its means. But +$100,000,000 is the interest on a much larger sum, let us say +$2,500,000,000. If instead of paying out a hundred million year +by year for expenses, we capitalize it, we may have immediately +at hand a sum twenty-five times as great. The interest on this +sum is the same as the annual expense account. Let us then +borrow $2,500,000,000 on which the interest charges are +$100,000,000 a year. But while paying these charges the nation +has the principal to live on for a generation. Half of it will +meet current expenses for a dozen years, and the other half is +at once available for public purposes, for dockyards, for +wharves, for fortresses, for public buildings and, above all, +for the ever-growing demands of military conscription and of +naval power. Meanwhile the nation is not standing still. In +these twelve years the progress of invention and of commerce +may have doubled the national income. There is then still +another $100,000,000 yearly to be added to the sum available +for running expenses. This again can be capitalized, another +$2,500,000,000 can be borrowed, not all at once perhaps, but +with due regard to the exigencies of banking and the temper of +the people. With repeated borrowings the rate of taxation +rises. Living on the principal sets a new fashion in +expenditure. The same fashion extends throughout the body +politic. Individuals, corporations, municipalities all live on +their principal. + +The purchase of railways and other public utilities by the +government tends further to complicate the problems of national +debt. It is clear that this system of buying without paying can +not go on forever. The growth of wealth and population can not +keep step with borrowing, even though all funds were expended +for the actual needs of society. Of late years, war preparation +has come to take the lion's share of all funds, however +gathered, "consuming the fruits of progress." What the end +shall be, and by what forces it will be brought about, no one +can now say. This is still a very rich world, even though +insolvent and under control of its creditors. There is a +growing unrest among taxpayers. There would be a still greater +unrest if posterity could be heard from, for it can only save +itself by new inventions and new exploitations or by frugality +of administration of which no nation gives an example to-day. + +Nevertheless, this burden of past debt, with all its many +ramifications and its interest charges, is not the heaviest the +nations have placed on themselves. The annual cost of army and +navy in the world before the war was about double the sum of +interest paid on the bonded debt. This annual sum represented +preparation for future war, because in the intricacies of +modern warfare "hostilities must be begun" long before the +materialization of any enemy. In estimating the annual cost of +war, to the original interest of upwards of $1,500,000,000 we +must add yearly about $2,500,000,000 of actual expenditure for +fighters, guns and ships. We must further consider the generous +allowance some nations make for pensions. A large and +unestimated sum may also be added to the account from loss of +military conscription, again not counting the losses to society +through those forms of poverty which have their primal cause in +war. For in the words of Bastiat, "War is an ogre that devours +as much when he sleeps as when he is awake." It was Gambetta +who foretold that the final end of armament rivalry must be "a +beggar crouching by a barrack door." + +When the great war began, the nations of Europe were thus waist +deep in debt, the total amount of national bonded indebtedness +being about $30,000,000,000, or nearly three times the total +sum of actual gold and silver, coined or not in all the world. +A year of war at the rate of $50,000,000 to $70,000,000 per day +has increased this indebtedness to nearly $50,000,000,000, the +bonds themselves rated at half or less their normal value, +while the actual financial loss through destruction of life and +property has been estimated at upwards of $40,000,000,000. + +In "The Unseen Empire," the forceful and prophetic drama of Mr. +Atherton Brownell, the American ambassador, Stephan Channing, +tries to show the chancellor of Germany that war with Great +Britain is not a "good business proposition." He says: + +'Our Civil War has cost us to date, if you count pensions for +the wrecks it left--mental and physical--nearly twenty billions +of dollars. And that doesn't include property losses, nor +destruction of trade, nor broken hearts and desolate +homes--that's just cold hard cash that we have actually paid +out. You can't even think it. There have been only about one +billion minutes since Christ was born. Now if there had been +four million slaves and we had bought every one of them at an +average of one thousand dollars apiece, set them free and had +no war, we should have been in pocket to day just sixteen +billion dollars. That one crime cost us in cash just about the +equal of sixteen dollars a minute from the beginning of the +Christian era.' + +The war as forecast in the play is now on in fact, and one +certain truth in regard to it is that it is assuredly not "a +good business proposition" for anybody in any nation, excepting +of course, the makers of the instruments of death. + +DAILY COST OF GREAT EUROPEAN WAR (Charles Richet, 1912) + +Feed of men. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12,600,000 +Feed of horses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000,000 +Pay (European rates) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,250,000 +Pay of workmen in the arsenals and ports (100 per day)1,000,000 +Transportation (60 miles in 10 days) . . . . . . 2,100,000 +Transportation for provisions. . . . . . . . . . 4,200,000 +Munitions: Infantry 10 cartridges a day. . . . . 4,200,000 +Artillery: 10 shots per day. . . . . . . . . . . 1,200,000 +Marine: 2 shots per day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400,000 +Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,200,000 +Ambulances: 500,000 wounded or ill ($1 per day). . 500,000 +War ships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500,000 +Reduction of imports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,000,000 +Help to the poor (20 cents per day to 1 in 10) . 6,800,000 +Destruction of towns, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . 2,000,000 +Total per day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$49,950,000 + + + +The actual war began, in accord with Professor Richet's +calculation, at a cost of $50,000,000 per day. Previous to this +the "dry war" or "armed peace" cost only $10,000,000 per day. +This is Richet's calculation in 1912, an underestimate as to +expenses on the sea and in the air. These with the growing +scarcity of bread and shrapnel, the equipment of automobiles, +and the unparalleled ruin of cities have raised this cost to +$70,000,000 per day. + +This again takes no account of the waste of men and horses, +less costly than the other material of war and not necessarily +replaced. All this is piled on top of "the endless caravan of +ciphers" ($30,000,000,000), which represents the accumulated +and unpaid war debt of the nineteenth century. + +War is indeed the sport for kings, but it is no sport for the +people who pay and die, and in the long run the workers of the +world must pay the cost of it. As Benjamin Franklin observed: + +'War is not paid for in war time) the bill comes later.' + +And what a bill! + +Yves Guyot, the French economist, estimates that the first six +months of war cost western Europe in cash $5,400,000,000, to +which should be added further destruction estimated at +$11,600,000,000, making a total of $17,000,000,000. The entire +amount of coin in the world is less than $12,000,000,000. Edgar +Crammond, secretary of the Liverpool Stock Exchange, another +high authority, estimates the cash cost of a year of war, to +August 1, 1915, at $17,000,000,000, while other losses will +mount up to make a grand total of $46,000,000,000. Mr. Crammond +estimates that the cost to Great Britain for a year of war will +reach $3,500,000,000. This sum is about equivalent to the +accumulated war debt of Great Britain for a hundred years +before the war. The war debt of Germany (including Prussia) is +now about the same. + +No one can have any conception of what $46,000,000,000 may be. +It is four times all the gold and silver in the world. It +represents, it is stated, about 100,000 tons of gold, and would +probably outweigh the Washington monument. We have no data as +to what monuments weigh, but we may try a few other +calculations. If this sum were measured out in $20 gold pieces +and they were placed side by side on the railway track, on each +rail, they would line with gold every line from New York to the +Pacific Ocean, and there would be enough left to cover each +rail of the Siberian railway from Vladivostock to Petrograd. +There would still be enough left to rehabilitate Belgium and to +buy the whole of Turkey, at her own valuation, wiping her +finally from the map. + +Or we may figure in some other fashion. The average working man +in America earns $518 per year. It would take ninety million +years' work to pay the cost of the war; or ninety million +American laborers might pay it off in one year, if all their +living expenses were paid. The working men of Europe receive +from half to a third the wages in America. They are the ones +who have this bill to pay. + +The cost of a year of the great war is a little greater than +the estimated value of all the property of the United States +west of Chicago. It is nearly equal to the total value of all +the property in Germany ($48,000,000,000) as figured in 1906. +The whole Russian Empire ($35,000,000,000) could have been +bought for a less sum before the war began. It could be had on +a cash sale for half that now. It would have paid for all the +property in Italy ($13,000,000,000); Japan ($10,000,000,000); +Holland ($5,000,000,000); Belgium ($7,000,000,000); Spain +($6,000,000,000) and Portugal ($2,500,000,000). It is three +times the entire yearly earnings in wages and salaries of the +people of the United States ($15,500,000,000). + +We could go on indefinitely with this, playing with figures +which nobody can understand, for the greatest fortune ever +accumulated by man, in whatever fashion, would not pay for +three days of this war. + +The cost of this war would pay the national debts of all the +nations in the world at the time the war broke out, and this +aggregate sum of $45,000,000,000 for the world was all +accumulated in the criminal stupidity of the wars of the +nineteenth century. If all the farms, farming lands, and +factories of the United States were wiped out of existence, the +cost of this war would more than replace them. If all the +personal and real property of half our nation were destroyed, +or if an earthquake of incredible dimensions should shake down +every house from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the waste would +be less than that involved in this war. And an elemental +catastrophe leaves behind it no costly legacy of hate; even the +financial troubles are not ended with the treaty of peace. The +credit of Europe is gone for one does not know how long. Before +the war, it is said, there were $200,000,000,000 in bonds and +stocks in circulation in Europe. Much of this has been sold for +whatever it would bring. Some of the rest is worth its face +value Some of it is worth nothing. In the final adjustment who +can know whether he is a banker or a beggar? + +The American Ambassador was quite within bounds when he said: +"There isn't so much money in the world; you can't even think +it!" + +Or we may calculate (with Dr. Edward T. Devine) in a totally +different way. The cost of this war would have covered every +moral social, economic and sanitary reform ever asked for in +the civilized world, in so far as money properly expended can +compass such results. It could eliminate infectious disease, +feeble-mindedness, the slums and the centers of vice. It could +provide adequate housing, continuity of labor, insurance +against accident; in other words it could abolish almost every +kind of suffering due to outside influences and not inherent in +the character of the person concerned. + +A Russian writer, quoted by Dr. John H. Finley, puts this idea +in a different form: + +'Our most awful enemies, the elements and germs and insect +destroyers, attack us every minute without cease, yet we murder +one another as if we were out of our senses. Death is ever on +the watch for us, and we think of nothing but to snatch a few +patches of land! About 5,000,000,000 days of work go every year +to the displacement of boundary lines. Think of what humanity +could obtain if that prodigious effort were devoted to fighting +our real enemies, the noxious species and our hostile +environment. We should conquer them in a few years. The entire +globe would turn into a model farm. Every plant would grow for +our use. The savage animals would disappear, and the infinitely +tiny animals would be reduced to impotence by hygiene and +cleanliness. The earth would be conducted according to our +convenience. In short, the day men realize who their worst +enemies are, they will form an alliance against them, they will +cease to murder one another like wild beasts from sheer folly. +Then they will be the true rulers of the planet, the lords of +creation.' + +Says Robert L. Duffus: + +'Money spent in warfare is not like spending money in other +industries. It will bring far more beastliness, far more +injustice, far more tyranny, far more danger to all that is +honorable, generous and noble in the world, far more grief and +rage than money spent in any other way. Not one per cent. of +the amount devoted to these purposes, is, for the end aimed at, +wasted.' + +It is said that the main cause of the war lay in the envy of +German commerce by British rivals. This is assuredly not true. +But if it were, let us look at the business side of it. Taking +the net profits of over-seas trade as stated two years ago by +the Hamburg-American Company, the strongest in the world, and +estimating the rest, we have something like this: + +During the "Dry War" the net earnings of the German Mercantile +fleet was about one third the cost of the navy supposed to +protect it. It would take seventy years of trade, on the scale +of the last year before the war, to repay Germany's expenses +for a year of war. To make good all the losses of Europe would +require more than one hundred years of the over-seas trading +profits of all the world. War is therefore death to trade, as +it is to every other agency of civilization. + +At the beginning of the war the value of stocks and bonds in +circulation in Europe amounted to about $200,000,000,000. What +is the present value of all these certificates of ownership? +What is the present value of any particular industrial plant or +commercial venture? + +A friend in London had inherited through his German wife a +large aniline dye plant on the Rhine. He told me recently that +he had not heard one word from it for six months. What will be +its value when he hears from it? And what certainty has he as +to its ownership? + +Is it true that this war is the outcome of commercial jealousy? +Let us look at this for a moment. The two greatest shipping +companies in the world before the war were the Hamburg-American +Company and the Nord-Deutscher Lloyd of Bremen. These companies +had grown strong because they deserved to grow. They had +attended to their affairs both in shipment of freight and +transportation of passengers with that minute attention to +details which is so large an element in German success. The +growth of these companies arose through American trade and +especially through trade with Great Britain and the British +possessions. Did they clamor for war--a war, whatever else +might result, sure to cripple their trade for a generation. It +is said that Ballin, of the Hamburg Company, unable to prevent +Great Britain from rising to the defense of Belgium "went home +broken-hearted." Did Ballin build the great Imperator, costing +nine million--six million of it borrowed money--with a view of +laying her off after a few trips for an indefinite period in +Hamburg? Did the Nord-Deutscher Lloyd contemplate leaving the +Vaterland and the George Washington to lie in Hoboken till they +were sold for harbor dues? + +Nor was the jealousy on the other side. The growth of German +commerce concerned mainly Great Britain. Presumably it was +profitable on both sides, for all trade is barter. In any +event, Great Britain has never raised a tariff wall against it, +never protected her traders by a single differential duty. She +has risen above the idea that by tariff exactions the +foreigners can be made to pay the sages. As for envy of German +commerce, who ever heard of an Englishman who envied anybody +anything? + +Again, did the Cunard Company build her three great steamships, +the Mauretania, the Lusitania, the Aquitania for the fate which +has come to them? In 1914 I saw the great Aquitania, finest of +all floating palaces, tied by the nose to the wharf at +Liverpool, the most sheepish-looking steamship I ever saw +anywhere. Out of her had been taken $1,250,000 worth of plate +glass and plush velvet, elevators and lounging rooms, the +requirements of the tender rich in their six days upon the sea. +The whole ship was painted black, filled with coal--to be sent +out to help the warships at sea. And for this humble service I +am told she proved unfitted. + +No, commercial envy is not a reason, rivalry in business is not +a reason, need of expansion is not a reason. These are excuses +only, not causes of war. There is no money in war. There is no +chance of highway robbery in the byways of history which can +repay anything tangible of the expense of the expedition. The +gray old strategists do not care for this. It is fair to them +to say they are not sordid. They care no more for the financial +exhaustion of a nation than for the slaughter of its young men. +"An old soldier like me," said Napoleon, "does not care a +tinker's damn for the death of a million men." Neither does he +care for the collapse of a million industrial corporations. + +Of the many forms of business and financial relation among men, +none is more important than those included under the name of +insurance. Insurance is a form of mutual help. By its influence +the effects of calamity are spread so widely that they cease to +be felt as calamity. The fact of death can not be set aside, +but through insurance it need not appear as economic disaster, +only as personal loss. Its essential nature is that of social +cooperation and it furnishes some of the most effective of +bonds which knit society together. As insurance has become +already an international function, its influence should be felt +continuously on the side of peace. That it is so felt is the +justification of our meeting together to-day, as underwriters +of insurance and as workers for peace. The essence of +insurance, as Professor Royce observes, is that + +'it is a principle at once peace-making in its general tendency +and business-like in its practicable special application.... As +a result of insurance, men gradually find themselves involved +in a social network of complicated but beneficent relations of +which individuals are usually very imperfectly aware but by +means of which modern society has been profoundly transformed.' + + +For life insurance, in general, is not personally selfish in +its motive. It is essentially altruistic, the effort of the +benefit of some person beloved who is designated as the +beneficiary. For the benefit of this surviving person, the +efforts involved in the payment of premiums are put forth, and +the insurance companies and their underwriters constitute the +machinery by which this unification is given to society. + +To all the interests of insurance, the lawlessness of war is +wholly adverse and destructive. Insurance involves mutual trust +and trust thrives under security of person and property. +Insurance demands steadiness of purpose and continuity of law. +In war, all laws are silent. War is the brutish, blind, denial +of law, only admissible when all other honorable alternatives +have been withdrawn--the last resort of "murdered, mangled +liberty." + +In its direct relation, war destroys those who to the +underwriter represent the "best risks," the men most valuable +to themselves and thus most valuable to the community. Those +whom war leaves behind, to slip along the lines of least +resistance into the city slums, are the people insurance rarely +reaches. War confuses administration of insurance. Policies, in +war time, can be written only on a sliding scale. This greatly +increases the premium by reducing the final payments. Increase +of rate of premium must decrease business. War means financial +anarchy, inflated currency and depreciation of bonds. A +currency which fluctuates demoralizes all business and war +leaves no alternative. The slogan "business as usual" in war +time deceives nobody. If it did, nobody would gain by the +deception. Enforced loans from the reserve fund of insurance +companies to the state mean the depreciation of reserves. The +substitution of unstable government bonds means robbery of the +bond holders. The yielding to the state, by enforced "voluntary +action," of reserves of savings banks and insurance companies +represents a form of state robbery. This is now in practice on +the continent of Europe. Such funds are probably never actually +confiscated but held in abeyance until the close of the war. +This is another form of the everpresent "military necessity," +which seizes men's property with little more compunction than +it shows in seizing men's bodies. War conditions mean +insecurity of investment. In war, all bonds are liable to +become "scraps of paper," and no fund can be made safe. The +insurance investments in Europe have been enormously depleted +in worth, a reduction in market value estimated at 50 per cent. + +Experts in insurance tell me that in war time certain policies +are written so as to be scaled down automatically when the +holder goes under the colors. Some are invalid in time of war, +and some have the clause of free travel greatly abridged. A few +are written to apply to all conditions, but on these the rates +of premiums would naturally increase. Companies generally +refuse to pay under conditions not nominated in the bond, and +in general all policies are automatically reduced to level of +war policies when war begins. + +I am told that some American companies issue group policies as +for any or all of a thousand men, these not subject to a +physical examination. The war claims in Great Britain have been +very heavy, because such a large proportion of clerks, +artisans, students and other insurable or well-paid men have +been first to volunteer. Some insurance companies have been +much embarrassed by the general enlistment of their employees. + +In fire insurance, conditions are much the same. All contracts +in foreign nations are held in abeyance until the close of war. +Such companies doing business in America are now mostly +incorporated as American. + +In every regard, the business of insurance is naturally allied +with the forces that make for peace. War brings ruin, through +increase of loans, through the exhaustion of reserves and the +precarious nature of investment. The same remark applies in +some degree to every honorable or constructive business. If any +other form of danger threatened a great industry, its leaders +would be on the alert. They would spare no money and leave no +stone unturned for their own protection. + +Towards war, business has always shown a stupid fatalism. War +has been thought "inevitable," coming of itself at intervals +with nobody responsible. + +There could not be a greater error. War does not come of +itself, nor without great and persistent preparation. A few +hundred resolute men, bent on war, led by unscrupulous leaders +brought on this war. The military group of one nation plays +into the hands of like groups in other nations. To keep up war +agitation long enough, whether the cause be real or imaginary, +seems to hypnotize the public mind. The horrors of war +fascinate rather than repel, and thousands of men in this land +of peace are ready to fight in Europe to one who dreamed of +such a line of action a year or two ago. + +"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." The interests +involved should put honest business on its guard. The insurance +men could afford to maintain a thousand observers, men wise in +business as well as in International Law, and in the manners +and customs of the people of the world. A few dozen skilful +politico-military detectives--men like W. J. Burns for example +employed in the interest of finance might save finance a +billion dollars. These should watch the standing incentives to +war. Such men should stand guard against the influences that +work toward conflict. Those who work for peace should be not +"firemen to be called in to put out the fire" already started +through the negligence of business men but agents for +"fireproof building material" in our national edifice, to stand +at all times for the security of business, the sanctity of law, +order and peace. This kind of "preparedness for war" would +involve no risks of conflict, of victory or defeat. + + + +THE EVOLUTION OF THE STARS AND THE FORMATION OF THE EARTH. II + +BY WILLIAM WALLACE CAMPBELL + +DIRECTOR OF THE LICK OBSERVATORY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA + +EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF SEQUENCE PROPOSED + +THERE are several lines of evidence in support of the order of +evolution which we have outlined. + +1. The close relationship of the bright-line nebular spectrum, +the bright-line stellar spectrum and the spectra of the +simplest helium stars; the practically continuous sequence of +spectra from the helium stars to the red stars. + +2. In the long run, we must expect the stars to grow colder, at +least as to the surface strata. What the average interior +temperatures are is another question; the highest interior +temperatures are thought to be reached at an intermediate or +quite late stage in the process, in accordance with principles +investigated by Lane and others; but the temperatures existing +in the deep interiors seem to have little direct influence in +defining the spectral characters of the stars, which are +concerned more directly with the surface strata.[1] We should +therefore expect the simpler types of spectra, such as we find +in the helium and hydrogen stars, in the early stages of the +evolutionary process. The complicated spectra of the metals, +and particularly the oxides of the metals, should be in +evidence late in stellar life, when the atmospheres of the +stars have become denser and colder. + +[1] This important point seems not to have been realized by all +theorists. + + + +3. The velocities of the Orion nebula, the Trifid nebula, the +Carina nebula, and of several other irregular nebulae, have +been measured with the spectroscope. These bodies seem to be +nearly at rest with reference to the stellar system. The helium +stars have the lowest-known stellar velocities, and the average +velocities of the stars are higher and higher as we pass from +the helium stars, through the hydrogen and solar stars, up to +the red stars. The average velocities of the brighter stars of +the different spectral classes, as determined with the D. O. +Mills spectrographs at Mount Hamilton and in Chile, are as in +the following table: + +Spectral No. of Class Stars Average Velocity in Space + B 225 12.9 km. per Sec. + A 177 21.9 + F 185 28.7 + G 128 29.9 + E 382 33.6 + M 73 34.3 + + + +We can not place the irregular nebulae after the red stars: +their velocities are too small, and their spectra have no +resemblances to the red-star spectra. + +4. Wherever we find large irregular gaseous nebulae we find +stars in the early subdivisions of the helium group. They are +closely related in position. This is true of the Orion and +other similar regions. The irregular, gaseous nebulae are in +general found in and near the Milky Way, and so are the helium +stars. The yellow and red stars, at least the brighter ones, do +not cluster in nebulous regions. + +5. The stars are more and more uniformly distributed over the +sphere as one goes from the helium stars through the hydrogen +and solar stars, to the red stars. The Class M stars show +little or no preference for the Milky Way. Of course, I am +speaking here of the brighter and nearer stars which we have +been able to study by means of the spectroscope, and not at all +of the faint stars which form the unstudied distant parts of +the Milky Way structure. The helium stars are young, their +motions are slow, and they have not wandered far from the place +of their birth. Not so with the older stars. + +6. The visual double stars afford strong evidence that the +order of evolution described is correct. The 36-inch refractor +has shown that one star in 18, on the average, brighter than +the ninth visual magnitude, consists of two or more suns which +we can not doubt are in slow revolution around each other. The +number of double stars observable would be very much greater +than this if they were not so far away. Of the 20 stars which +we say are our nearest neighbors, 8 are well known double +stars; one double in each two and one half, on the average. +Aitken has made a specialty of observing the double stars whose +components in each case are very close together and are in +comparatively rapid revolution. His program includes 164 such +systems whose types of spectra are known, as in the following +table: + + Spectrum Number of Double Stars +Bright-line 0 +Class B 4 +Class A-F 131 +Class G-N 28 +Class M-N? 1 + + + +The message which this table brings is clear. The double stars +whose spectra are of the Bright-Line and Class B varieties have +their components so close together that only 4, of Class B, are +visible. The great majority fall in Classes A to K; 159 out of +164. The component stars in these classes are far enough apart +to be visible in the telescopes, and yet are close enough to be +revolving in periods reasonably short. In the Class M double +stars, this program contains not more than one star, and I +believe the explanation is this: double stars of Class M are in +general so far apart, and therefore their periods of revolution +are so long, that they do not get upon programs of rapidly +revolving stars. Also, the fainter components in many red stars +must have cooled off so far that they are invisible. The +distances between the components of visual double stars are in +general the greater as we proceed from the helium stars through +the various spectral classes up to Class M. There are reasons +for believing that two stars revolving around their center of +mass have gradually increased their distance apart, and +therefore their revolution period. If this is true, the Classes +G and K; double stars are effectively older than Classes A and +F double stars, and these in turn are effectively older than +Class B double stars. + +7. The spectrograph has great advantages over the telescope in +discovering and observing double stars whose components are +very close together, by virtue of the facts that the +spectrograph measures, velocities of approach and recession in +absolute units--so many kilometers per second--and that the +speeds of rotation in binary systems are higher the closer +together the two components are. The observations of the +brighter helium stars, especially those made at the Yerkes +Observatory by Frost and Adams, have shown that one helium star +in every two and one half on the average is a very close +double. In beta Cephei, an early Class B star, the components +are so close that they revolve around each other in 4 1/2 +hours; many systems have periods in the neighborhood of a day, +of two days, of three days, and so on. Similar observations +made with the D. O. Mills spectrographs in both hemispheres +have shown that about one star in every four of the bright +stars, on the average, is a double star. In general, the +proportion of spectroscopic doubles discovered to date is +greatest in Class B and decreases as we proceed toward Class M. +The explanation is simple: in the Class B doubles the +components are close together, their orbital velocities are +very high and change rapidly, and the spectrograph is able to +discover the variations with little loss of time. As we pass +toward the yellow and red spectroscopic binaries we find the +components separated more and more, the orbital velocities are +smaller and the periods longer, the variations of velocity are +more difficult to discover, and in the wider pairs we must wait +many years before the variations become appreciable. There is a +very marked progression of the average lengths of periods of +the spectrographic double stars as we pass from the Class B to +the Class M pairs. Similarly, the eccentricities of the orbits +of the binaries increase as we proceed in the same direction. +Accumulating evidence is to the effect that the proportion of +double stars to single stars may be as great in the Classes A +to K as in Class B. + +8. Kapteyn believes that he is able to divide the individual +stars--those whose proper motions are known--into the two star +streams which he has described; and he finds that the first +stream is rich in the early blue stars, less rich relatively in +yellow stars, and poor in red stars, whereas the second stream +is very poor in early blue stars, rich in yellows, and +relatively very rich in reds. His interpretation is that the +stream-one stars are effectively younger than the stream-two +stars, on the whole. Stream one still abounds in youthful +stars: they grow older and the yellow and red stars will then +predominate. Stream two abounds in stars which were once young, +but are now middle-aged and old. + +The eight lines of argument outlined are in harmony to the +effect that there is a sequence of development from nebulae to +red stars. + +The extremely red stars are all faint, only a very few being +visible to the naked eye, and these near the limit of vision. +Our knowledge concerning them is relatively limited. That +these, and all stars, will become invisible to our telescopes, +and ultimately be dark unshining bodies, is the logical +conclusion to which the evolutionary processes will lead. As I +have already stated, both Newcomb and Kelvin were inclined to +believe that the major part of gravitational matter in the +universe is already invisible. + +It should be said that a few astronomers doubt whether the +order of evolution is so clearly defined as I have outlined it; +in fact, whether we know even the main trend of the +evolutionary process. We occasionally encounter the opinion +that the subject is still so unsettled as not to let us say +whether the helium stars are effectively young or the red stars +are effectively old. Lockyer and Russell have proposed +hypotheses in which the order of evolutionary sequence begins +with comparatively cool red stars and proceeds through the +yellow stars to the very hot blue stars, and thence back +through the yellow stars to cool red stars. + +I think the essentially unanimous view of astronomers is to the +effect that the great mass of accumulated evidence favors the +order of evolution which I have described. We are all ready to +admit that there are apparent exceptions to the simple course +laid down, but that these exceptions are revolutionary in +effect, and not hopeless of removal, has not yet, in my +opinion, been established. + +PHYSICAL CONDITIONS GOVERN APPEARANCES OF SPECTRA + +A question frequently asked is this: if the yellow and red +stars have been developed from the blue stars, why do not the +thousands of lines in the spectra of the yellow and red stars +show in the spectra of the blue stars? Indeed, why do not the +elements so conspicuously present in the atmosphere of the red +stars show in the spectra of the gaseous nebulae? The answer is +that the conditions in the nebulae and in the youngest stars +are such that only the SIMPLEST ELEMENTS, like hydrogen and +helium, and in the nebulae nebulium, which we think are nearest +to the elemental state of matter, seem to be able to form or +exist in them; and the temperature must lower, or other +conditions change to the conditions existing in the older +stars, before what we may call the more complicated elements +can construct themselves out of the more elemental forms of +matter. The oxides of titanium and of carbon found in the red +stars, where the surface temperatures must be relatively low, +would dissociate themselves into more elemental components and +lose their identity if the temperature and other conditions +were changed back to those of the early helium stars. Lockyer's +name is closely connected with this phenomenon of dissociation. +There is no evidence, to the best of my knowledge, that the +elements known in our Earth are not essentially universal in +distribution, either in the forms which the elements have in +the Earth, or dissociated into simpler forms wherever the +temperatures or other conditions make dissociations possible +and unavoidable. + +The meteorites, which have come through the atmosphere to the +Earth's surface, contain at least 25 known terrestrial +elements. That they have not been found thus far to contain all +of our elements is not surprising, for we should have +difficulty in finding a piece of our Earth weighing a few +kilograms which would contain 25 of our elements. We have not +found any elements in meteorites which are unknown to our +chemists. Our comets, which ordinarily show the presence of not +more than three elements, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, give +certain evidence of sodium in their composition when they +approach fairly near to the Sun; and the great comet of 1882, +when very close to the Sun, developed in its spectrum many +bright lines not previously seen in comet spectra, which +Copeland said were due to iron. That the comets do not show a +greater number of elements is not in the least surprising: they +are not condensed bodies, and we think that their average +temperature is low, too low generally to develop the luminous +vapors of the more refractory elements. If their temperatures, +approximated those which exist in the stars, their spectra +would probably reveal the presence of many of the elements +which exist in the meteorites. Of course the proof of this is +lacking. + +DESTINY OF THE STELLAR SYSTEM + +We have said that the evolutionary processes depend primarily +upon the loss of heat. This is to the best of our knowledge a +genuine loss, except as some of the heat rays happen to strike +other celestial bodies. The flow of heat energy from a star +must be essentially continuous, always in one direction from +hotter bodies to colder bodies, or into so-called unending and +heatless space. Temperatures throughout the universe are +apparently moving toward uniformity, at the level of absolute +zero. Now, this uniformity would mean universal stagnation and +death. It is possible to have life and to do work only when +there are differences of temperature between the bodies +concerned: work is done or accompanied by a flow of heat, +always from the hotter to the colder body. We are not aware +that any compensating principle exists. Several students of the +subject, notably Arrhenius, have searched for such a principle, +a fountain of youth so to speak, in accordance with which the +vigor of stellar life should maintain itself from the beginning +of time to the end of time; but I think that nothing +approaching a satisfactory theory has yet been formulated. The +stellar universe seems, from our present point of view, to be +slowly "running down." The processes will not end, however, +when all the heat generable WITHIN the stars shall have been +radiated into an endless space. Every body within the universe, +it is conceivable, could have cooled down to absolute zero, but +the system might still be in its youth. So long as the stars, +whether intensely hot or free from all heat, are rotating +rapidly on their axes or are rushing through space with high +speeds, the system will remain VERY MUCH ALIVE. Collisions or +very close approaches of two stars are bound to occur sooner or +later, whether the stars are hot or cold, and in all such cases +a large share of the kinetic energy--the energy of motion--of +the two bodies will be converted into heat. A collision, under +average stellar conditions, should convert the two stars into a +luminous gaseous nebula, or two or more nebulae, which would +require hundreds or thousands of millions of years to evolve +again into young stars, middle-aged stars, old stars, and stars +absolutely cold. So long as any of these bodies retain motion +with reference to other bodies, they retain the power of +rebirth and another life. Not to go too far into speculative +detail, the general effect of these processes would be the +destruction of relative motions and the gradual decrease in the +number of separate bodies, through coalescence. Assume further, +however, that all existing bodies, widely scattered through the +stellar system, are absolutely cold and absolutely at rest with +reference to each other: the system might even then be only +middle-aged. The mutual gravitations of the bodies would still +be operative. They would pass each other closely, or collide, +under high generated velocities: there would be new nebulae, +and new and vigorous stellar life to continue through other +long ages. The system would not run down until all the kinetic +energy had been converted into heat, and all the heat generable +had been dissipated. This would not occur until all material in +the universe had been combined into one body, or into two +bodies in mutual revolution. However, if there are those who +say that the universe in action is eternal, through the +operation of compensating principles as yet undiscovered, no +man of science is at present equipped to prove the contrary. + +THE NOVAE + +The so-called new stars, otherwise known as temporary stars or +novae, present interesting considerations. These are stars +which suddenly flash out at points where previously no star was +known to exist; or, in a few cases, where a faint existing star +has in a few days become immensely brighter. Twenty-nine new +stars have been observed from the year 1572 to date; 19 of them +since 1886, when the photographic dry plate was applied +systematically to the mapping of the heavens, and 15 of the 19 +stand to the credit of the Harvard observers. This is an +average of one new star in two years; and as some novae must +come and go unseen it is evident that they are by no means rare +objects. Novae pass through a series of evolutions which have +many points in common; in fact, the ones which have been +extensively studied by photometer and spectrograph have had +histories with so many identities that we are coming to look +upon them as standard products of evolutionary processes. These +stars usually rise to maximum brilliancy in a few days: some of +the most noted ones increased in brightness ten-thousand-fold +in two or three days. All of them fluctuate in brightness +irregularly, and usually in short periods of time. Several +novae have become invisible to the naked eye at the end of a +few weeks. With two or three exceptions, all have become +invisible in moderate-sized telescopes, or have become very +faint, within a few months. Two novae, found very early in +their development, had at first dark line spectra, a night +later bright lines appeared, and a night or two later the +spectra contained the broad radiation and absorption bands +characteristic of all recent novae. After the novae become +fairly faint, the bright lines of the gaseous nebula spectrum +are seen for the first time. These lines increase in relative +brilliancy until the spectra are essentially the same as those +of well-known nebulae, except that the novae lines are broad +whereas the lines of the nebulae are narrow. In a few months or +years the nebular lines diminish in brightness, and the +continuous spectrum develops. Hartmann at Potsdam, and Adams +and Pease with the 60-inch Mount Wilson reflector, have shown +that the spectra of the faint remnants of four originally +brilliant novae now contain some of the bright lines which are +characteristic of Wolf-Rayet stars.[2] + +[2] After this lecture was delivered Adams of Mount Wilson +reported that in November, 1914, the chief nebular line (5007A) +and another prominent nebular line (4363A) had entirely +disappeared from the spectrum of Nova Geminorum No. 2, whereas +the second nebular line in the green (4959A) remained strong; +probably a step in progress from the nebular to the Wolf-Rayet +spectrum. + + + +Why the novae suddenly flare up, and what their relations to +other celestial bodies may be, are questions which can not be +regarded as settled. Their distribution on the celestial sphere +is indicated in Figure 25 by the open circles. In this figure +the densest parts of the Milky Way are drawn in outline. All of +the novae have appeared in the Milky Way, with the exception of +five: and these exceptions are worthy of note. One of the five +appeared in the condensed nucleus of the great Andromeda +nebula, not far from its center; another (zeta Centauri) was +located close to the edge of a spiral nebula and quite possibly +in a faint outlying part of the nebula; a third (tau Coronae) +was observed to have a nebulous halo about it at the earliest +stage of its observed existence; a fourth (tau Scorpii) +appeared in a nebula; and the fifth (Nova Ophiuchi No. 2) in +1848 was not extensively observed. The other 24 novae appeared +within the structure of the Milky Way. Keeping the story as +short as possible, a nova is seemingly best explained on the +theory that a dark or relatively dark star, traveling rapidly +through space, has encountered resistance, such as a great +nebula or cloud of particles would afford. While passing +through the cloud the forward face of the star is bombarded at +high velocities by the resisting materials. The surface strata +become heated, the luminosity of the star increases rapidly. +The effect of the bombardment by small particles can be only +skin deep, and the brightness of the star should diminish +rapidly and therefore the spectrum change speedily from one +type to another. The new star of February, 1901, in Perseus, +afforded evidence of great strength on this question. Wolf at +Heidelberg photographed in August an irregular nebulous object +near the nova. Ritchey's photograph of September showed +extensive areas of nebulosity around the star. In October +Perrine and Ritchey discovered that the nebular structure had +apparently moved outward from the nova, from September to +October. Going back to a March 29th photograph taken for a +different purpose, Perrine found an irregular ring of +nebulosity closely surrounding the star. Apparently, the region +was full f nebulosity which is normally invisible to us. The +rushing of the star through this resisting medium made the star +the brightest one in the northern sky for two or three days. +The great wave of light going out from the star when at its +brightest traveled in five weeks as far as the ring of +nebulosity, where, falling upon non-luminous nebulous +materials, it made the ring visible. Continuing its progress, +the wave of light illuminated the material which Wolf +photographed in August, the materials which Ritchey +photographed still farther away in September, and the still +more distant materials which Perrine and Ritchey photographed +in October, November, and later. We were able to see this +material only as the very strong wave of light which left the +star at maximum brightness made the material luminous in +passing. That 24 novae should occur in the Milky Way, where the +stars are most numerous, and where the resisting materials may +preferably prevail, is not surprising; and it should be +repeated that at least three of the five occurring outside of +the Milky Way were located in nebulous surroundings. + +The actual collision of two stars would necessarily be too +violent in its effect to let the reduction of brilliancy occur +so rapidly as to cause the disappearance of the nova in a few +weeks or months. The close approach of two stars might +conceivably produce the observed facts, but even this process +seems too violent in its probable results. The chances for the +collision of a rapidly traveling star with an enormously +extended nebulous cloud are vastly greater, and the apparent +mildness of the phenomenon observed is in better harmony with +expectation. + +RELATION OF NOVAE, PLANETARY NEBULAE AND WOLF-RAYET STARS + +Although all recent novae have been observed to become +planetary or stellar nebulae, they seem not to remain nebular +for any length of time; they have gone further and become +Wolf-Rayet stars. Whether any or all of the planetary nebulae +that have been known since Herschel's day, and have remained +apparently unchanged in form, have developed from new stars, is +uncertain and doubtful. If they have, the disturbances which +gave them their character must have been violent, such as would +result from full or glancing collisions of two stars, in order +to produce deep-seated effects which change slowly, rather than +surface effects which change rapidly. + +Whether the Wolf-Rayet stars have in general been formed from +planetary nebulae is a different question: some of them +certainly have. Wright has recently shown that the stellar +nuclei of planetary nebulae are Wolf-Rayet stars, and he has +formulated several steps in the process whereby the nebulosity +in a planetary eventually condenses into the central star. The +distribution of the planetaries and the Wolf-Rayet stars on the +sphere affords further evidence of a connection. We saw. that +the novae are nearly all in the Milky Way. The irregular, ring, +planetary and stellar nebulae, plotted in Fig. 27, prefer the +Milky Way, but not so markedly. The Wolf-Rayets, without +exception, are located in the Milky Way and in the Magellanic +Clouds, and those in the Milky Way are remarkably near to its +central plane. 107 of these objects are known, 1 is in the +Lesser Magellanic Cloud, and 21 are in the Greater Magellanic +Cloud. The remaining 85 average less than 2 3/4 degrees from +the central plane of the Milky Way. + +We are obliged to say that the places of the novae, of the +planetary and stellar nebulae, and of the Wolf-Rayets in the +evolutionary process are not certainly known. If the Wolf-Rayet +stars have developed from the planetaries, the planetaries from +the novae, and the novae have resulted from the close approach +or collision of two stars, or from the rushing of a dark or +faint star through a resisting medium, then the novae, +planetaries and Wolf-Rayets belong to a new and second +generation: they were born under exceptional conditions. The +velocities of the planetary nebulae seem to be an insuperable +difficulty in the way of placing them between the irregular +nebulae and the helium stars. The average radial velocity of 47 +planetary nebulae is about 45 km. per second; and, if the +motions of the planetaries are somewhat at random, their +average velocities in space are twice as great, or 90 km. per +second. This is fully seven times the average velocity of the +helium stars, and the helium stars in general, therefore, could +not have come from planetary nebulae. The radial velocities of +only three Wolf-Rayet stars have been observed, and this number +is too small to have statistical value, but the average for the +three is several times as high as the average for the helium +stars. We can not say, I think, that the velocities of any +novae are certainly known. + +If the planetaries have been formed from novae, especially the +novae which encountered the fiercest resistance, the high +velocities are in a sense not surprising, for those stars which +travel with abnormally high speeds are the ones whose chances +for collisions with resisting media are best; and, further, the +higher the speeds of collision the more violent the +disturbance. This line of argument also leads to the conclusion +that the novae, planetaries and Wolf-Rayets belong not in +general before the helium stars, but to another generation of +stars. They may, and I think will, develop into a small class +of helium stars having special characteristics; for example, +high velocities. + +KANT'S HYPOTHESIS + +Immanuel Kant's writings, published principally in 1755, are in +many ways the most remarkable contributions to the literature +of stellar evolution yet made. Curiously, Kant's papers have +not been read by the text-book makers, except in a few cases. +We have already referred to his ideas on the Milky Way and on +comets. In his hypothesis of the origin of the solar system, he +laid emphasis upon the facts that the six known planets revolve +around the Sun from west to east, nearly in the same plane and +nearly in the plane of the Sun's equator; that the then four +known moons of Jupiter, the five known moons of Saturn, and our +moon revolve around these planets from west to east, and nearly +in the same general plane; and that the Sun, our moon and the +planets, so far as known, rotate in the same direction. These +facts, he said, indicate indisputably a common origin for all +the members of the solar system. He expressed the belief that +the materials now composing the solar system were originally +scattered widely throughout the system, and in an elemental +state. This was a half century before Herschel's extensive +observations of nebuae. Kant thought of this elemental matter +as cold, endowed with gravitational power, and endowed +necessarily with some repulsive power, such as exists in gases. +He started his solar system from materials at rest. Most of the +matter, he said, drifted to the center to form the Sun. He +believed that nuclei or centers of attraction formed here and +there throughout the chaotic structure, and that in the course +of ages these centers grew by accretion of surrounding matter +into the present planets and their satellites; and that in some +manner motion in one direction prevailed throughout the whole +system. Kant's explanation of the origin of the ROTATION of the +solar system is unsound and worthless. We now know that such a +cloud of matter, free from rotation, could not of itself +generate rotation; it must get the start from outside forces. +Kant's false reasoning was due in part to the fact that some of +our most important dynamical laws were not yet discovered, in +part to his faulty comprehension of certain dynamical +principles already known, and probably in part to the +unsatisfactory state of chemical knowledge existing at that +date. This was half a century before Dalton's atomic theory of +matter was proposed. + +Kant asserted that the processes of combination of surrounding +cold materials would generate heat, and, therefore, that the +resulting planetary masses would assume the liquid form; that +Jupiter and Saturn are now in the liquid state; and that all +the planets will ultimately become cold and solid. This is in +fair agreement with present-day opinion as to the planets, save +that modern astronomers go further in holding that the outer +strata of Jupiter and Saturn, likewise of Uranus and Neptune, +down to a great depth, must still be gaseous. In 1785, after +the principle of heat liberation attending the compression of a +gas had been announced, Kant supplemented his statement of 1755 +as to the origin of the Sun's heat. He attributed this to +gravitational action of the Sun upon its own matter, causing it +to contract in size: he said the quantity of heat generated in +a given time would be a function of the Sun's volumes at the +beginning and at the ending of that period of time. This is +substantially the principle which Helmholtz rediscovered and +announced in 1854, and which is now universally accepted--with +the reservation of the past ten years, that radioactive +substances in the Sun may be an additional factor in the +problem. + +Kant's paper of 1754 enunciated the theory that the Moon always +turns the same face to the Earth because of tidal retardation +of the Moon's rotation by the Earth's gravitational attraction; +and that our Earth tides produced by the Moon will slow down +the Earth's rotation until the Earth will finally turn one +hemisphere constantly to the Moon. This principle was in part +reannounced by Laplace a half century later, and likewise +investigated by Helmholtz in 1854, before Kant's work was +recognized. + +Kant's speculations on a possible destruction and re-birth of +the solar system, on the nature of Saturn's ring, and on the +nature of the zodiacal light are similar in several regards to +present-day beliefs. + +Kant wrote: + +'I seek to evolve the present state of the universe from the +simplest condition of nature by means of mechanical laws +alone.' + +In 1869 Sir William Thomson, afterwards Lord Kelvin, commented +that Kant's + +'attempt to account for the constitution and mechanical origin +of the universe on Newtonian principles only wanted the +knowledge of thermodynamics, which the subsequent experiments +of Davy, Rumford and Joule supplied, to lead to thoroughly +definite explanation of all that is known regarding the present +actions and temperatures of the Earth and of the Sun and all +other heavenly bodies.' + +These are, apparently, the enthusiastic comments resulting from +the re-discovery of Kant's papers. A present-day writer would +not speak so decisively of them, but we must all bow in +acknowledgment of Kant's remarkable contributions to our +subject, published when he was but 31 years old. + +LAPLACE'S HYPOTHESIS + +In 1796, 41 years following Kant's principal contributions, +Laplace published an extensive untechnical volume on general +astronomy. At the end of the volume he appended seven short +notes. The final note, to which he gave the curious title "Note +VII and last," proposed a theory of the origin and evolution of +the solar system which soon came to be known as Laplace's +Nebular Hypothesis. There are several circumstances which +indicate pretty clearly that Laplace was not deeply serious in +proposing this hypothesis: + +1. Its method of publication as the final short appendix to a +large volume on general astronomy. + +2. He himself said in his note that the hypothesis must be +received "with the distrust with which everything should be +regarded that is not the result of observation or calculation." + +3. So far as we know he did not submit the theory to the test +of well-known mathematical principles involved, although this +was his habit in essentially every other branch of astronomy. + +4. Laplace, in common with Kant, laid great stress upon the +fact that the satellites all revolve around their planets from +west to east, nearly in the common plane of the solar system; +yet 6 or 7 years before Laplace's publication, Herschel had +shown and published that the two recently discovered satellites +of Uranus were revolving about Uranus in a plane making an +angle of 98 degrees with the common plane of the solar system. +While Laplace might not have known of Uranus's satellites in +1796, on account of existing political conditions, there is no +evidence that he considered or took note of the fact when +making minor changes in his published papers up to the time of +his death in 1827. It is a further interesting comment on +international scientific literature that Laplace died without +learning that Kant had worked in the same field. + +Laplace and his contemporary, Sir William Herschel, had been +the most fruitful contributors to astronomical knowledge since +the days of Sir Isaac Newton. Herschel's observations had led +him to speculate as to the evolution of the stars from nebulae, +and as a result interest in the subject was widespread. This +fact, coupled with Laplace's commanding position, caused the +nebular hypothesis to be received with great favor. During an +entire century it was the central idea about which astronomical +thought revolved. + +Laplace conceived that the solar system has been evolved from a +gaseous and hot nebula; that the nebulosity extended out +farther than the known planets; and that the entire nebulous +mass was endowed with a slow rotation that was UNIFORM IN +ANGULAR RATE, as in the case of a rotating solid. This gaseous +mass was in equilibrium under the expanding forces of heat and +rotation and the contracting force of gravitation. Loss of heat +by radiation permitted corresponding contraction in size, and +increased speed of rotation. A time came, according to Laplace, +when the nebula was rotating so rapidly that an outer ring of +nebulosity was in equilibrium under centrifugal and +gravitational forces and refused to be drawn closer in toward +the center. This ring, ROTATING AS A SOLID, maintained its +position, while the inner mass contracted farther. Later +another ring was abandoned in the same manner; and so on, ring +after ring, until only the central nucleus was left. Inasmuch +as the nebulosity in the rings was not uniformly distributed, +each ring broke into pieces, and the pieces of each ring, in +the progress of time, condensed into a gaseous mass. The +several large masses formed from the abandoned rings, +respectively, became the planets and satellites of the solar +system. These gaseous masses rotated faster and faster as their +heat radiated into space, they abandoned rings of gaseous +matter just as the original mass had done, and these secondary +rings condensed to form the satellites; save that, in one case, +the ring of gas nearest to Saturn for some reason formed a +solid (!) ring about that planet, instead of condensing into +one or more satellites. Thus, in outline, according to Laplace, +the solar system was formed. + +The first half of the nineteenth century found the nebular +hypothesis accepted almost without question, but a tearing-down +process began in the second half of the century, and at present +not much of the original structure remains standing. This is +due in small part to discoveries since Laplace's time, but +chiefly to a more careful consideration of the fundamental +principles involved. We have space to present only a few of the +more salient objections. + +1. If the materials of the solar system existed as a gas, +uniformly distributed throughout what we may call the volume of +the system, the density of the gas would be exceedingly low: at +the most, several hundred million times less dense than the air +we breath. Conditions of equilibrium in so rare a medium would +require that the abandonment of the outer parts by the +contracting and more rapidly rotating inner mass should be a +continuous process. Each abandoned element would be abandoned +individually; it would not be vitally affected by the elements +slightly farther out in the structure, nor by the elements +slightly nearer to the center. Successive abandonment of nine +gaseous rings of matter, EACH RING ROTATING AS IF IT WERE A +SOLID STRUCTURE, is unthinkable. The real product of the +cooling process in such a nebula would undoubtedly be something +in the nature of a spiral nebula, in which the matter would +revolve around the nucleus the more rapidly the nearer it was +to the nucleus. If the matter were originally distributed +uniformly throughout the rotating structure, the spiral lines +might not be visible. If it were distributed irregularly, the +spiral form here and there could scarcely fail to be in +evidence to a distant observer. + +2. Laplace held that the condensation of each ring would result +in one planet, rotating on its axis from west to east; this +apparently by virtue of the fact that in a ring rotating AS A +SOLID the outer edge travels more rapidly than the inner edge +does, and therefore, the west to east direction of rotation +must prevail in the planetary product. If now, as we firmly +believe, each constituent of such an attenuated ring must +rotate substantially independently of other constituents, those +nearer the inner edge of the ring will possess the higher +speeds of rotation, and the preponderance of kinetic energy in +the inner parts of the ring should give the resulting planetary +condensation a retrograde direction of rotation. + +3. According to Laplace the satellites should all revolve +around their primaries from west to east. Eight of the +satellites do not follow this rule. + +4. If the materials composing the inner ring of Saturn were +abandoned by the parent planet, as this planet contracted in +size and rotated ever more and more rapidly, then the ring +should revolve about the planet in a period considerably longer +than the planet period. The reverse is the fact. The rotation +period of the equatorial region of the planet itself is 10 h. +14 m., whereas the inner edge of the ring system revolves about +the planet once in about five hours. + +5. The inner satellite of Mars revolves once in 7 h. 39 m., +whereas Mars requires 24 h. 37 m. for one rotation. According +to the Nebular Hypothesis, the period of the satellite should +be the longer. + +6. Laplace's hypothesis would seem to require that the orbits +of the planets be circular or very nearly so. The orbits of all +except Venus and Neptune are quite eccentric, and Mercury's +orbit, which should have the nearest approach to circularity, +is by far the most eccentric. + +7. If the planetary rings were abandoned by centrifugal action, +we should expect the Sun to be rotating in the principal plane +of the planet system. The major planets, from Venus out to +Neptune, are revolving in nearly a common plane. The Sun, +containing 99 6/7 per cent. of all the material in the system, +has its equator inclined 7 degrees to the planet plane. This +discrepancy is a very serious and I think fatal objection to +Laplace's hypothesis, as Chamberlin has emphasized. + +8. Laplace assumed a nebula whose form was a function of its +rotational speed, its gravitation, its internal heat, and, +although he does not so state, of its internal friction. He did +not distribute the matter within the nebula to conform in any +way to the distribution as we observe it to-day, but he let the +entire structure contract, following the loss of heat, until +the maintenance of equilibrium required the successive +abandoning of seven or eight rings. He mentions a central +condensation, but gives no further particulars. Thirty years +ago Fouche established clearly that the condensing of Laplace's +assumed nebula into the present solar system would involve the +violent breaking of the law known as the conservation of moment +of momentum. Fouche proved that a distribution of matter beyond +any conception of the subject by Laplace must be assumed. Fully +96 per cent. must be condensed in the central nucleus AT THE +OUTSET, and not more than 4 per cent. of the total mass must +lie outside of the nucleus and be widely distributed throughout +the volume of the solar system. Chamberlin puts the case very +strongly in another way. If the planet Mercury was abandoned as +a ring of nebulosity, the equatorial velocity of the remaining +central mass must at that time have been in the neighborhood of +45 km. per second, as this is the orbital speed of Mercury. If +the central mass condensed to the present size of the Sun, the +Sun's equatorial velocity of rotation should now be fully 400 +km. per second, in accordance with the requirement of the rigid +law of constancy of moment of momentum. The Sun's actual +equatorial velocity is only 2 km. per second! + +In several other respects the hypothesis of Laplace, as he +proposed it, fails to account for the facts as they are +observed to exist. + +Poincare devoted his unique talents to the evolution problem +shortly before his death. He recognized that the Laplace +hypothesis is not tenable except upon such an assumed +distribution of matter as was defined by Fouche. Accepting this +modification, and extending the hypothesis to involve the +application of tidal interactions at many points throughout the +solar system, Poincare expresses the opinion that the Laplacian +hypothesis, of all those proposed, is still the one which best +accounts for the facts.[3] However, he does not utilize the +hypothesis of rings rotating as solids, for he finds it +necessary to conclude that the planetary masses in the +beginning must have had retrograde rotations. In the large +planetary masses of Jupiter and Saturn, for example, the +materials which form the outer retrograde satellites were +abandoned while the rotations were still retrograde, and when +the diameters of the planetary masses were several scores of +times their present diameters. In these extended masses the Sun +would create tidal waves, and here, as always, such waves would +exert a retarding effect upon the rotations. A time would come, +Poincare thought, when these planets would rotate once in a +revolution; that is, present the same face to the Sun; and this +is in fact a west to east rotation. Further contraction of the +planetary masses would give rise to increasing rotational +speeds in the west to east direction. The materials which form +the inner satellites of Jupiter and Saturn were abandoned +successively after the west to east direction of rotation had +become established. According to modifications of the same +theory, tidal retardation has slowed down Saturn's speed since +the abandonment of the materials which later condensed to form +the inner ring of that planet; or, possibly, the ring materials +encountered resistance after the planet abandoned them, with +the consequence that the ring drew in toward the planet and +increased its speed; and similarly in the case of Mars and its +inner satellite. + +[3] Poincare has made the following interesting comments on +Laplace's hypothesis: "The oldest hypothesis is that of +Laplace; but its old age is vigorous and for its age it has not +too many wrinkles. In spite of the objections which have been +urged against it, in spite of the discoveries which astronomers +have made and which would indeed astonish Laplace himself, it +is always standing the strain, and it is the hypothesis which +best explains the facts; it is the hypothesis which responds +best to the question which Laplace endeavored to answer, Why +does order rule throughout the solar system, provided this +order is not due to chance? From time to time a breach opened +in the old edifice (the Laplace hypothesis); but the breach was +promptly repaired and the edifice has not fallen." + + + +To me this modification of the Laplacian hypothesis is +unsatisfactory, for several reasons. To mention only one: if +Jupiter was a large gaseous mass extending out as far as the +8th and 9th satellites, the gaseous body was very highly +attenuated; friction in the outer strata would be essentially a +negligible quantity, and tidal retardation would not be very +effective; and it would be under just these conditions that +loss of heat from the planet should be most rapid and the rate +of increase of retrograde rotation resulting therefrom be +comparatively high. It would seem that the rotation of the +planet in the retrograde direction must have accelerated under +the contractional cause, rather than have decreased and +reversed in direction under an excessively feeble tidal cause. + +The recognized weaknesses of Laplace's hypothesis have caused +many other hypotheses to be proposed in the past half century. +The hypotheses of Faye, Lockyer, du Ligondes, See, Arrhenius, +and Chamberlin and Moulton include many of the features of +Kant's or Laplace's hypotheses, but all of them advance and +develop other ideas. It is unfortunate that space limits do not +permit us to discuss the new features of each hypothesis. + +(To be continued.) + + + +PROGRESS AND PEACE + +BY PROFESSOR ROBERT M. YERKES + +HARVARD UNIVERSITY + +LASTING peace among the nations of the earth we must regard as +of supreme moment, the discovery of the conditions thereof, as +most worthy of human effort. Physical struggle is no longer +accepted as either a necessary or a desirable means of settling +differences between individuals. Why, then, should it be +tolerated to-day in connection with national disagreements? To +admit the impossibility or the impracticability of universal +peace is to stigmatize our vaunted civilization as a failure. +Surely we will not, can not, humble ourselves by such an +admission until we have exhausted our energies in searching for +the conditions of national amity. + +With my whole life I believe in the possibility and value of +worldwide friendliness and cooperation. I am writing to discuss +not the attainability or the merits of peace, but ways of +achieving it; not to criticize present activities on its +behalf, but to indicate the promise of a neglected approach and +to present a program which should, I believe, find its place in +the great "peace movement." + +Must peace be achieved and maintained by brute strength, +regardless of sense and sentiment, or may it be gained through +intelligence, humanely used? Must the pathway thereto be paved +with human skulls, builded with infinite suffering and +sacrifice, or may it he charted by scientific inquiry and +builded by the joyous labor of mutual service and helpfulness? +Is it possible, in the light of the history of the races of +man, to doubt that we must place our dependence on intelligence +sympathetically employed, not on physical prowess? To me it +seems that peace must be achieved peacefully, not by the clash +of arms and bloodshed. + +But even if we grant that science is our main hope, there +remains a choice of methods. On the one hand, there is the way +of material progress, physical discovery and feverish haste to +apply every new fact to armament; on the other, that of +biological research, social enlightenment, and ever-increasing +human understanding and sympathy. + +Firm believers in each of these possible approaches, through +science, to international peace, are at hand. The one group +argues that nations, like individuals, must be controlled in +all supreme crises by fear; the other contends that +civilization has developed in enlightened human sympathy a +higher, a more worthy, and a safer control of behavior. + +As a biologist and a believer in the brotherhood of man, I wish +to present the merits of sympathy, as contrasted with fear, and +to plead for larger attention to the biological approach to the +control of international relations. For I am convinced that the +greatest lesson of the present stupendous world-conflict is the +need of thorough knowledge of the laws of individual and social +human behavior. Surely this war clearly indicates that the +study of instinct, and the use of our knowledge for the control +of human relations, is incalculably more important for the +welfare of mankind than is the discovery of new and ever more +powerful explosives or the building of increasingly terrible +engines of destruction. + +During the last half-century the physical sciences, +technologies, arts and industries, have made marvelous +advances. At enormous cost of labor and material resources +there have been discovered and perfected means of destroying +life and property at once so effective and so terrible to +contemplate that preparedness for war seemed a safe guarantee +of peace. But who is there now to insist, against the evidence +of blood-drenched Europe, that material progress, physical +discovery, and armament based thereupon, assure international +friendship? + +Only if one of the nations should discover, and guard as its +secret, some diabolically horrible means of destroying human +life and property by wholesale and over materially unbridged +distances, can armaments even temporarily put an end to war. In +such event--and it is by no means an improbability--the whole +world might suddenly be made to bow in terror before the will +of the all-powerful nation. Before this approaching crisis, can +we do less than earnestly pray that the translation of physical +progress into armament may be halted until the brotherhood of +man has been further advanced? Dare we stop to contemplate what +would happen to-morrow if Germany, with half the civilized +world arrayed against her, should come into possession of some +imponderable, and to the untutored mind mysterious, means of +directing her torpedoes, exploding magazines, mines, shells +from distant bases? Undoubtedly we are close upon the +employment of certain vibrations for this deadly purpose. Shall +we veer in time and take a safer course, or are we doomed to +the inevitable? + +For the certain result of pushing forward relentlessly on the +path of preparation for war--in the name of peace--is the +dominance of a single nation and the destruction or subjugation +of all others. This is as inevitable as is death. If we would +preserve and foster racial and national diversity of traits, +promote social individuality as we so eagerly foster the +diversity of selves, we must speedily focus attention upon +human nature and seek that knowledge of it which shall enable +us to control it wisely rather than to destroy it ruthlessly. + +Even were I able to do so, I should in no degree belittle the +achievements of the physical sciences and their technologies, +for I believe whole-heartedly in their value, and long for the +steady increase of our power to control our environment. But +when these achievements are offered as means of creating or +maintaining certain desired conditions of individual and social +life, I must insist that other knowledge is essential--nay, +more essential--than that of the physicist or chemist. +Knowledge, namely, of life itself. + +Most briefly, the situation may thus be described. In peace and +in war there are two large, complex and intricate groups of +facts to be dealt with by those who seek the welfare of man. +The one group comprises the phenomena of physical nature as the +condition of life--environment; the other is constituted by the +phenomena of life and the relations of lives. Those who +sincerely believe in preparedness for war as a preventive +measure, misconceive and attempt to misuse the emotion of fear +and its modes of expression. It is as though we should strive +tirelessly to develop machinery and methods for educating our +children, the while ignorant of the laws of child development +and branding as of no practical importance the fundamentals of +human nature. + +To nations no more than to individuals is it given to live by +fear alone. By it a nation may become dominant, and diversity +of body, mind, and ideals be eradicated. To base our +civilization upon fear entails uniformity, monotony of life; +the sacrifice of peoples for the unduly exalted traits and +national ideals of a single homogeneous social group--a single +all-powerful nation. Knowledge of life, and the sympathy for +one's fellow men which springs from it, must control the world +if nations are to live in peaceful and mutually helpful +relations. If life, whether of the individual or of the social +group, is to be controlled, it must be through intimate +knowledge of life, not through knowledge of something else. The +world must be ruled by sympathy, based upon understanding, +insight, appreciation. This is my prophecy, this my faith and +my present thesis. + +Material as contrasted with purely intellectual or spiritual +progress is the pride of our time. We worship technology as +reared upon physics and chemistry. But what is our gain, in +this progress, so long as we continue to use one another as +targets? Would it not be wiser, more far-sighted, more humane, +more favorable to the development of universal peace and +brotherhood, to give a large share of our time and substance to +the search for the secrets of life? As compared with the +physical sciences, the biological departments of inquiry are, +in general, backward and ill-supported. Why? Because their +tremendous importance is not generally recognized, and, still +more, because the control of inanimate nature as promised by +physical discovery and its applications appeals irresistibly +both to our imagination and to our greed. We long for +peace--because we are afraid of war--we long for the perfecting +of individual and social life, but much more intensely and +effectively we long for wealth, power and pleasure. + +What I have already said and now repeat in other words is that +if we really desired above anything attainable on earth the +lasting peace of nations, we should diligently foster and +tirelessly pursue the sciences of life and seek to perfect and +exalt the varied arts and technologies which should be based +upon them. Experimental zoology and genetics; physiology and +hygiene; genetic psychology and education; anthropology and +ethnology; sociology and economics, would be held in as high +esteem and as ardently furthered as are the various physical +sciences and their technologies. + +Does it not seem reasonable to claim that human behavior may be +intelligently controlled or directed only in the light of +intimate and exhaustive knowledge of the organism, its +processes, and its relations to its environment? If this be +true, how pitiably, how shamefully, inadequate is our knowledge +even of ourselves! How few are those who have a sound, although +meager, knowledge of the laws of heredity, of the primary facts +of human physiology, of the principles of hygiene, of the chief +facts and laws of mental life, including the fundamental +emotions and their corresponding instinctive modes of action, +the modifiability or educability of the individual and the +important relations of varied sorts of experience and conduct, +the laws of habit, the nature and role of the sentiments, the +unnumbered varieties of memory and ideation, the chief facts of +social life and their relations to individual experience and +behavior. Not one person in a thousand has a knowledge of life +and its conditions equal in adequacy for practical demands to +his knowledge of those aspects of physical nature with which he +is concerned in earning a livelihood. Even those of us who have +dedicated our lives to the study of life are humble before our +ignorance. But with a faith which can not be shaken, because we +have seen visions and dreamed dreams, we insist that the +knowledge which we seek and daily find is absolutely essential +for the perfecting of educational methods; for the development +of effective systems of bodily and mental hygiene; for the +discovery, fostering and maintenance of increasingly profitable +social relations and organizations. In a word, we believe that +biology, of all sciences, can and must lead us in the path of +social as contrasted with merely material progress; can and +ultimately will so alter the relations of nations that war +shall be as impossible as is peace to-day. + +Fortunately the biologist may depend, in his efforts to further +the study of all aspects of life, not upon faith and hope +alone, but also upon works, for already physiology and +psychology have transformed our educational practices; and the +medical sciences given us a great and steadily increasing +measure of control over disease. + +At least two men, as different in intellectual equipment, +habits of mind, and methods of inquiry as well could be, the +one an American, the other an Englishman, have heralded the +broadly comparative and genetic study of mind and behavior--let +us call it Genetic Psychology--as the promise of a new era for +civilization, because the essential condition of the +intelligent and effective regulation of life. + +The one of these prophets among biologists, President G. +Stanley Hall, has lived to see his faith in the practical +importance of the intensive study of childhood and adolescence +justified by radical reforms in school and home. Hall should be +revered by all lovers of youth as the apostle to adolescents. +The other, Professor William McDougall, has done much to +convince the thinking world that all of the social sciences and +technologies must be grounded upon an adequate genetic +psychology--a genetic psychology which shall take as full and +intelligent account of behavior as of experience; of the life +of the ant, monkey, ape as of that of man; of the savage as of +civilized man; of the infant, child, adolescent as of the +adult; of the moron, imbecile, idiot, insane, as of the normal +individual; of social groups as of isolated selves. It is to +McDougall we owe a most effective sketch--in his introduction +to Social Psychology of the primary human emotions in their +relations to instinctive modes of behavior. + +Hall, McDougall and such sociologists--lamentably few, I +fear--as Graham Wallas would agree that for the attainment of +peace we must depend upon some primary human instinct. I +venture the prediction that no one of them would select fear as +the safe basis. Instead, they surely would unite upon sympathy. + +Among animals preparedness for struggles is a conspicuous cause +of strife. The monkey who stalks about among his fellows with +muscles tense, tail erect, teeth bared, bespeaking expectancy +of and longing for a fight, usually provokes it. We may not +safely argue that lower animals prove the value of preparedness +for war as a preventive measure! Among them, as among human +groups, the only justification of militarism is protection and +aggression. Preparedness for strife is provocative rather than +preventive thereof. + +As individual differences, and resulting struggles, are due to +ignorance, misunderstanding, lack of the basis for intelligent +appreciation of ideals, motives and sympathy, so among nations +knowledge of bodily and mental traits, of aims, aspirations, +and national ideals fosters the feeling of kinship and favors +the instinctive attitude of sympathetic cooperation. + +Every student of living things knows that to understand the +structure, habits, instincts, of any creature is to feel for +and with it. Even the lowliest type of organism acquires +dignity and worth when one becomes familiar with its life. +Children in their ignorance and lack of understanding are +incredibly cruel. So, likewise, are nations. The treatment of +inferior by superior races throughout the ages has been +childishly cruel, unjust, stupid, inimical to the best +interests not only of the victims, but also of mankind. This +has been so, not so much by reason of bad intentions, although +selfishness has been at the root of immeasurable injustice, but +primarily because of the utter lack of understanding and +sympathy. To see a savage is to despise or fear him, to know +him intimately is to love him. The same law holds of social +groups, be they families, tribes, nations or races. They can +cooperate on terms of friendly helpfulness just in the measure +in which they know one another's physical, mental and social +traits and appreciate their values, for in precisely this +measure are they capable of understanding and sympathizing with +one another's ideals. + +Selfishness, the essential condition of individualism and +nationalism, must be supplanted by the sympathy of an all +inclusive social consciousness and conscience if lasting peace +is to be attained. + +To further the end of this transformation of man we should +become familiar with the inborn springs to action, those +fundamental tendencies which we call instincts, for we live +more largely than is generally supposed by instinct and less by +reason. All of the organic cravings, hungers, needs, should be +thoroughly understood so that they may be effectively used. +And, finally, the laws of intellect must be at our command if +we are to meet the endlessly varying and puzzling situations of +life profitably and with the measure of adequacy our reason +would seem to justify. + +Clearly, then, the least, and the most, we can do in the +interest of peace is to provide for the study of life, but +especially for the shamefully neglected or imperfectly +described phenomena of behavior and mind, in the measure which +our national wealth, our intelligence and our technical skill +make possible. For one thing, it is open to us to establish +institutes for the thorough study of every aspect of behavior +and mind in relation to structure and environment, comparable +with such institutions for social progress as the Rockefeller +Institute for Medical Research. The primary function of such +centers for the solution of vital problems should be the +comparative study, from the genetic, developmental, historical, +point of view of every aspect of the functional life of living +things, to the end that human life may be better understood and +more successfully controlled. Facts of heredity, of behavior, +of mind, of social relations, should alike be gathered and +related, and thus by the observation of the most varied types, +developmental stages, and conditions of living creatures there +should be developed a science of behavior and consciousness +which should ultimately constitute a safe basis for the social +sciences, for all forms of social endeavor, and for universal +and permanent peace. + +I submit that such centers of research as the psycho-biological +institute I have so imperfectly described are sorely needed. +For it is obvious that the future of our species depends in +large measure upon how we develop the biological sciences and +what use we make of our knowledge. I further submit, and +therewith I rest my case, that familiarity with living things +breeds sympathy not contempt, and that sympathy in turn +conditions justice. + +May it be granted us to work intelligently, effectively, +tirelessly for world-wide peace and service. not by the +suppression of racial and national diversities, the leveling of +the mass to a deadly sameness, but through steadily increasing +appreciation of racial and national traits. May the world, even +sooner than we dare to hope, be ruled by sympathy instead of by +fear. + + + +THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE + +THE MISSOURI AND THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDENS + +THE Missouri Botanical Garden has recently celebrated the +twenty-fifth anniversary of its foundation and the New York +Botanical Garden its twentieth anniversary. Within these short +periods these gardens have taken rank among the leading +scientific institutions of the world. Botanical gardens were +among the first institutions to be established for scientific +research; indeed Parkinson, the "botanist royal" of England, on +the title page of his book of 1629, which we here reproduce, +depicts the Garden of Eden as the first botanical garden and +one which apparently engaged in scientific expeditions, for it +includes plants which must have been collected in America. +However this may be, publicly supported gardens for the +cultivation of plants of economic and esthetic value existed in +Egypt, Assyria, China and Mexico and beginning in the medieval +period had a large development in Europe there being at the +beginning of the seventeenth century botanical gardens devoted +to research in Bologna, Montpellier, Leyden, Paris, Upsala and +elsewhere. An interesting survey of the history of botanical +gardens is given in a paper by Dr. A W. Hill assistant director +of the Kew Gardens, prepared for the celebration of the +Missouri Garden, from which we have taken the illustration from +Parkinson and the pictures of Padua and Kew. + +The papers presented at the celebration have been published in +a handsome volume. It includes addresses by a number of +distinguished botanists, though owing to the war several of the +foreign botanists were unable to be present. Dr. George T. +Moore, director of the garden, made in his address of welcome a +brief statement in regard to its origin in the private garden +and by the later endowment of Mr. Henry Shaw. Mr. Shaw came to +this country from England in 1818, and with a small stock of +hardware began business in one room which also served as +bedroom and kitchen. Within twenty years he had acquired a +fortune and retired from active business to devote the +remaining forty-nine years of his life to travel and to the +management of a garden surrounding his country-home on the +outskirts of St. Louis. In 1859 he erected a small museum and +library, and in 1866 Mr. James Gurney was brought to this +country as head gardener. Mr. Shaw died in 1889, leaving his +estate largely for the establishment of the Missouri Botanical +Garden, but providing also for the Henry Shaw School of Botany +of Washington University and a park for the city. With this +liberal endowment constantly increasing as the real estate +becomes more productive, Dr. William Trelease, the first +director, and Dr. George T. Moore, the present director, have +conducted an institution not only of value to the city of St. +Louis but largely contributing to the advance of botanical +science. + +The New York Botanical Garden, largely through the efforts of +Dr. N. L. Britton, the present director was authorized by the +New York legislature in 1891. The act of incorporation provided +that when the corporation created should have secured by +subscription a sum not less than $250,000 the city was +authorized to set aside for the garden as much as 250 acres +from one of the public parks and to expend one half million +dollars for the construction and equipment of the necessary +buildings. The conditions were met in 1895, and the institution +has since grown in its land, and its buildings, in its +collections and in its herbaria, so that, in association with +the department of botany of Columbia University, it now rivals +in its material equipment and in the research work accomplished +any botanical institution in the world. + + + +THE SECOND PAN-AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS + +THERE will be held at Washington from Monday, December 27, to +Saturday, January 9, the second Pan-American Scientific +Congress, authorized by the first congress held in Santiago, +Chili, six years previously. This was one of the series of +congresses previously conducted by the republics of Latin +America. The Washington congress, which is under the auspices +of the government of the United States, with Mr. William +Phillips, third assistant secretary of state, as chairman of +the executive committee, will meet in nine sections, which, +with the chairmen, are as follows: + +I. Anthropology, Wm. H. Holmes. + +II. Astronomy, Meteorology, and Seismology, Robert S. Woodward. + +III. Conservation of Natural Resources, Agriculture, Irrigation +and Forestry, George M. Rommel. + +IV. Education, P. P. Claxton. + +V. Engineering, W. H. Bixby. + +VI. International Law, Public Law, and Jurisprudence, James +Brown Scott. + +VII. Mining and Metallurgy, Economic Geology, and Applied +Chemistry, Hennen Jennings. + +VIII. Public Health and Medical Science, Wm. C. Gorgas. + +IX. Transportation, Commerce, Finance, and Taxation, L. S. +Rowe. + +Each section is divided further into subsections, of which +there are forty-five, each with a special committee and +program. Several of the leading national associations of the +United States, concerned with the investigation of subjects of +pertinent interest to some of the sections of the congress, +have received and accepted invitations from the executive +committee of congress to meet in Washington at the same time +and hold one or more joint sessions with a section or +subsection of corresponding interest. Thus the nineteenth +International Congress of Americanists will meet in Washington +during the same week with the Pan-American Scientific Congress, +and joint conferences will be held for the discussion of +subjects of common interest to members of the two organizations + +As an example of the wide scope of the congress we may quote +the ten subsections into which the section of education is +divided. Each of these subsections is under a committee of men +distinguished in educational work and men of eminence have been +invited to take part in the proceedings. The subjects proposed +for discussion by each of these sections are: + +Elementary Education: To what extent should elementary +education be supported by local taxation, and to what extent by +state taxation? What should be the determining factors in the +distribution of support? Secondary Education: What should be +the primary and what the secondary purpose of high school +education? To what extent should courses of study in the high +school be determined by the requirements for admission to +college, and to what extent by the demands of industrial and +civic life? University Education: Should universities and +colleges supported by public funds be controlled by independent +and autonomous powers, or should they be controlled directly by +central state authority? Education of Women: To what extent is +coeducation desirable in elementary schools, high schools, +colleges and universities? Exchange of Professors and Students +between Countries: To what extent is an exchange of students +and professors between American republics desirable? What is +the most effective basis for a system of exchange? What plans +should be adopted in order to secure mutual recognition of +technical and professional degrees by American Republics? +Engineering Education: To what extent may college courses in +engineering be profitably supplemented by practical work in the +shop? To what extent may laboratory work in engineering be +replaced through cooperation with industrial plants? Medical +Education: What preparation should be required for admission to +medical schools? What should he the minimum requirements for +graduation? What portion of the faculty of a medical school +should be required to give all their time to teaching and +investigation? What instruction may best be given by physicians +engaged in medical practice? Agricultural Education: What +preparation should be required for admission to state and +national colleges of agriculture? To what extent should the +courses of study in the agricultural college be theoretical and +general, and to what extent practical and specific? To what +extent should the curriculum of any such college be determined +by local conditions? Industrial Education: What should be the +place of industrial education in the school system of the +American republics? Should it be supported by public taxation? +Should it be considered as a function of the public school +system? Should it be given in a separate system under separate +control? How and to what extent may industrial schools +cooperate with employers of labor, Commercial Education: How +can a nation prepare in the most effective manner its young men +for a business career that is to be pursued at home or in a +foreign country. + + + +SCIENTIFIC ITEMS + +WE record with regret the death at the age of ninety-two of +Henri Fabre, the distinguished French entomologist and author; +of William Henry Hoar Hudson, late professor of mathematics at +King's College, London; of Dr. Ugo Schiff, professor of +chemistry at Florence; of Susanna Phelps Gage, known for her +work on comparative anatomy; of Charles Frederick Holder, the +California naturalist, and of Dr. Austin Flint, a distinguished +physician and alienist of New York City. + +DR. RAY LYMAN WILBUR, professor of medicine, has been elected +president of Leland Stanford Junior University. He will on +January 1 succeed Dr John Caspar Branner, who undertook to +accept the presidency for a limited period on the retirement of +Dr. David Starr Jordan, now chancellor of the university. Dr. +Wilbur graduated from the academic department of Stanford +University in 1896. + +AT the Manchester meeting of the British Association for the +Advancement of Science, Sir Arthur J. Evans, F.R S., the +archeologist, honorary keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, +was elected president for next year's meeting, to be held at +Newcastle-on-Tyne. The meeting of 1917 will be held at +Bournemouth. + +DR. MAX PLANCK, professor of physics at Berlin, and Professor +Hugo von Seeliger, director of the Munich Observatory, have +been made knights of the Prussian order pour le merite. Dr. +Ramon y Cajal, professor of histology at Madrid, and Dr. C. J. +Kapteyn, professor of astronomy at Groningen, have been +appointed foreign knights of this order. + +MR. JACOB H. SCHIFF, a member of the board of trustees of +Barnard College and its first treasurer, has given $500,000 to +the college for a woman's building. It will include a library +and additional lecture halls as well as a gymnasium, a lunch +room and rooms for students' organizations. + +BY the will of the late Dr. Dudley P. Allen, formerly professor +of surgery in the Western Reserve University, $200,000 has been +set aside as a permanent endowment fund for the Cleveland +Medical Library. + + + +THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY + +DECEMBER, 1915 + +THE INSIDE HISTORY OF A GREAT MEDICAL DISCOVERY + +BY ARISTIDES AGRAMONTE, M.D., Sc.D. (HON.) + +UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA. + +THE construction of the Panama Canal was made possible because +it was shown that yellow fever, like malaria, could be spread +only by the bites of infected mosquitoes. + +The same discovery, which has been repeatedly referred to as +the greatest medical achievement of the twentieth century, was +the means of stamping out the dreaded scourge in Cuba, as well +as in New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Vera Cruz, Colon, Panama and +other Cities in America. + +This article is intended to narrate the motives that led up to +the investigation and also the manner in which the work was +planned, executed and terminated. No names are withheld and the +date of every important event is given, so that an interested +reader may be enabled to follow closely upon the order of +things as they occurred and thus form a correct idea of the +importance of the undertaking, the risk entailed in its +accomplishment and how evenly divided was the work among those +who, in the faithful performance of their military duties, +contributed so much for the benefit of mankind; the magnitude +of their achievement is of such proportions, that it loses +nothing of its greatness when we tear away the halo of apparent +heroism that well-meaning but ignorant historians have thrown +about some of the investigators. + +The whole series of events, tragic, pathetic, comical and +otherwise, took place upon a stage made particularly fit by +nature and the surrounding circumstances. + +Columbia Barracks, a military reservation, garrisoned by some +fourteen hundred troops, distant about eight miles from the +city of Havana, the latter, suffering at the time from an +epidemic of yellow fever, which the application of all sanitary +measures had failed to check or ameliorate and finally, our +experimental camp (Camp Lazear), a few army tents, securely +hidden from the road leading to Marianao, and safeguarded +against intercourse with the outside world; the whole setting +portentously silent and gloriously bright in the glow of +tropical sunlight and the green of luxuriant vegetation. + +Two members of a detachment of four medical officers of the +United States Army, on the morning of August 31, 1900, were +busily examining under microscopes several glass slides +containing blood from a fellow officer who, since the day +before, had shown symptoms of yellow fever; these men were Drs. +Jesse W. Lazear and myself; our sick colleague was Dr. James +Carroll, who presumably had been infected by one of our +"experiment mosquitoes." + +It is very difficult to describe the feelings which assailed us +at that moment; a sense of exultation at our apparent success +no doubt animated us; regret, because the results had evidently +brought a dangerous illness upon our coworker and with it all +associated a thrill of uncertainty for the reason of the yet +insufficient testimony tending to prove the far-reaching truth +which we then hardly dared to realize. + +As the idea that Carroll's fever must have been caused by the +mosquito that was applied to him four days before became fixed +upon our minds, we decided to test it upon the first non-immune +person who should offer himself to be bitten; this was of +common occurrence and taken much as a joke among the soldiers +about the military hospital. Barely fifteen minutes may have +elapsed since we had come to this decision when, as Lazear +stood at the door of the laboratory trying to "coax" a mosquito +to pass from one test-tube into another, a soldier came walking +by towards the hospital buildings; he saluted, as it is +customary in the army upon meeting an officer, but, as Lazear +had both hands engaged, he answered with a rather pleasant +"Good morning." The man stopped upon coming abreast, curious no +doubt to see the performance with the tubes, and after gazing +for a minute or two at the insects he said: "You still fooling +with mosquitoes, Doctor?" "Yes," returned Lazear, "will you +take a bite?" "Sure I ain't scared of 'em," responded the man. +When I heard this, I left the microscope and stepped to the +door, where the short conversation had taken place; Lazear +looked at me as though in consultation; I nodded assent, then +turned to the soldier and asked him to come inside and bare his +forearm. Upon a slip of paper I wrote his name while several +mosquitoes took their fill; William E. Dean, American by birth, +belonging to Troop B, Seventh Cavalry; he said that he had +never been in the tropics before and had not left the military +reservation for nearly two months. The conditions for a test +case were quite ideal. + +I must say we were in great trepidation at the time; and well +might we have been, for Dean's was the first indubitable case +of yellow fever about to be produced experimentally by the bite +of purposely infected mosquitoes. Five days afterwards, when he +came down with yellow fever and the diagnosis of his case was +corroborated by Dr. Roger P. Ames, U. S. Army, then on duty at +the hospital, we sent a cablegram to Major Walter Reed, +chairman of the board, who a month before had been called to +Washington upon another duty, apprising him of the fact that +the theory of the transmission of yellow fever by mosquitoes, +which at first was doubted so much and the transcendental +importance of which we could then barely appreciate, had indeed +been confirmed. + +STATE OF THINGS BEFORE THE DISCOVERY OF MOSQUITO TRANSMISSION + +Other infectious diseases, tuberculosis, for instance, may +cause a greater death-rate and bring about more misery and +distress, even to-day, than yellow fever has produced at any +one time; but no disease, except possibly cholera or the +plague, is so tragic in its development, so appalling in its +action, so devastating in its results, nor does any other make +greater havoc than yellow fever when it invades non-immune or +susceptible communities. + +For two centuries, at least, the disease has been known to +exist endemically, that is, more or less continuously, in most +of the Mexican Gulf ports, extending its ravages along the West +India Islands and the cities of the Central and the South +American coast. + +In the United States it has made its appearance in epidemic +form as far north as Portsmouth, N. H. At Philadelphia in 1793, +more than ten per cent. of the entire population died of yellow +fever. Other cities, like Charleston, S. C., suffered more than +twenty epidemics in as many summers, during the eighteenth +century. In the city of New Orleans, the epidemic which +developed in the summer of 1853 caused more than 7,000 deaths. +Later, in 1878, yellow fever invaded 132 towns in the United +States, producing a loss of 15,932 lives out of a total number +of cases which reached to more than 74,000: New Orleans alone +suffered a mortality of 4,600 at that time. Recently (1905), +this city withstood what is to be hoped shall prove its last +invasion, which, thanks to the modern methods employed in its +suppression, based upon the new mosquito doctrine, only +destroyed about 3,000 lives. + +It is by contemplating this awful record, and much more there +is which for the sake of brevity I leave unstated, that one +realizes the boon to mankind which the successful researches of +the Army Board have proved. The work of prevention, the only +one that may be considered effective when dealing with the +epidemic diseases, was entirely misguided with regard to yellow +fever until 1901: the sick were surrounded by precautions which +were believed most useful in other infectious diseases, the +attendants were often looked upon as pestilential, and so +treated, in spite of the fact that evidence from the early +history of the disease clearly pointed to the apparent +harmlessness even of the patients themselves. All this +notwithstanding, cases continued to develop, in the face of +shotgun quarantine even, until the last non-immune inhabitant +of the locality had been either cured or buried. + +The mystery which accompanied the usual course of an epidemic, +the poison creeping from house to house, along one side of a +street, seldom, crossing the road, spreading sometimes around +the whole block of houses before appearing in another +neighborhood, unless distinctly carried there by a visitor to +the infected zone who himself became stricken, all this series +of peculiar circumstances was a never-ending source of +discussion and investigation. + +In the year 1900, Surgeon H. R. Carter, of the then Marine +Hospital Service, published a very interesting paper calling +attention to the interval of time which regularly occurred +between the first case of yellow fever in a given community and +those that subsequently followed; this was never less than two +weeks, a period of incubation extending beyond that usually +accorded to other acute infectious diseases. The accuracy of +these observations has later been confirmed by the mosquito +experiments hereinafter outlined. + +FACTORS WHICH LED TO THE APPOINTMENT OF THE BOARD + +One may well believe that such a scourge as yellow fever could +not have been long neglected by medical investigators, and so +we find that from the earliest days, when the germ-theory of +disease took its proper place in modern science, a search for +the causative agent of this infection was more or less actively +instituted. + +Men of the highest attainments in bacteriology engaged in +numerous attempts to isolate the yellow fever microbe: +unfortunately not a few charlatans took advantage of the dread +and terror which the disease inspires, to proclaim their +discoveries and their specific CURES; one of these obtained +wealth and honor in one of the South American republics for +presumably having discovered the "germ" and prepared a +so-called vaccination which was expected to eradicate the +disease from that country, but for many years after the foreign +population continued to suffer as before and the intensity and +the spread of yellow fever remained unabated, although +thousands of "preventive inoculations" were made every month. + +Geo. M. Sternberg in 1880, then an army surgeon, was directly +instrumental in exposing the swindle that was being +perpetrated, putting an end, after the most painstaking +investigation, to all the claims to discovery of the "germ" of +yellow fever that had been made by several medical men in +Spanish America. The experience which he obtained during a +scientific excursion through Mexico, Cuba and South America +gave him a wonderful insight as to the difficulties one has to +contend with in such work and made him realize the importance +of special laboratory training for such undertaking. It is +interesting to note that, as surgeon general of the U. S. Army, +twenty years after, General Sternberg chose and appointed the +men who constituted the yellow fever board, in Cuba. + +The year before the Spanish-American war, an Italian savant, +who had obtained a well-deserved reputation as bacteriologist +while working in the Institute Pasteur of Paris, came out with +the announcement from Montevideo, Uruguay, that he had actually +discovered the much-sought-for cause of yellow fever; his +descriptions of the methods employed, though not materially +different from those followed by Sternberg many years before, +bore the imprint of truth and his experimental inoculations had +apparently been successful. Sanarelli--that is his name--for +about two years was the "hero of the hour," yet his claims have +been proved absolutely false. + +The question of the identity of his "germ" was first taken up +by the writer under instructions from General Sternberg: during +the Santiago campaign I had opportunity to autopsy a +considerable number of yellow fever cases and, following +closely upon Sanarelli's directions, only three times out of +ten could his bacillus be demonstrated; at almost the same +time, Drs. Reed and Carroll, in Washington, were carrying out +experiments which showed that Sanarelli's bacillus belonged to +the hog-cholera group of bacteria and thus when found in yellow +fever cadavers could play there only a secondary role as far as +the infection is concerned. + +Unfortunately, two investigators belonging to the U. S. Marine +Hospital Service, Drs. Wasdin and Gleddings, were, according to +their claims, corroborating Sanarelli's findings: there was +nothing to do but that the investigation should continue, and +so I was sent by General Sternberg to Havana in December, 1898, +with instructions and power to do all that might be necessary +to clear up the matter. Wasdin and Geddings had preceded me; +the work carried us through the summer of 1899; we frequently +investigated the same cases; I often autopsied bodies from +which we took the same specimens and made the same cultures, in +generally the same kind of media, and finally we rendered our +reports to our respective departments, Wasdin and Geddings +affirming that Sanarelli's bacillus was present in almost all +the cases, while I denied that it had such specific character +and showed its occurrence in cases not yellow fever. A virulent +epidemic which raged in the city of Santiago and vicinity +during 1899 afforded me abundant material for research. + +In the meantime the city of Havana was being rendered sanitary +in a way which experience had taught would have overcome any +bacterial infection, and, in fact, the diseases of filth, such +as dysentery, tuberculosis, children's complaints and others, +decreased in a surprising manner, while yellow fever seemed to +have been little affected if at all. + +Evidently, a more thorough overhauling of the matter was +necessary to arrive at the truth, and while the question of +Sanarelli and his claims was practically put aside, +Surgeon-General Sternberg, recognizing the importance of the +work before us and that its proportions were such as to render +the outcome more satisfactory by the cooperation of several +investigators in the same direction, wisely decided to create a +board for the purpose and so caused the following to be issued: + + Special Orders No. 122 +HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, +ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, + WASHINGTON, May 24, 1900 + + Extract + +34. By direction of the Secretary of War, a board of medical +officers is appointed to meet at Camp Columbia, Quemados, Cuba, +for the purpose of pursuing scientific investigations with +reference to the infectious diseases prevalent on the Island of +Cuba. Detail for the board: + +Major Walter Reed, surgeon, U. S. Army; +Acting Assistant Surgeon James Carroll, U. S. Army; +Acting Assistant Surgeon Aristides Agramonte, U. S. Army; +Acting Assistant Surgeon Jesse W. Lazear, U. S. Army. + +The board will act under general instructions to be +communicated to Major Reed by the Surgeon General of the Army. + By command of MAJOR GENERAL MILES, + H. C. CORBIN, + Adjutant General + +It may be of interest to the reader to learn who these men were +and the reasons why they were probably selected for the work. + +Major Reed, the first member in the order of appointment, was +the ranking officer and therefore the chairman of the board. He +was a regular army officer, at the time curator of the Army +Medical Museum in Washington and a bacteriologist of some +repute. He deservedly enjoyed the full confidence of the +surgeon general, besides his personal friendship and regard. +Reed was a man of charming personality, honest and above board. +Every one who knew him loved him and confided in him. A +polished gentleman and a scientist of the highest order, he was +peculiarly fitted for the work before him. + +Dr. James Carroll, the second member of the board, was a +self-made man, having risen from the ranks through his own +efforts: while a member of the Army Hospital Corps he studied +medicine and subsequently took several courses at Johns Hopkins +University in the laboratory branches. At the time of his +appointment to the board he had been for several years an able +assistant to Major Reed. Personally, Carroll was industrious +and of a retiring disposition. + +Dr. Jesse W. Lazear was the fourth member of the board. He had +graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia +University) in the same class as the writer, in 1892, and had +afterwards studied abroad and at Johns Hopkins. Lazear had +received special training in the investigation of mosquitoes +with reference to malaria and other diseases. Stationed at +Columbia Barracks, he had been in Cuba several months before +the board was convened, in charge of the hospital laboratory at +the camp. A thorough university man, he was the type of the old +southern gentleman, kind, affectionate, dignified, with a high +sense of honor, a staunch friend and a faithful soldier. + +The writer was the third member of the Army Board. Born in Cuba +during the ten years' war, while still a child, my father +having been killed in battle against the Spanish, I was taken +to the United States and educated in the public schools and in +the College of the City of New York, graduating from the +College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1892. At the breaking out +of the war I was assistant bacteriologist in the New York +Health Department. The subject of yellow fever research was my +chief object from the outset, and, at the time the board was +appointed, I was in charge of the laboratory of the Division of +Cuba, in Havana. + +It may be readily seen from the brief sketch regarding the +several members that the components of the yellow-fever board +really constituted a perfectly consistent body, for the reason, +mainly, that they were all men trained in the special field +wherein their labors were to be so fruitful and that before +their appointment to the board they had been more or less +associated in scientific work. + +FIRST PART OF THE WORK OF THE BOARD + +My first knowledge of the existence of the board was had +through the following letter from my friend Major Reed: + + WAR DEPARTMENT, + SURGEON GENERAL'S OFFICE, + WASHINGTON, May 25, 1900 + +DR. A. AGRAMONTE, +Act'g Asst. Surgeon U. S. A., +Military Hospital No. 1, +Havana, Cuba + +My dear Doctor: An order issued yesterday from the War +Department calls for a board of medical officers for the +investigation of acute infectious diseases occurring on the +Island of Cuba. The board consists of Carroll, yourself, Lazear +and the writer. It will be our duty, under verbal instructions +from the Surgeon General, to continue the investigation of the +causation of yellow fever. The Surgeon General expects us to +make use of your laboratory at Military Hospital No. 1 and +Lazear's laboratory at Camp Columbia. + +According to the present plan, Carroll and I will be quartered +at Camp Columbia. We propose to bring with us our microscopes +and such other apparatus as may be necessary for the +bacteriological and pathological work. If, therefore, you will +promptly send me a list of the apparatus on hand in your +laboratory, it will serve as a very great help in enabling us +to decide as to what we should include in our equipment. Any +suggestions that you may have to make will be much appreciated. + +Carroll and I expect to leave New York, on transport, between +the 15th and 20th of June and are looking forward, with much +pleasure, to our association with you and Lazear in this +interesting work. As far as I can see we have a year or two of +work before us. + +Trusting you will let me hear from you promptly, and with best +wishes, + Sincerely yours, + (Signed) + WALTER REED + +On the afternoon of June 25, 1900, the four officers met for +the first time in their new capacity, on the veranda of the +officers' quarters at Columbia Barracks Hospital. We were fully +appreciative of the trust and aware of the responsibility +placed upon us and with a feeling akin to reverence heard the +instructions which Major Reed had brought from the surgeon +general; they comprised the investigation also of malaria, +leprosy and unclassified febrile conditions, and were given +with such detail and precision as only a man of General +Sternberg's experience and knowledge in such matters could have +prepared. After deciding upon the first steps to be taken, it +was unanimously agreed that whatever the result of our +investigation should turn out to be, it was to be considered as +the work of the board as a body, and never as the outcome of +any individual effort; that each one of us was to work in +harmony with a general plan, though at liberty to carry out his +individual methods of research. We were to meet whenever +necessary, Drs. Reed, Carroll and Lazear to remain at the +Barracks Hospital and I to stay in charge of the laboratory in +Havana, at the Military Hospital, where I also had a ward into +which yellow-fever cases from the city were often admitted. + +Work was begun at once. Fortunately for our purpose, an +epidemic of yellow fever existed in the town of Quemados, in +close proximity to the military reservation of Camp Columbia. +Even before the arrival of Reed and Carroll, Lazear and I had +been studying its spread, following the cases very closely; +subsequently a few autopsies were made by me, Carroll making +cultures from the various tissues and Lazear securing fragments +for microscopical examination; a careful record was kept and +the results noted; cases gradually became less in number as the +epidemic slowly died out, about the middle of August. + +In the meantime a rather severe outbreak of yellow fever had +occurred in Santa Clara, a city in the interior of the island, +having invaded the garrison and caused the death of several +soldiers; as the origin of the infection was shrouded in +mystery, and cases continued to appear among the troops even +after they had moved out of the town, it was agreed that I +should endeavor to trace the source of the epidemic and aid the +medical authorities in establishing whatever preventive +measures might seem proper. This service is here recorded +because in the general discussion of the start and course of +the epidemic with Dr. J. Hamilton Stone, the officer in charge +of the military hospital, we incidentally spoke of the possible +agency of insects in spreading the disease, pointing +particularly in this direction the fact of the infection of a +trooper who, suffering from another complaint, occupied a bed +in a ward across the yard from where a yellow fever case had +developed two weeks before. + +The infection of the city of Santa Clara had evidently taken +place from Havana, distant only one night's journey by train. +Captain Stone, a particularly able officer, had already +instituted effective quarantine measures before my arrival, so +that I only remained there a few days. + +But as to the actual cause of the disease we were still +entirely at sea; it helped us little to know that a man could +be infected in Havana, take the train for a town in the +interior and start an outbreak there in the course of time. + +Upon rejoining my colleagues (July 2) we resumed our routine +investigations; not only in Quemados, where the disease was +being stamped out, but also in Havana, at "Las Animas" Hospital +and at Military Hospital No. 1, where my laboratory (the +division laboratory) was located. There was no scarcity of +material and the two members who until then had never seen a +case of yellow fever (Reed and Carroll) had ample opportunity, +and took advantage of it, to become acquainted with the many +details of its clinical picture which escape the ordinary +practitioner, the knowledge and the appreciation of which, in +their relative value, give the right to the title of "expert." + +Since the later part of June, reports had been coming to +headquarters of an extraordinary increase of sickness among the +soldiers stationed at Pinar del Rio, the capital of the extreme +western province, and very soon the great mortality from +so-called "pernicious malarial fever" attracted the attention +of the chief surgeon, Captain A. N. Stark, who, after +consulting with Major Reed, ordered me to go there and +investigate. A man had died, supposedly from malaria, just +before my arrival on the afternoon of July 19. The autopsy +which I performed at once showed me that yellow fever had been +the cause of his death, and a search through the military +hospital wards revealed the existence of several unrecognized +cases being treated as malaria; a consultation held with the +medical officer in charge showed me his absolute incapacity, as +he was under the influence of opium most of the time (he +committed suicide several months afterwards), and so I +telegraphed the condition of things to headquarters; in answer +I received the following: + + CHIEF SURGEON'S OFFICE, + HDQRS. DEPT. HAVANA AND PINAR DEL RIO, + QUEMADOS, CUBA, July 20, 1900 + +SURGEON AGRAMONTE, +Pinar del Rio Barracks, +Pinar del Rio, Cuba + +Report received last night. My thanks are due for your prompt +action and confirmation of my suspicions. + STARK, + Chief Surgeon + +Conditions in the hospital were such as to demand immediate +action; the commander of the post refused to believe he had +yellow fever among his 900 men and was loath to abandon his +comfortable quarters for the tent life in the woods that I +earnestly recommended. In answer to my telegram asking for +official support, I received the following: + + CHIEF SURGEON'S OFFICE, + HDQRS. DEPT. HAVANA AND PINAR DEL RIO, + QUEMADOS, CUBA, July 21, 1900 + +SURGEON AGRAMONTE, +Pillar del Rio Barracks, +Pinar del Rio, Cuba + +Take charge of cases. Reed goes on morning train. Wire for +anything wanted. Nurses will be sent. Instructions wired +commanding officer. Other doctors should not attend cases. +Establish strict quarantine at hospital. You will be relieved +as soon as an immune can be sent to replace you. Report daily +by wire. STARK, + Chief Surgeon + +When Major Reed came to Pinar del Rio (July 21) I had, the day +before, established a separate yellow-fever hospital, under +tents, attended by some of the men who had already passed an +attack and were thus immune. The Major and I went over the +ground very carefully, we studied the sick report for two +months back, fruitlessly trying to place the blame upon the +first case. I well remember how, as we stood in the men's +sleeping quarters, surrounded by a hundred beds, from several +of which fatal cases had been removed, we were struck by the +fact that the later occupants had not developed the disease. In +connection with this, and particularly interesting, was the +case of a soldier prisoner who had been confined to the +guard-house since June 6; he showed the first symptoms of +yellow fever on the twelfth and died on the eighteenth; none of +the other eight prisoners in the same cell caught the +infection, though one of them continued to sleep in the same +bunk previously occupied by his dead comrade. More than this; +the three men who handled the clothing and washed the linen of +those who had died during the last month were still in perfect +health. Here we seemed to be in the presence of the same +phenomenon remarked by Captain Stone in reference to his case +at Santa Clara, and before that by several investigators of +yellow fever epidemics; the infection at a distance, the +harmless condition of bedding and clothing of the sick; the +possibility that some insect might be concerned in spreading +the disease deeply impressed us and Major Reed mentions the +circumstance in his later writings. This was really the first +time that the mosquito transmission theory was seriously +considered by members of the board, and it was decided that, +although discredited by the repeated failure of its most ardent +supporter, Dr. Carlos J. Finlay, of Havana, to demonstrate it, +the matter should be taken up by the board and thoroughly +sifted. + +The removal of the troops out of Pinar del Rio was the means of +at once checking the propagation of the disease. + +On the first day of August the board met and after due +deliberation determined to investigate mosquitoes in connection +with the spread of yellow fever. As Dr. Lazear was the only one +of us who had had any experience in mosquito work, Major Reed +thought proper that he should take charge of this part of the +investigation in the beginning, while we, Carroll and I, +continued with the other work on hand, at the same time +gradually becoming familiar with the manipulations necessary in +dealing with the insects. + +A visit was now made to Dr. Finlay, who, much elated at the +news that the board was about to investigate his pet theory, +the transmission of yellow fever from man to man by mosquitoes, +very kindly explained to us many points regarding the life of +the one kind he thought most guilty and ended by furnishing us +with a number of eggs which, laid by a female mosquito nearly a +month before, had remained unhatched on the inside of a half +empty bowl of water in his library. + +Much to our disappointment and regret, during the first week of +August, Major Reed was recalled to Washington that he might, in +collaboration with Drs. Vaughan and Shakespeare, complete the +report upon "Typhoid Fever in the Army." Thus we were deprived +of his able counsel during the first part of the mosquito +research. Major Reed was detained longer than he expected and +could not return to Cuba until early in October, several days +after Lazear's death. + +The mosquito eggs obtained from Dr. Finlay hatched out in due +time; the insects sent to Washington for their exact +classification were declared by Dr. L. O. Howard, entomologist +to the Agricultural Department, to be Culex fasciatus. Later, +they have been called Stegomyia fasciatus and now go under the +name of Stegomyia calopus (Aedes cal.). + +Lazear applied some of these mosquitoes to cases of yellow +fever at "Las Animas" Hospital, keeping them in separate glass +tubes properly labeled, and every thing connected with their +bitings was carefully recorded; the original batch soon died +and the work was carried on with subsequent generations from +the same. + +The lack of material at Quemados caused us to remove our field +of action to Havana, where cases of yellow fever continued to +appear. We met almost every day at "Las Animas" Hospital, where +Lazear was trying to infect his mosquitoes, or now and then I +performed autopsy upon a case, and Carroll secured sufficient +cultures to last him for several days of bacteriological +investigation. + +Considering that, in case our surmise as to the insect's action +should prove to be correct, it was dangerous to introduce +infected mosquitoes amongst a population of 1,400 non-immunes +at Camp Columbia, Dr. Lazear thought best to keep his +presumably infected insects in my laboratory at the Military +Hospital No. 1, from where he carried them back and forth to +the patients who were periodically bitten. + +Incidentally, after the mosquitoes fed upon the yellow fever +patients, they were applied, at intervals of two or three days, +to whoever would consent to run the risk of contracting yellow +fever in this way; needless to say, current opinion was against +this probability and as time passed and numerous individuals +who had been bitten by insects which had previously fed upon +yellow fever blood remained unaffected, I must confess that +even the members of the board, who were rather sanguine in +their expectations, became somewhat discouraged and their faith +in success very much shaken. + +No secret was made of our attempts to infect mosquitoes; in +fact many local physicians became intensely interested, and +Lazear and his tubes were the subject of much comment on the +part of the Havana doctors, who nearly twenty years before had +watched and laughed at Dr. Finlay, then bent apparently upon +the same quest in which we were now engaged. Dr. Finlay himself +was somewhat chagrined when he learned of our failure to infect +any one with mosquitoes, but, like a true believer, was +inclined to attribute this negative result more to some defect +in our technique than to any flaw in his favorite theory. + +Although the board had thought proper to run the same risks, if +any, as those who willingly and knowingly subjected themselves +to the bites of the supposedly infected insects, opportunity +did not offer itself readily, since Major Reed was away in +Washington and Carroll, at Camp Columbia, engrossed in his +bacteriological investigations came to Havana only when an +autopsy was on hand or a particularly interesting case came up +for study. I was considered an immune, a fact that I would not +like to have tested, for though born in the island of Cuba, I +had practically lived all my life away from a yellow fever +zone; it was therefore presumed that I ran no risk in allowing +mosquitoes to bite me, as I frequently did, just to feed them +blood, whether they had previously sucked from yellow fever +cases or not. And so, time passed and several Americans and +Spaniards had subjected themselves in a sporting mood to be +bitten by the infected (?) mosquitoes without causing any +untoward results, when Lazear applied to himself (August 16, +1900) a mosquito which ten days before had fed upon a mild case +of yellow fever in the fifth day of his disease; the fact that +no infection resulted, for Lazear continued in excellent health +for a space of time far beyond the usual period of incubation, +served to discredit the mosquito theory in the opinion of the +investigators to a degree almost beyond redemption, and the +most enthusiastic, Dr. Lazear himself, was almost ready to +"throw up the sponge." + +I had as laboratory attendant a young American, a private +belonging to the Hospital Corps of the Army, who more than once +had bared his arm to allow a weak mosquito a fair meal with +which to regain its apparently waning strength; Loud, for that +was his name, derided the idea that such a little beast could +do so much harm as we seemed ready to accuse it of, although he +was familiar with the destruction caused by bacteria, but then, +he used to say, "bacterial work in armies of more than a +million bugs at the same time and no one would be d---- fool +enough to let more than one or two gnats sting him at once." + +This state of things, the gradual loss of faith in the danger +which mosquitoes seemed to possess, led Dr. Lazear to relax a +little and become less scrupulous in his care of the insects, +and often, after applying them to patients, if pressed for +time, he would take them away with him to his laboratory at +Columbia Barracks, where, the season being then quite warm, +they could be kept as comfortably as at the Military Hospital +laboratory. Thus it happened that on the twenty-seventh of +August he had spent the whole morning at "Las Animas" Hospital +getting his mosquitoes to take yellow-fever blood: the +procedure was very simple; each insect was contained in a glass +tube covered by a wad of cotton, the same as is done with +bacterial cultures. As the mouth of the tube is turned +downwards, the insect usually flies towards the bottom of the +tube (upwards), then the latter is uncovered rapidly and the +open mouth placed upon the forearm or the abdomen of the +patient; after a few moments the mosquito drops upon the skin +and if hungry will immediately start operations; when full, by +gently shaking the tube, the insect is made to fly upwards +again and the cotton plug replaced without difficulty. It so +happened that this rather tedious work, on the day above +mentioned, lasted until nearly the noon hour, so that Lazear, +instead of leaving the tubes at the Military Hospital, took +them all with him to Camp Columbia: among them was one insect +that for some reason or other had failed to take blood when +offered to it at "Las Animas" Hospital. + +This mosquito had been hatched in the laboratory and in due +time fed upon yellow-fever blood from a severe case on August +15, that is, twelve days before, the patient then being in the +second day of his illness; also at three other times, six days, +four days and two days before. Of course, at the time, no +particular attention had been drawn to this insect, except that +it refused to suck blood when tempted that morning. + +After luncheon that day, as Carroll and Lazear were in the +laboratory attending to their respective work, the conversation +turning upon the mosquitoes and their apparent harmlessness, +Lazear remarked how one of them had failed to take blood, at +which Carroll thought that he might try to feed it, as +otherwise it was liable to die before next day (the insect +seemed weak and tired); the tube was carefully held first by +Lazear and then by Carroll himself, for a considerable length +of time, upon his forearm, before the mosquito decided to +introduce its proboscis. + +This insect was again fed from a yellow fever case at "Las +Animas" Hospital on the twenty-ninth, two days later, Dr. +Carroll being present, though not feeling very well, as it was +afterwards ascertained. + +We three left the yellow-fever hospital together that +afternoon; I got down from the doherty-wagon where the road +forks, going on to the Military Hospital, while Carroll and +Lazear continued on their way to Camp Columbia. On the +following day, Lazear telephoned to me in the evening, to say +that Carroll was down with a chill after a sea bath taken at +the beach, a mile and a half from Camp, and that they suspected +he had malaria; we therefore made an appointment to examine his +blood together the following morning. + +When I reached Camp Columbia I found that Carroll had been +examining his own blood early that morning, not finding any +malarial parasites; he told me he thought he had "caught cold" +at the beach: his suffused face, blood-shot eyes and general +appearance, in spite of his efforts at gaiety and unconcern, +shocked me beyond words. The possibility of his having yellow +fever did not occur to him just then; when it did, two days +later, he declared he must have caught it at my autopsy room in +the Military Hospital, or at "Las Animas" Hospital, where he +had been two days before taking sick. Although we insisted that +he should go to bed in his quarters, we could only get him to +rest upon a lounge, until the afternoon, when he felt too sick +and had to take to his bed. + +Lazear and I were almost panic-stricken when we realized that +Carroll had yellow fever. We searched for all possibilities +that might throw the blame for his infection upon any other +source than the mosquito which bit him four days before; +Lazear, poor fellow, in his desire to exculpate himself, as he +related to me the details of Carroll's mosquito experiment, +repeatedly mentioned the fact that he himself had been bitten +two weeks before without any effect therefrom and finally, what +seemed to relieve his mind to some extent, was the thought that +Carroll offered himself to feed the mosquito and that he held +the tube upon his own arm until the work was consummated. + +I have mentioned before that, as Lazear and I, vaguely hoping +to find malarial parasites in Carroll's blood, sat looking into +our microscopes that morning, the idea that the mosquito was +what brought him down gradually took hold of our minds, but as +our colleague had been exposed to infection in other ways, by +visiting the yellow fever hospital "Las Animas," as well as the +infected city of Havana, it was necessary to subject that same +mosquito to another test and hence the inoculation of Private +Dean, which is described in the opening chapter of this +history. + +TERMINATION OF THE FIRST SERIES OF MOSQUITO EXPERIMENTS. + +DEATH OF LAZEAR. + +The month of September, 1900, was fraught with worry and +anxiety: what with Carroll's and Private Dean's attacks of +yellow fever and Major Reed's inability to return, Lazear and I +were well-nigh on the verge of distraction. Private Dean was +not married, but Carroll's wife and children, a thousand miles +away, awaited in the greatest anguish the daily cablegram which +told them the condition of the husband and father, who was +fighting for life, sometimes the victim of the wildest delirium +caused by consuming fever, at others almost about to collapse, +until one day, the worst of the disease being over, the wires +must have thrilled at our announcement, "Carroll out of +danger." + +Fortunately both he and Dean made an uninterrupted recovery, +but we were still to undergo the severest trial, a sorrow +compared to which the fearful days of Carroll's sickness lose +all importance and dwindle almost into insignificance. + +On the morning of the eighteenth my friend and classmate +Lazear, whom in spite of our short intercourse I had learned to +respect and in every way appreciate most highly, complained +that he was feeling "out of sorts." He remained all day about +the officers' quarters and that night suffered a moderate +chill. I saw him the next day with all the signs of a severe +attack of yellow fever. + +Carroll was already walking about, though enfeebled by his late +sickness, and we both plied Lazear with questions as to the +origin of his trouble; I believe we affectionately chided him +for not having taken better care of himself. Lazear assured us +that he had not experimented upon himself, that is, that he had +not been bitten by any of the purposely infected mosquitoes. + +After the case of Dean so plainly demonstrated the certainty of +mosquito infection, we had agreed not to tempt fate by trying +any more upon ourselves, and even I determined that no mosquito +should bite me if I could prevent it, since the subject of my +immunity was one that could not be sustained on scientific +grounds; at the same time, we felt that we had been called upon +to accomplish such work as did not justify our taking risks +which then seemed really unnecessary. This we impressed upon +Major Reed when he joined us in October and for this reason he +was never bitten by infected mosquitoes. + +Lazear told us, however, that while at "Las Animas" Hospital +the previous Thursday (five days before), as he was holding a +test-tube with a mosquito upon a man's abdomen, some other +insect which was flying about the room rested upon his hand; at +first, he said, he was tempted to frighten it away, but, as it +had settled before he had time to notice it, he decided to let +it fill and then capture it; besides, he did not want to move +in fear of disturbing the insect contained in his tube, which +was feeding voraciously. Before Lazear could prevent it, the +mosquito that bit him on the hand had flown away. He told us in +his lucid moments, that, although Carroll's and Dean's cases +had convinced him of the mosquito's role in transmitting yellow +fever, the fact that no infection had resulted from his own +inoculation the month before had led him to believe himself, to +a certain extent, immune. + +How can I describe the agony of suspense which racked our souls +during those six days? It seemed to us as though a life was +being offered in sacrifice for the thousands which it was to +contribute in saving. Across the span of thirteen years the +memory of the last moments comes to me most vividly and +thrilling, when the light of reason left his brain and shut out +of his mind the torturing thought of the loving wife and +daughter far away, and of the unborn child who was to find +itself fatherless on coming to the world. + +Tuesday, the twenty-fifth of September saw the end of a life +full of promise; one more name, that of Jesse W. Lazear, was +graven upon the portals of immortality. And we may feel justly +proud for having had it, in any way, associated with our own. + +The state of mind in which this calamity left us may better be +imagined than described. The arrival of Major Reed several days +after in a great measure came to relieve the tensity of our +nerves and render us a degree of moral support of which we were +sorely in need. + +Lazear's death naturally served to dampen our fruition at the +success of the mosquito experiments, but, this notwithstanding, +when the facts were known we were the subjects of much +congratulation and the question whether the theory had been +definitely demonstrated or not was the theme of conversation +everywhere, about Havana and Camp Columbia particularly. We +fully realized that three cases, two experimental and one +accidental, were not sufficient proof, and that the medical +world was sure to look with doubt upon any opinion based on +such meager evidence; besides, in the case of Carroll, we had +been unable to exclude the possibility of other means of +infection, so that we really had but one case, Dean's, that we +could present as clearly demonstrative and beyond question. In +spite of this, we thought that the results warranted their +presentation in the shape of a "Preliminary Note," and after +all the data were carefully collected from Lazear's records and +those at the Military Hospital, a short paper was prepared +which the Major had the privilege to read at the meeting of the +American Public Health Association, held on October 24, in the +city of Indianapolis. + +For this purpose Major Reed went to the States two weeks after +his return to Cuba, and Carroll also took a short leave of +absence so as to fully recuperate, in preparation for the +second series of inoculations which we had arranged to +undertake, after the Indianapolis meeting. + +These inoculations, according to our program, were to be made +upon volunteers who should consent to suffer a period of +previous quarantine at some place to be selected in due time, +away from any possibility of yellow fever. + +It so happened then that I was left the only member of the +board in Cuba and, under instructions from Major Reed, I began +to breed mosquitoes and infect them, as Lazear used to do, +wherever cases occurred, keeping them at my laboratory in the +Military Hospital No. 1. Major Reed had also asked me to look +about for a proper location wherein to continue the work upon +his return. + +ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MOSQUITO THEORY + +The possible agency of insects in the propagation of yellow +fever was thought of by more than one observer, from a very +early period in the history of this disease. For instance, +Rush, of Philadelphia, in 1797, noticed the excessive abundance +of mosquitoes during that awful epidemic. Subsequently, several +others spoke of the coincidence of gnats or mosquitoes and +yellow fever, but without ascribing any direct relation to the +one regarding the other. Of course, man-to-man infection +through the sole intervention of an insect was a thing entirely +inconceivable and therefore unthought of until very recently, +and in truth the discovery, as far as yellow fever is +concerned, was the result of a slow process of evolution of the +fundamental fact, taken in connection with similar findings, in +other diseases. + +The earliest direct reference is found in the writings of Dr. +Nott, of Mobile, Ala., who in 1848 suggested that the +dissemination of the yellow fever poison was evidently by means +of some insect "that remained very close to the ground." But +the first who positively pointed to the mosquito as the +spreader of yellow fever, who showed that absence of mosquitoes +precluded the existence of the disease and who prescribed the +ready means to stamp it out, by fumigation and by preventing +the bites of the insects, was Dr. Louis D. Beauperthuy, a +French physician, then located in Venezuela. The writer has an +original copy of his paper, published in 1853, where he fastens +the guilt upon the domestic mosquitoes, believing, in accord +with the prevailing teachings of medical science, that the +mosquitoes infected themselves by contact or feeding upon the +organic matter found in the stagnant waters where they are +hatched, afterwards inoculating the victims by their sting. He +recognized the fact that yellow fever is not contagious and +therefore could not think of the possibility of man-to-man +infection, as we know it to-day. The keenest observer was this +man Beauperthuy, and, even at that benighted time in the +history of tropical medicine, made most interesting studies of +the blood and tissues, employing the microscope and the +chemical reactions in his research. No one believed him, and a +commission appointed to report upon his views said that they +were inadmissible and all but declared him insane. + +This field of investigation remained dormant for a +comparatively long period of time. Meanwhile another medical +writer, Dr. Greenville Dowell, mentions in 1876, that "if we +compare the effect of heat and cold on gnats and mosquitoes +with yellow fever, it will be difficult to believe it is of the +same nature, as it is controlled by the same natural laws." +Soon after this, in 1879, the first conclusive proof of the +direct transmission of a disease from man-to-man was presented +by the father of tropical medicine, Sir Patrick Manson, with +regard to filaria, a blood infection that often causes the +repulsive condition known as elephantiasis and which the +mosquito takes from man and after a short time gives over to +another subject. This discovery attracted world-wide attention +and many looked again towards the innumerable species of biting +insects that dwell in the Tropic Zone, as possible carriers of +the obscure diseases which also prevail in those regions. + +In 1881, Dr. Carlos Finlay, of Havana, in an exhaustive paper +read before the Royal Academy of Sciences, gave as his opinion +that yellow fever was spread by the bites of mosquitoes +"directly contaminated by stinging a yellow fever patient (or +perhaps by contact with or feeding from his discharge)." This +latter view he held as late as 1900, which, although correct in +the main fact of the transmission of the germ from a patient to +a susceptible person by the mosquito, the modus operandi, as he +conceived it, was entirely erroneous. + +Dr. Finlay, unfortunately was unable to produce experimentally +a single case of fever that could withstand the mildest +criticism, so that at the time when the Army Board came to +investigate the causes of yellow fever in Cuba, his theory, +though practically the correct one, had been so much +discredited, in a great measure by his own failures, that the +best-known experts considered it as an ingenious, but wholly +fanciful, one and many thought it a fit subject for humorous +and sarcastic repartee. Finlay also believed, erroneously, that +repeated bites of contaminated insects might protect against +yellow fever and that the mosquitoes were capable of +transmitting the germ to the next generation. + +The wonderful discoveries of Theobald Smith, as to the agency +of ticks in spreading Texas fever of cattle, and those of Ross +and the Italian investigators who showed conclusively that +malaria was transmitted by a species of mosquito, brought the +knowledge of these various diseases to the point where the Army +Board took up the investigation of yellow fever. + +SECOND AND FINAL SERIES OF MOSQUITO EXPERIMENTS + +Major Reed came back to Havana in the early part of November, +Carroll following a week after. + +During their absence, I had been applying mosquitoes to yellow +fever patients at "Las Animas" Hospital, keeping them in my +laboratory, as it was done at the beginning of the +investigation; the season being more advanced, now and then a +cold "norther" would blow and my insects suffered very much +thereby, so that I had the greatest trouble in preventing their +untimely death: to this may be added the difficulty met in +feeding them blood, for now that I knew their sting was +dangerous, unto death perhaps, I could not allow any +indiscriminate biting, but had to select for the purpose +individuals who had suffered an attack of the disease and were +therefore immune. + +The necessity for an experimental camp became more imperative +as time passed, not only where proper quarantine and isolation +could be established, but also where the insects intended for +the inoculations might receive better care. This entailed +considerable expense. + +Fortunately for us, the military governor of the island at that +time, Brigadier General Leonard Wood, was a man who had +received a thorough medical training; broad and clear-minded, +he fully appreciated the importance of what might be the +outcome of our researches. We found in him the moral support +which we so much needed and, further, he promptly placed at the +disposal of the board sufficient funds with which to carry on +the experiments to the end. I firmly believe that had other +been the circumstances, had a more military and less scientific +man been at the head of the government, the investigation would +have terminated there and then, and many years would have +passed, with hundreds of lives uselessly sacrificed, before we +could have attained our present remarkable sanitary triumphs. + +We immediately set about choosing a location for our camp. I +had already looked over the ground, preferring the proximity of +Camp Columbia, from where supplies could be easily obtained and +because the Military Hospital there could be used for treating +the cases that we intended to produce; I was therefore +favorably impressed with the seclusion offered by a spot +situated a short distance from the main road, in a farm, named +San Jose, belonging to my friend Dr. Ignacio Rojas, of Havana. +Major Reed decided upon this place after looking at many others +in the neighborhood, so that on the twentieth of November we +inaugurated our camp, which we named Camp Lazear, in honor to +the memory of our dead colleague, consisting then of seven army +tents, guarded by a military garrison, composed of men who had +been carefully selected by virtue of their previous good record +and their interest in the work to be undertaken. + +Feeling that we had proved, to ourselves at least, the agency +of the mosquito in yellow fever, it became our duty to disprove +the theory, until then held as a certainty by many authorities, +to the effect that the soiled bedding and clothing, the +secretions and excreta of patients, were infectious and in some +way carried the germ of the disease. We therefore designed a +small wooden building, to be erected a short distance from the +tense, with a capacity of 2,800 cubic feet. The walls and +ceiling were absolutely tight, the windows and vestibuled door +screened and all precautions taken to prevent the entrance of +insects. + +Into this, called the "infected clothing building," three beds +and a stove, to maintain a high tropical temperature, were +introduced; also mattresses and pillows, underwear, pajamas, +towels, sheets, blankets, etc., soiled with blood and +discharges from yellow fever cases: these articles were put on +the beds, hung about the room and packed in a trunk and two +boxes placed there for the purpose. + +The building was finished and equipped on November 30. That +Friday evening, Dr. Robert P. Cook, U. S. Army, with two other +American volunteers, entered it and prepared to pass the night: +they had instructions to unpack the boxes and trunk, to handle +and shake the clothing and in every way to attempt to +disseminate the yellow fever poison, in case it was contained +in the various pieces. We watched the proceedings from the +outside, through one of the windows. The foul conditions which +developed upon opening the trunk were of such a character that +the three men were seen to suddenly rush out of the building +into the fresh air; one of them was so upset that his stomach +rebelled; yet, after a few minutes, with a courage and +determination worthy only of such a cause, they went back into +the building and passed a more or less sleepless night, in the +midst of indescribable filth and overwhelming stench. + +For twenty consecutive nights these men went through the same +performance; during the day they remained together, occupying a +tent near their sleeping quarters. Dr. Cook, by voluntarily +undergoing such a test, without remuneration whatsoever, proved +his faith in the mosquito theory; his demonstration of the +harmless character of so-called infected clothing, in yellow +fever, has been of the greatest importance. The other six men +(two of them with Dr. Cook) who were subjected to this test, +received each a donation of one hundred dollars for his +services. + +Many days even before the establishment of the experimental +camp, the board had heard that several men who knew of our work +were willing to submit to the inoculations and thus aid in +clearing up the mystery of yellow fever. Two of these require +special mention, John R. Kissinger, a private in the Hospital +Corps of the Army, was the first to offer himself most +altruistically, for, as he expressed it, his offer was made +without any desire for pecuniary or other consideration and +solely "in the interest of humanity and the cause of science," +the other, J. J. Moran, a civilian employee, also stipulated as +a condition that he was to receive no pay for his services. +Both these men, in due time, suffered from yellow fever and +until very recently had never obtained any reward for the great +risk which they ran so voluntarily and praiseworthily. + +Kissinger, who after several years' service in the army became +disabled, is receiving a pension from the government; Moran, I +hope, is still well and in the employ of the Isthmian Canal +Commission, justly enjoying the friendship and confidence of +his superior officers. The names of Kissinger and Moran should +figure upon the roll of honor of the U. S. Army. + +On the day the camp was definitely organized, Kissinger, who +had not gone outside the military reservation for more than a +month, moved into Camp Lazear and received his first bite from +a mosquito which evidently was not "loaded" for, again on +November 23, he was stung by the same insect without result. On +December 5, five mosquitoes were applied, which brought about a +moderate infection in three days. Moran was also bitten by +mosquitoes which were supposed to be infected on November 26 +and 29, both times unsuccessfully. As will be seen, he was +infected later on. + +By this time we had decided, the weather having cooled +considerably, that it was better to keep the mosquitoes at a +higher temperature and nearer to the men who were to be +inoculated; therefore it was planned to put up another small +wooden structure, which was to be known as the "Mosquito +Building" in which an artificial temperature could be +maintained; at my suggestion, the building was so designed that +it might serve to infect individuals; by liberating infected +mosquitoes on the inside and exposing some person to their +stings, we could try to reproduce the infection as we felt it +occurred in nature. Another reason for the mosquito house was +the need to obviate the transportation of the insects from the +Military Hospital, where I kept them, to our camp, which could +not be easily done without subjecting them to severe injury. +Upon one occasion I was taking four infected mosquitoes in the +pocket inside my blouse from the laboratory in Havana to the +experimental camp, accompanied by my attendant Private Loud; +the horse which pulled my buggy, a rather spirited animal, +becoming frightened at a steam roller, as we went around the +corner of Colon Cemetery, started to race down the hill towards +the Almendares River: Loud was thrown out by the first +cavortings of the horse, who stood on its hind legs and jumped +several times before dashing away, while I held tightly to the +tubes in my pocket, as the buggy upset and left me stranded +upon a sand pile in the middle of the road; the mosquitoes were +quite safe, however, and upon my arrival at Camp Lazear I +turned them over to Carroll for his subsequent care. + +Another difficulty afterwards encountered was the scarcity of +material susceptible to infection, for, although several men +had expressed a willingness to be inoculated, when the time +came; they all preferred the "infected clothing" experiment to +the stings of our mosquitoes. We then thought best to secure +lately landed Spaniards, to whom the probable outcome of the +test might be explained and their consent obtained for a +monetary consideration. Our method was as follows; as soon as a +load of immigrants arrived, I would go to Tiscornia, the +Immigration Station across the Bay of Havana, and hire eight or +ten men, as day laborers, to work in our camp. Once brought in, +they were bountifully fed, housed under tents, slept under +mosquito-bars and their only work was to pick up loose stones +from the grounds, during eight hours of the day, with plenty of +rest between. In the meantime, as the days of observation +passed, I carefully questioned them as to their antecedents, +family history and the diseases which they might have suffered; +those who had lived in Cuba or any other tropical country +before were discarded at once and also those who were under age +or had a family dependent upon them. When the selection was +finally made, the matter of the experiment was put to them. +Naturally, they all felt more or less that they were running +the risk of getting yellow fever when they came to Cuba and so +were not at all averse to allow themselves to be bitten by +mosquitoes: they were paid one hundred dollars for this, and +another equal sum if, as a result of the biting experiment, +they developed yellow fever. Needless to say, no reference was +made to any possible funeral expenses. A written consent was +obtained from each one, so that our moral responsibility was to +a certain extent lessened. Of course, only the healthiest +specimens were experimented upon. + +It so happened that some reporter discovered what we were +about, or perhaps some invidious person misrepresented the +facts; at any rate, on the twenty-first of November a Spanish +newspaper appeared with flaring headlines denouncing the +American doctors who were taking advantage of the poor +immigrants and experimenting with them by injecting all sorts +of poisons! It called upon the Spanish consul to look after his +subjects. In view of this we felt that if such campaign +continued, in a short time it would either make it impossible +to secure subjects or cause diplomatic pressure to be exerted +against the continuance of our experiments. It was thought best +to "beard the lion in his den" so the three of us called upon +the consul the following day. He was surprised to hear one of +us address him in his own language, having taken us all for +Americans on first sight, and when I explained to him our +method of procedure and showed him the signed contracts with +the men, being an intelligent man himself, he had no objections +to offer and told us to go ahead and not bother about any howl +the papers might make. + +The first three cases (two of them Spaniards) which we produced +came down with yellow fever within a very short period, from +December 8 to 13; it will therefore not surprise the reader to +know that when the fourth case developed on December 15, and +was carried out of the camp to the hospital, it caused a +veritable panic among the remaining Spaniards, who, renouncing +the five hundred pesetas that each had in view, as Major Reed +very aptly put it, "lost all interest in the progress of +science and incontinentally severed their connection with Camp +Lazear." + +But there was a rich source to draw from, and the unexpected +stampede only retarded our work for a short time. Our +artificial epidemic of yellow fever was temporarily suspended +while a new batch of susceptible material was brought in, +observed and selected. The next case for that reason was not +produced upon a Spaniard until December 30. + +In the face of the negative experiments with supposedly +contaminated articles, it rested with us to show how a house +became infected and for this purpose the main part of the +"mosquito building" was utilized. + +This chamber was divided into two compartments by a double +wire-screen partition, which effectually prevented mosquitoes +on one side from passing to the other; of course there were no +mosquitoes there to begin with, as the section of the building +used for breeding and keeping them was entirely separated from +the other, and there could be no communication between them. + +On the morning of December 21, a jar containing fifteen hungry +mosquitoes, that had previously stung cases of yellow fever, +was introduced and uncovered in the larger compartment, where a +bed, with all linen perfectly sterilized, was ready for +occupancy. A few minutes after, Mr. Moran, dressed as though +about to retire for the night, entered the room and threw +himself upon the bed for half an hour; during this time two +other men and Major Reed remained in the other compartment, +separated from Moran only by the wire-screen partition. Seven +mosquitoes were soon at work upon the young man's arms and +face; he then came out, but returned in the afternoon, when +five other insects bit him in less than twenty minutes. The +next day, at the same hour of the afternoon, Moran entered the +"mosquito building" for the third time and remained on the bed +for fifteen minutes, allowing three mosquitoes to bite his +hands. The room was then securely locked, but the two Americans +continued to sleep in the other compartment for nearly three +weeks, without experiencing any ill effects. + +Promptly on Christmas morning Moran, who had not been exposed +to infection except for his entrance into the "mosquito +building" as described, came down with a well-marked attack of +yellow fever. + +The temperature in this room, where these mosquitoes had been +released, was kept rather high and a vessel with water was +provided, where they might lay their eggs if so inclined, but +notwithstanding all these precautions, it was subsequently +found that the insects had been attacked by ants, so that by +the end of the month only one of the fifteen mosquitoes +remained alive. + +It is hardly necessary to detail here how seven other men were +subjected to the sting of our infected mosquitoes, of which +number five developed the disease, but it may be interesting to +note that two of these men had been previously exposed in the +"infected clothing building" without their becoming infected, +showing that they were susceptible to yellow fever after all. + +The evidence so far seemed to show that the mosquito could only +be infected by sucking blood of a yellow-fever patient during +the first three days of the disease; to prove that the parasite +was present in the circulating blood at that time we therefore +injected some of this fluid taken from a different case each +time, under the skin of five men: four of these suffered an +attack of yellow fever as the result of the injection. The +other one, a Spaniard, could not be infected either by the +injection of blood or the application of mosquitoes which were +known to be infected, showing that he had a natural immunity +or, more likely, that he had had yellow fever at some previous +time. + +While selecting the Spaniards, it was often ascertained that +they had been in Cuba before, as soldiers in the Spanish army +usually, and the natural conclusion was that they had undergone +infection; it was very seldom that any escaped during the +Spanish control of the island. + +Thus terminated our experiments with mosquitoes which, though +necessarily performed on human beings, fortunately did not +cause a single death; on the other hand, they served to +revolutionize all standard methods of sanitation with regard to +yellow fever. They showed the uselessness of disinfection of +clothing and how easily an epidemic can be stamped out in a +community by simply protecting the sick from the sting of the +mosquitoes and by the extensive and wholesale destruction of +these insects which, added to the suppression of their breeding +places, if thoroughly carried out, are the only measures +necessary to forever rid a country of this scourge. + +Besides keeping a sharp lookout against the importation of +yellow fever cases, these are the simple rules that have kept +the Panama Canal free and prevented the slaughter of hundreds +of foreigners, so generally expected every year, in former +times. + +Since we made our demonstration in 1901, our work has been +corroborated by various commissions appointed for the purpose, +in Mexico, Brazil and Cuba, composed variously of Americans, +French, English, Cuban, Brazilian and German investigators. +Nothing has been added to our original findings; nothing has +been contradicted of what we have reported, and to-day, after +nearly thirteen years, the truths that we uncovered stand +incontrovertible; besides, they have been the means of driving +out yellow fever from Cuba, the United States (Laredo, Texas, +1903 and New Orleans, La., 1905), British Honduras and several +cities of Brazil. + +Of the Army Board only I remain. Lazear, as reported, died +during the early part of our investigations; Reed left us in +1902 and Carroll only five years later. The reader may wonder +of what benefit was it to us, this painstaking and remarkable +accomplishment which has been such a blessing to humanity! See +what the late Surgeon General of the U. S. Army had to say in +his report (Senate Document No. 520, Sixty-first Congress, +second session): + +1. Major Walter Reed, surgeon, United States Army, died in +Washington, D. C., from appendicitis, November 23, 1902, aged +51. His widow, Emilie Lawrence Reed, is receiving a pension of +$125 a month. + +2 Maj. James Carroll was promoted from first lieutenant to +major by special act of Congress, March 9, 1907. He died in +Washington, D C., of myocarditis, September 16, 1907. His +widow, Jennie H. Carroll, since his death, has received an +annuity of $125 a month, appropriated from year to year in the +Army appropriation bill. + +3. Dr. Jesse W. Lazear, contract surgeon, United States Army, +died at Camp Columbia, Cuba, of yellow fever, September 25, +1900. His widow, Mabel M. Lazear, since his death, has received +an annuity of $125 a month appropriated from year to year in +the Army appropriation bill. + +4. Dr. Aristides Agramonte is the only living member of the +board. He is professor of bacteriology and experimental +pathology in the University of Habana and has never received, +either directly or indirectly, any material reward for his +share in the work of the board. + +It is not for me to make any comments: the above paragraphs +have all the force of a plain, truthful statement of facts. +Perhaps it is thought that enough reward is to be found in the +contemplation of so much good derived from one's own efforts +and the feeling it may produce of innermost satisfaction and in +forming the belief that one had not lived in vain. In a very +great measure, I know, the thought is true. + + + +THE EVOLUTION OF THE STARS AND THE FORMATION OF THE EARTH. IV + +BY WILLIAM WALLACE CAMPBELL + +DIRECTOR OF THE LICK OBSERVATORY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA + +THE PLANETESIMAL HYPOTHESIS + +THE most elaborate structure yet proposed to explain the origin +of the solar system is the planetesimal hypothesis by +Chamberlin and Moulton. The energy which these investigators +have devoted to formulating and testing this hypothesis, in the +light of the principles of mechanics, has been commensurate +with the importance of the subject. They postulate that the +materials now composing the Sun, planets, and satellites, at +one time existed as a spiral nebula, or as a great spiral swarm +of discrete particles, each particle in elliptic motion about +the central nucleus. The authors go further back and endeavor +to account for the origin of the spiral nebula, but this phase +of the subject is not vital to their hypothesis. However, it +conduces to clearness in presenting their hypothesis to begin +with the earlier process. + +It may happen, once in a while, that two stars will collide. If +the collision is a grazing one, they say, a spiral nebula will +be formed. However, a fairly close approach of two stars will +occur in vastly greater frequency and the effect of this +approach will also be to form a spiral nebula or two such +nebulae. The authors recall that our Sun is constantly ejecting +materials to a considerable height to form the prominences, and +that the attractions of a great star passing fairly close to +our solar system would assist this process of expulsion of +matter from the Sun. A great outbreak or ejection of matter +would occur not only on the side of our Sun turned toward the +disturbing body, but on the opposite side as well, for the same +reason that tides in our oceans are raised on the side opposite +the Moon as well as on the side toward the Moon. As the Sun and +disturbing star proceeded in their orbits, the stream of matter +leaving our Sun on the side of the disturbing body would try to +follow the other star; and the stream of matter leaving the +other side of the Sun would shoot out in curves essentially +symmetrical with those in the first stream. As the disturbing +star approached and receded the paths taken by the ejected +matter would be successively along curves such as are +represented by the dotted lines in Fig. 28. At any given moment +the ejected matter would lie on the two heavy lines. The matter +would not be moving along the heavy lines, but nearly at right +angles to them, in the directions that the lighter curves are +pointing. As the ejections would not be continuous, but on the +contrary intermittent, because of violent pulsations of the +Sun's body, there would be irregularities in the two spiral +streamers. The materials drawn out of the Sun would revolve +around it in elliptic orbits after the disturbing body had +passed beyond the distance of effective disturbance, as +illustrated in Fig. 29. The orbits of the different masses +would have different sizes and different eccentricities. There +would also be a wide distribution of finely-divided material +between the main branches of the spiral. All of the widespread +gaseous matter, hot when it left the Sun, would soon become +cold, by expansion and radiation; and only the massive nuclei +would remain gaseous and hot. + +I see no reason to question the efficiency of this ingenious +explanation of the origin of a spiral nebula: the close passage +of two massive stars could, in my opinion, produce an effect +resembling a spiral nebula, quite in accordance with Moulton's +test calculations upon the subject. Some of the spirals have +possibly been formed in this way (see Fig. 30); but that the +tens of thousands of spirals known to exist in the sky have +actually been produced in this manner is another question, and +one which, in my opinion, is open to grave doubt. But to this +point we shall return later. + +There are marked advantages in starting the evolution of the +solar system from a spiral nebula, aside from the fact that +spirals are abundant, and therefore represent a standard +product of development. The material is thinly and very +irregularly distributed in a plane passing through the Sun, and +the motions around the Sun are all in the same direction. The +great difficulty in the Laplace hypothesis, as to the constancy +of the moment of momentum, is here eliminated. There are +well-defined condensations of nuclei at quite different +distances from the Sun. According to this hypothesis the +principal nuclei are the beginnings of the future planets. They +draw into themselves the materials with which they come in +contact by virtue of the crossings of the orbits of various +sizes and various eccentricities. The growth of the planets is +gradual, for the sweeping up and combining process must be +excessively slow. The satellites are started from those smaller +nuclei which happen to be moving with just the right speeds not +to escape entirely the attractions of the principal nuclei, nor +to fall into them. The planes of the planetary orbits and, in +general, the planes of the satellite orbits should agree quite +closely with each other, but they could differ and should +differ from that of the Sun's equator. + +The authors call attention to the fact that the Sun's equator +is inclined at a small angle, 7 degrees, to the common planes +of the planetary system, and Chamberlin holds this to be one of +the strong points in favor of the planetesimal hypothesis. He +reasons thus: the star which passed close to our Sun and drew +out the planetary materials in the form of spiral streams must +have moved in the plane of the spiral; that is, in the plane of +our planetary system. Some of the materials would be drawn out +from our Sun only a very short distance and then fall back upon +the Sun. Great tidal waves would be formed on opposite sides of +the Sun, and these would try to follow the disturbing body. The +effect of these waves and of the materials which fall back +would be to change the Sun's original rotation plane in the +direction of the disturbing body's orbital plane. + +Now the chance for a disturbing star's passing around our Sun +in a plane making a large angle, say from 45 degrees to 90 +degrees, with the Sun's equator, is much greater than for a +small angle 0 degrees to 45 degrees. The chances are greatest +that the angle will be 90 degrees. Only those disturbing stars +which approach our Sun PRECISELY in the plane of the Sun's +equator could move around the Sun in this plane. All those +approaching along any line parallel to the Sun's equatorial +plane, but lying outside of this plane, and all those whose +directions of approach make any angle whatever with the +equatorial plane, would find it impossible to move in that +plane. That the angle under this hypothesis is only 7 degrees +is surprising, though, as we are dealing with but a single +case, we can not say, I think, that this militates either for +or against the hypothesis. We are entitled to say only that +unless the approach was so close as to cause disturbances in +our Sun to relatively great depths, the angle referred to would +have only one chance in ten or fifteen or twenty to be as small +as 7 degrees. Any disturbance which succeeded in taking out of +the Sun only 1/7 of 1 per cent. of its mass could scarcely +succeed in shifting the axis of rotation of the remaining 99 +6/7 per cent. very much, I think. If the angle were 30 degrees +or 50 degrees or 80 degrees, instead of 7 degrees, the case for +the planetesimal hypothesis would be somewhat stronger. + +A remarkable fact concerning the Sun is that the equatorial +region rotates once around in a shorter time than the regions +in higher latitudes require. The rotation period of the Sun's +equator is about 24 days; the period at latitude 45 degrees is +28 days; and at 75 degrees, 33 days. The planetesimal +hypothesis attributes this equatorial acceleration to the +falling back into the Sun of the materials which had been +lifted out to a short distance by the disturbing body, and to +the forward-rushing tide raised in the equatorial regions by +the disturbing body. This may well have occurred. However, we +must remember that the same phenomenon exists certainly in +Jupiter and Saturn, and quite probably in Uranus and Neptune; +that is, in all the bodies in the system that are gaseous and +free to show the effect. It seems to be the result of a +principle which has operated throughout the solar system, not +requiring, at least not directly requiring, the passage of a +disturbing star. I think the most plausible explanation of this +curious phenomenon is that great quantities of materials +originally revolving around the Sun and around each of the +planets have gradually been drawn into these bodies, by +preference into their equatorial areas. Such masses of matter +moving in orbits very close to these bodies must have traveled +with speeds vastly higher than the surface speeds of the +bodies. To illustrate, the rotational velocity of a particle +now in the Sun's surface at the equator is approximately 2 km. +per second. A small body revolving around the Sun close to his +surface, rapidly enough to prevent its falling quickly upon the +Sun, must have a velocity of more than 400 km. per second. If, +now, this small body encounters some resistance it will fall +into the Sun, and as it is traveling more than 200 times as +rapidly as the solar materials into which it drops, it will +both generate heat and accelerate the rotational velocity of +the surrounding materials. In the same way the equatorial +accelerations in Jupiter and Saturn can receive simple +explanation. The point is not necessarily in opposition to the +planetesimal hypothesis; but whatever the explanation, it ought +to apply to the planet as well as to the Sun. + +If the spiral nebulae have been formed in accordance with +Chamberlin and Moulton's hypothesis, the secondary nuclei in +them must revolve in a great variety of elliptic orbits. The +orbits would intersect, and in the course of long ages the +separate masses would collide and combine and the number of +separate masses would constantly grow smaller. Moulton has +shown that IN GENERAL the combining of two masses whose orbits +intersect causes the combined mass to move in an orbit more +nearly circular than the average orbit of the separate masses, +and in general in orbit planes more nearly coincident with the +general plane of the system. Accordingly, the major planets +should move in orbits more nearly circular and more nearly in +the plane of the system than do the asteroids; and so they do. +If the asteroids should combine to form one planet the orbit of +this planet should be much less eccentric than the average of +all the present asteroid eccentricities, and the deviation of +its orbit plane should be less than the average deviation of +the present planes. We can not doubt that this would be the +case. Mercury and Mars, the smallest planets, should have, +according to this principle, the largest eccentricities and +orbital inclinations of any of the major planets. This is true +of the eccentricities, but Mars's orbit plane, contrarily, has +a small inclination. Venus and the Earth, next in size, should +have the next largest inclinations and eccentricities, but they +do not; Venus's eccentricity is the smallest of all. The +Earth's orbital inclination and eccentricity are both small. +Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, should have the +smallest orbital inclinations; their average inclination is +about the same as for Venus and the Earth. They should likewise +have the smallest eccentricities. Neptune, the smallest of the +four, has an orbit nearly circular; Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus +have eccentricities more than 4 times those of Venus and the +Earth. Considering the four large planets as one group and the +four small planets as another group, we find that the +inclinations of the orbits of the two groups, per unit mass, +are about equal; but the average eccentricity of the orbits of +the large planets, per unit mass, is 21 times that of the +orbits of the small planets.[1] The evidence, except as to the +asteroids and Mercury, is not favorable to the planetesimal +hypothesis, unless we make special assumptions as to the +distribution of materials in the spiral nebulae. + +[2] The average eccentricity of the orbits of the four inner +planets (per unit mass) is 0.0221, and of the four outer +planets is 0.0489. + + + +The fact that the disturbing body drew 225 times as much matter +a great distance to form the four large planets as it drew out +a short distance to form the four small planets and the +asteroids seems difficult of explanation on the planetesimal +hypothesis. However, this distribution of matter is at present +a difficulty in any of the hypotheses. The planetesimal +hypothesis explains well all west to east rotations of the +planets on their axes, but to make Uranus rotate nearly at +right angles to the plane of the system, and Neptune in a plane +inclined 135 degrees to the plane of the system, is a +difficulty in any of the hypotheses, unless special assumptions +are made to fit each case. + +The authors succeed well, I think, in showing that the +satellites should prefer to revolve around their planets in the +direction of the planetary revolution and rotation, especially +for close satellites, and, on the basis of special assumptions, +in the reverse direction for satellites at a greater distance. +They show that the chances favor small eccentricities for +satellites revolving about their planets in the west to east, +or direct sense, and large eccentricities for satellites moving +in retrograde directions. The inner satellite of Mars and the +rings of Saturn make no special difficulty under the +planetesimal hypothesis. + +The evidence of the comets, as bona fide members of the solar +system which approach the Sun almost, and perhaps quite, +indifferently from all directions, is that the volume of space +occupied by the parent structure of the system was of enormous +dimensions, both at right angles to the present principal plane +of the system and in that plane. We are accustomed to think of +the spiral nebulae as thin relatively to their major diameters. +To this extent the planetesimal hypothesis does not furnish a +good explanation of the origin of comets, unless we assume that +a small amount of matter was widely scattered in all directions +around the parent spiral; and this conception leads to some +apparent difficulties. The origin of the comets is difficult to +explain under any of the hypotheses. + +RESUME OF HYPOTHESES + +Kant's hypothesis had the great defect of trying to prove too +much. It started from matter AT REST, and came to grief in +trying to give a motion of rotation to the entire mass through +the operation of internal forces alone--an impossibility. +Kant's idea of nuclei or centers of gravitational attraction, +scattered here and there throughout the chaotic mass, which +grew into the planets and their satellites, is very valuable. + +Laplace's hypothesis had the great advantage of starting with +an extended mass already in rotation, but it violated fatally +the law of constancy of moment of momentum. We should expect +this hypothesis to create a solar system free from +irregularities, very much as if it were the product of an +instrument-maker's precision lathe. The solar system as it +exists is a combination of regularities and many surprising +irregularities. + +Chamberlin and Moulton's hypothesis has the advantage of a +parent mass in rotation, practically in a common plane, and +with the materials distributed at distances from the nucleus as +nearly in harmony with the known distribution of matter in the +solar system as we care to have them, except perhaps as to the +comets. In effect it retains all the advantageous qualities of +Kant's proposals. It seems to have the flexibility required in +meeting the irregularities that we see in our system. + +CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF SPIRAL NEBULAE + +I think it is very doubtful whether the spiral nebulae have in +general been formed by the close approaches of pairs of stars, +as the authors have postulated for the assumed solar spiral.[2] +The distribution of the spirals seems to me to negative the +idea. To witness the close approach of two stars we must look +in the direction where the stars are. To the best of +present-day knowledge the stars are in a spheroid whose longer +axes are coincident with the plane of the Milky Way. If this is +so, the close approach of pairs of stars should occur +preeminently in the Milky Way, and we should find the spirals +prevailingly in and near the Milky Way. This is precisely where +we do not find them. In fact, they seem to abhor the Milky Way. +The new stars, which are credibly explained as the products of +collisions of stars with nebulae, are found preeminently in the +Milky Way and almost negligibly in the regions outside of the +Milky Way. Again, the spirals are believed to be, on the whole, +of enormous size. They are too far away to let us measure their +distances by the usual methods, and they move too slowly on the +surface of the sphere to have let us determine their proper +motions. Slipher's recent work with a spectrograph seems to +show that the dozen spirals observed by him are moving with +high speeds of approach and recession; from 300 km. per second +approach in the case of the Andromeda nebula to 1,100 km. per +second recession in the case of several objects. If the spirals +are moving at random their speeds at right angles to the line +of sight must be even greater than their speeds of approach and +recession. Unless they are very distant bodies their proper +motions should be detected by observations extending over only +a few years. My colleague Curtis has this year compared recent +photographs of some 25 spirals with photographs of the same +object made by Keeler fifteen years ago. They reveal no +appreciable proper motions, or rotations. In this same interval +Neptune has revolved more than 30 degrees. Slipher has recently +measured the rotational speed of one "spindle" nebula, believed +to be a spiral. He finds it to be enormously rapid; no motions +in the solar system approach it in magnitude. The evidence is +to the effect that the spirals are in general very far away;[3] +perhaps on or beyond the confines of our stellar system, but +not certainly so. Accordingly, we are led to believe that the +spirals studied thus far have diameters 20 times or 100 times, +or in some cases several thousand times, the diameter of our +solar system. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that in +general they are immensely more massive than is our solar +system. The spiral which has been assumed as the forerunner of +our system must have been of diminutive size as compared with +the larger and brighter spirals which we see to-day. + +[2] It would seem that all rotating nebulae should in reality +possess some of the attributes of spiral motion. Whether the +spiral structure should be visible or invisible to a +terrestrial observer would depend upon the sizes and distances +of the nebulae, upon the distribution of materials composing +them, and perhaps upon other factors. See developed the +hypothesis that spiral nebulae owe their origin to the +collision of two nebulae. Collisions of this kind could readily +occur because of the enormous dimensions of the nebulae, and +motions of rotation and consequently spiral structure might +readily result therefrom. The abnormally high speeds of the +spiral nebulae are apparently a very strong objection to the +hypothesis. + +[3] Bohlin found a parallax of 0"17 for the Andromeda Nebula, +and Lampland thinks that Nebula N.G.G. 4594 has a proper motion +of approximately 0"05 per annum. + + + +We are sadly in need of information concerning the constitution +of the spiral nebulae. Their spectra appear to be prevailingly +of the solar type, except that a very small proportion contain +some bright lines in addition to the continuous spectrum. So +far as their spectra are concerned, they may be great clusters +of stars, or they may consist each of a central star sending +its light out upon surrounding dark materials and thus +rendering these materials visible to us. The first alternative +is unsatisfactory, for all parts of spirals have hazy borders, +as if the structure is nebulous or consists of irregular groups +of small masses; and the second alternative is unsatisfactory, +for in many spirals the most outlying masses seem to be as +bright as masses of the same areas situated only one half as +far from the center, whereas in general the inner area should +be at least four times as bright as the outer area. All +astronomers are ready to confess that we do not know much about +the conditions existing in spiral nebulae. + +THE EARTH-MOON SYSTEM + +Our Earth and Moon form a unique combination in that they are +more nearly of the same size than are any other planet and its +satellites in our system. It required a 26-inch telescope on +the Earth to discover the tiny moons of Mars; but an astronomer +on Mars does not need any telescope to see the Earth and Moon +as a double planet--the only double planet in the solar system. + +According to the Kantian school of hypotheses the Earth and +Moon owe their unique character to the accident that two +centers of condensation--two nuclei--not very unequal in mass, +were formed close to each other and were endowed with or +acquired motions such that they revolved around each other. +They drew in the surrounding materials; one of the two bodies +got somewhat the advantage of the other in gravitational +attraction; it succeeded in building itself up more than the +other nucleus did; and the Earth and the Moon were the result. + +According to the Laplacean hypothesis, on the contrary, the +Earth and Moon were originally one body, gaseous and in +rotation. This ball of gas radiated heat, diminished in size, +rotated more and more rapidly, and finally abandoned a ring of +nebulosity, which later broke up and eventually condensed into +one mass called the Moon. The central mass composed the Earth. +It is a curious fact that Venus, which is only a shade smaller +than the Earth, should not have divided into two bodies +comparable with the Earth and Moon. Have the tides on Venus +produced by the Sun always been strong enough to keep the +rotation and revolution periods equal, as they are thought to +be now, and thus to have given no opportunity for a rapidly +rotating Venus to divide into two masses? + +A third hypothesis of the Moon's origin is due principally to +Darwin. He and Poincare have shown that a great rotating mass +of fluid matter, such as the Earth-Moon could be assumed to +have been, by cooling, contracting and increasing rotation +speed, would, under certain conditions thought to be +reasonable, become unstable and eventually divide into two +bodies revolving around their common center of mass, at first +with their surfaces nearly in contact. Here would begin to act +a tide-raising force which must have played, according to +Darwin's deductions, a most important part in the further +history of the Earth and Moon. The Earth would produce enormous +tides in the Moon, and the Moon much smaller tides in the +Earth. Both bodies would contract in size, through loss of +heat, and would try to rotate more and more rapidly. The two +rotating bodies would try to carry the matter in the tidal +waves around with the rest of the materials in the bodies, but +the pull of each body upon the wave materials in the other +would tend to slow down the speed of rotation. The tidal +resistance to rotation would be slight if the bodies at any +time were attenuated gaseous masses, for the friction within +the surface strata would be slight. Nevertheless, there would +eventually be a gradual slowing down of the Moon's rotation, a +gradual slowing down of the Earth's rotation, and a slow +increase in the distance between the two bodies. In other +words, the Moon's day, the Earth's day and our month would +gradually increase in length. Carried to its logical +conclusion, the Moon would eventually turn the same face to the +Earth, the Earth would eventually turn the same face to the +Moon, and the Earth's day and the Moon's day would equal the +month in length. The central idea in this logic is as old as +Kant: in 1754 he published an important paper in which he said +that tidal interactions between Earth and Moon had caused the +Moon to keep the same face turned toward us, that the Earth's +day was being very slowly lengthened, and that our planet would +eventually turn the same face to the Moon. Laplace, a +half-century later, proposed the action of such a force in +connection with the explanation of lunar phenomena, and +Helmholtz, just 100 years after Kant's paper was published, +lent his support to this principle; but Sir George Darwin has +been the great contributor to the subject. His popular volume, +"The Tides," devotes several chapters to the effects of tidal +friction upon the motions of two bodies in mutual revolution. +We must pass over the difficult and complicated intermediate +steps to Darwin's conclusions concerning the Earth and Moon, +which are substantially as follows: the Earth and Moon were +originally much closer together than they now are: after a very +long period of time, amounting to hundreds of millions of +years, the Moon will revolve around the Earth in 55 days +instead of in 27 days as at present; and the Moon and Earth +will then present the same faces constantly to each other. The +estimated period of time required, and the final length of day +and month, 55 days, are of course not insisted upon as accurate +by Darwin. + +These tidal forces were unavoidably active, it matters not if +the Earth and Moon were originally one body, as Laplace and +Darwin have postulated, or originally two bodies, growing up +from two nuclei, in accordance with the Kantian school. Whether +these forces have been sufficiently strong to have brought the +Earth and Moon to their present relation, or will eventually +equalize the Moon's day, the Earth's day, and the month, is a +vastly more difficult question. Moulton's researches have cast +serious doubt upon this conclusion. All such investigations are +enormously difficult, and many questionable assumptions must be +made if we seek to go back to the Moon's origin, or forward to +its ultimate destiny. + +Tidal waves, in order to be effective in reducing the +rotational speed of a planet, must be accompanied by internal +friction; and this requires that the planet be to some extent +inelastic. It was the view of Darwin and others that the +viscous state of the Earth and Moon permitted wave friction to +come into play. Michelson has recently proved that the Earth +has a high degree of elasticity. It deforms in response to +tidal forces, but quickly recovers from the action of these +forces. It therefore seems that the rate of tidal evolution of +the Earth-Moon system at present and in the future must be +extremely slow, and possibly almost negligible. What the +conditions within the Earth and Moon were in the distant past +is uncertain, but these bodies probably passed through viscous +stages which endured through enormously long periods of time. +No one seriously doubts that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and +Neptune are now largely gaseous, and that they will evolve, +through various degrees of viscosity, into the solid and +comparatively elastic state. It is natural to assume that the +Earth has already passed through an analogous experience. + +The Moon turns always the same hemisphere toward the Earth. +Observations of Venus and Mercury are prevailingly to the +effect that those planets always turn the same hemispheres +toward the Sun. Many, and perhaps all, of the satellites of +Jupiter and Saturn seem to turn the same hemispheres always +toward their respective planets. This widely prevailing +phenomenon is no doubt due to a widely prevailing cause, which +astronomers have all but unanimously attributed to tidal +action. + +BINARY STAR SYSTEMS + +That an original mass actually divided to form the Earth and +Moon, according to the Laplacian or the Darwin-Poincare +principle, seems to be extremely doubtful, especially on +account of their diminutive sizes, and I greatly prefer to +think that the Earth and Moon were built up from two nuclei; +but that very much greater masses, masses larger on the average +than our Sun, composing highly attenuated stars, have divided +each into two masses to form many or most of our double stars, +I firmly believe. The two component stars would in such a case +at first revolve around each other with their surfaces almost +or quite in contact. Tidal forces would very gradually cause +the bodies to move in orbits of larger and larger size, with +correspondingly longer periods of revolutions, and the orbits +would become constantly more eccentric. While these processes +were under way the component bodies would be radiating heat and +growing smaller, and their spectra would be changing into the +more advanced types. We can not hope to watch such changes as +they occur, but we can, I think, find abundant illustrations of +these processes in the double stars. I have given reasons for +believing that one star in every two and one half, as a minimum +proportion, is not the single star which it appears to be to +the eye or in the telescope, but is a system of two or more +suns in mutual revolution. The formation of double stars, +therefore, is not a sporadic process: it is one of the +straightforward results of the evolutionary process. + +Some of the variable stars offer strong evidence as to the +early life of the double stars. The so-called beta Lyrae +variables vary continuously in brightness, as if they consist +in each case of two stars so close together that their surfaces +are actually in contact in some pairs and nearly in contact in +others, so that from our point of view the two stars mutually +eclipse each other. When the two stars are in line with us we +have minimum brightness. When they have moved a +quarter-revolution farther, and the line joining them is at +right angles to our line of sight, so to speak, we have maximum +brightness. In every known case the beta Lyrae pairs of stars +have spectra of the very early types. Some of them even contain +bright lines in their spectra. The densities of these great +stars are known to be exceedingly low, in some cases much lower +on the average than that of the atmosphere which we breathe. + +About 80 Algol variable stars are known. These are double stars +whose light is constant except during the short time when one +of the components in each system passes between us and the +other component. All double stars would be Algol variables if +we were exactly in the planes of their orbits. That so few +Algols have been observed amongst the tens of thousands of +double stars, is easily explained. The two component stars in +the few known Algol systems are so great in diameter, in +proportion to the size of their orbits, that eclipses are +observable throughout a wide volume of space, and the eclipses +are of long duration relatively to the revolution period. Their +densities are, so far as we have been able to determine them, +on an average less than 1/10th of the Sun's density. Let us +note well that their spectra, so far as we have been able to +determine them, are of the early types; mostly helium and +hydrogen stars, and a very few of the Class F, intermediate +between the hydrogen and solar stars. There are no known Algols +of the Classes G, K, and M: these stars are very condensed and +therefore small in size, as compared with stars of Classes B +and A; and the components of double stars of these classes are +on the average much denser and therefore smaller in size than +the components in Classes B and A double stars; the components +are much farther apart in Classes G to M doubles than in +Classes B and A doubles; and for these reasons eclipses in +Classes G to M doubles occur but rarely for observers scattered +throughout space. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that +the components of double stars separate more and more widely +with the progress of time. The conclusions which we have +earlier drawn from visual double stars are in full harmony with +the argument. + +It is agreed by all, I think, that tidal action has been +responsible for at least a part of the separation of the Earth +and Moon, for at least a part of the gradual separation of the +components of double stars, and for at least a part of the +eccentricity of their orbits. See's investigations of 25 years +ago led him to the conclusion that this force is sufficient to +account for all the observed separation of the components of +double stars, and for the well-known high eccentricities of +their orbits. In recent years Moulton and Russell have +seriously questioned the sufficiency of this force to account +for the major part of the separation and eccentricity in the +double star systems. I think, however, that if the tidal force +is not competent to account for the observed facts as +described, some other separating force or forces must be found +to supply the deficiency. + +THE FORMATION OF THE EARTH + +Does the condition of the Earth's interior give evidence on the +question of its origin? There are certain important facts which +bear upon the problem. + +1. The evidence supplied by the volcanoes, by the hot springs, +and by the rise in temperature as we go down in all deep mines, +is unmistakably to the effect that there is an immense quantity +of heat in the Earth's interior. Near the surface the +temperature increases at the average of 1 degrees Centigrade +for every 30 meters of depth. If this rate were maintained we +should at 60 km. in depth arrive at a temperature high enough +to melt platinum, the most refractory of the known metals. What +the law of temperature-increase at great depths is we do not +know, but the temperature of the Earth's deep interior must be +very high. + +2. The pressures in the Earth increase from zero at the surface +to the order of 3,000,000 atmospheric pressures at the center. +We know that rock structure, or iron or other metals, can be +slightly compressed by pressure, but the experiments at very +high pressures, notably those conducted by Bridgman, give no +indications that matter under such pressures breaks down and +obeys different or unknown laws. It should be said, however, +that laboratory pressure-effects alone are not a safe guide as +to conditions within the Earth, where high pressures are +accompanied by high temperature. Unfortunately it has not been +found possible to combine the high-temperature factor with the +high-pressure factor in the laboratory experiments. It is well +known that the melting points of metals, including rocks, +increase with increase of pressure; and although the +temperatures in the Earth's interior are very high, it is easy +to conceive that the materials of the Earth's interior are +nevertheless in the solid state, or that they act like solids, +because of the high pressures to which they are subjected. + +3. The specific gravity of the entire Earth is 5.5 on the scale +of water as one, whereas the density of the stratified rocks +averages only 2.75; that is, the stratified rocks have but one +half the density of the Earth as a whole. The basaltic rocks +underlying the stratified attain occasionally the density 3.1, +and perhaps a little higher. It follows absolutely that the +density of the materials of the Earth's interior must be +considerably in excess of 5.5. If the interior is composed +chiefly of substances which are plentiful in the Earth's +surface strata, our choice of materials which principally +compose the interior is reduced to a few elements, notably the +denser ones. + +4. The observed phenomena of terrestrial precession can not be +explained on the basis of an Earth with a thin solid surface +shell and a liquid interior, for the attractions of the Moon +and Sun upon the Earth's equatorial protuberance would cause +the surface shell to shift over the fluid interior, instead of +swinging the entire Earth. + +5. If the Earth consisted of a thin solid shell upon a liquid +interior there would be tides in the liquid interior, the crust +would yield to these tides almost as if it were composed of +rubber, and the ocean tides would be only an insignificant +amount larger than the land tides. As a result we should not +see the ocean tides; their visibility depends upon the contrast +between the ocean tides and the land tides. If the Earth were +absolutely unyielding from surface to center the ocean tides +would be relatively 50 per cent. higher than we now see them. +The conclusion from these facts is that the Earth yields to the +tidal forces a little less than if it were a solid ball of +steel, supposing that the well-known rigidity and density +existed from surface to center of the ball. This result is +established by Darwin's and Schweydar's studies of ocean tides, +by studies of the tides in the Earth's surface strata made by +Hecker, Paschwitz and others, and by Michelson's recent +extremely accurate comparison of land and water tides. +Michelson's results establish further that the Earth is highly +elastic: though distortion is resisted, there is yielding, but +the original form is recovered quickly, almost as quickly as a +perfectly elastic body would recover. + +6. Some 25 years ago it was discovered by Kustner that the +latitudes of points on the Earth's surface are changing slowly. +Chandler proved that these variations pass through their +principal cycle in a period of 427 days. The entire Earth +oscillates slightly in this period. The earlier researches of +Euler had shown that the Earth would have a natural oscillation +period of 305 days provided it were an absolutely rigid body. +Newcomb showed that the period of oscillation would be 441 days +if the Earth had the rigidity of steel. As the observed +oscillation requires 427 days, Newcomb concluded that the Earth +is slightly more rigid than steel. + +7. The first waves from a very distant earthquake come to us +directly through the Earth. The observed speeds of transmission +are the greater, in general, the more nearly the earthquake +origin is exactly on the opposite side of the Earth from the +observer; that is, the speeds of transmission are greater the +nearer the center of the Earth the waves pass. Now, we know +that the speeds are functions of the rigidity and density of +the materials traversed. The observed speeds require for their +explanation, so far as we can now see, that the rigidity of the +Earth's central volume be much greater than that of steel, and +the rigidity of the Earth's outer strata considerably less than +that of steel. Wiechert has shown that a core of radius 4,900 +km. whose rigidity is somewhat greater than that of steel and +whose average density is 8.3, overlaid by an outer stony shell +of thickness 1,500 km. and average density 3.2, would satisfy +the observed facts as to the average density of the Earth, as +to the speeds of earthquake waves, as to the flattening of the +Earth,--assuming the concentric strata to be homogeneous in +themselves,--and as to the relative strengths of gravity at the +Poles and at the Equator. The dividing line, 1,500 km. below +the surface--1,600 km. would be just one fourth of the way from +the surface to the center--places a little over half the volume +in the outer shell and a little less than half in the core. +Wiechert did not mean that there must be a sudden change of +density at the depth of 1,500 km., with uniform density 8.3 +below that surface and uniform density 3.2 above that surface. +The change of density is probably fairly continuous. It was +necessary in such a preliminary investigation to simplify the +assumptions. The observational data are not yet sufficiently +accurate to let us say what the law of increase in density and +rigidity is as we pass from the surface to the center. + +8. The phenomena of terrestrial magnetism indicate that the +distribution of magnetic materials in the Earth is far from +uniform or symmetrical; the magnetic poles are distant from the +Earth's poles of rotation; the magnetic poles are not opposite +each other; the lines of equal intensity as to all the magnetic +components involved run very irregularly over the Earth's +surface. There is reason to believe that iron in the deep +interior of the Earth, in view of its high temperature, is +devoid of magnetic properties, but we must not state this as a +fact. We know that iron is very widely, but very irregularly +spread throughout the Earth's outer strata. Whatever may be the +main factors in making the Earth a great magnet, to whatever +extent the rotation factor may be important, the Earth's +magnetic properties point strongly to a very irregular +distribution of magnetic materials in the outer strata where +the temperatures are below that at which magnetic materials +commonly lose their polarity. + +9. Irregularities in the direction of the plumb-line and in the +force of gravity as observed widely and accurately over the +Earth's surface indicate that the surface strata are very +irregular as to density. To harmonize the observed facts +Hayford has shown the need of assuming that the heterogeneous +conditions extend down to a depth of 122 km. from the surface. +Below that level the Earth's concentric strata seem to be of +approximately uniform densities. + +10. The radio active elements have been found by Strutt and +others in practically all kinds of rock accessible to the +geologists, but they are not found in significant quantities in +the so-called metals which exist in a pure state. These +radioactive elements are liberating heat. Strutt has shown that +if they existed down to the Earth's center in the same +proportion that he finds in the surface strata they would +liberate a great deal more heat than the body of the Earth is +now radiating to outer space. The conclusion is that they are +restricted to the strata relatively near the Earth's surface, +and are not in combination with the materials composing the +Earth's core. They have apparently found some way of coming to +the higher levels. Chamberlin suggests that as they liberate +heat they would raise surrounding materials to temperatures +above the normals for their strata, and that these expanded +materials would embrace every opportunity to approach the +surface of the Earth, carrying the radioactive substances with +them. + +The evidence is exceedingly strong, and perhaps irresistible, +to the effect that the Earth is now solid, or acts like a +solid, from surface to center, with possibly local, but on the +whole negligible, pockets of molten matter here and there; and +further, that the Earth existed in a molten, or at the least a +thickly plastic, state throughout a long part of its life. The +nucleus, whether gaseous or meteoric, from which I believe it +has grown, may have been fairly hot or quite cold, and the +materials which were successively drawn into the nucleus may +have been hot or cold: heat would be generated by the impacts +of the incoming materials; and as the attraction toward the +center of the mass became strong, additional heat would be +generated in the contraction process. The denser materials have +been able, on the whole, to gravitate to the center of the +structure, and the lighter elements have been able, on the +whole, to rise to and float upon the surface very much as the +lighter impurities in an iron furnace find their way to the +surface and form the slag upon the molten metal. The lighter +materials which in general form the surface strata are solid +under the conditions of solids known to us in every-day life. +The interior is solid or at least acts as a solid, because the +materials, though at high temperatures, are under stupendous +pressures. If the pressures were removed the deep-lying +materials would quickly liquefy, and probably even vaporize. + +If the Earth grew from a small nucleus to its present size by +the extremely gradual drawing-in of innumerable small masses in +its neighborhood, the process would always be slow; much slower +at first when the small nucleus had low gravitating powers, +more rapid when the body was of good size and the store of +materials to draw upon plentiful,and gradually slower and +slower as the supply of building materials was depleted. +Meteoric matter still falls upon and builds up the Earth, but +at so slow a rate as to increase the Earth's diameter an inch +only after the passage of hundreds of millions of years. If the +Earth grew in this manner, the growth may now be said to be +essentially complete, through the substantial exhaustion of the +supply of materials. + +Whether the Earth of its present size was ever completely +liquefied, that is, from center to surface, at one and the same +time, is doubtful. The lack of homogeneity, as indicated by the +plumb-line, gravity, terrestrial magnetism and radiaoctive +matter, extending in a perceptible degree down to 122 km., and +quite probably in lesser and imperceptible degree to a much +greater depth, is opposed to the idea. + +Solidification would respond to the fall of temperature down to +the point required under the existing high pressures, and it is +probable that the solidification began at the center and +proceeded outwards. It is natural that the plastic state should +have developed and existed especially during the age of most +rapid growth, for this would be the age of most rapid +generation of heat. Later, while the rate of growth was +declining, the body could probably have solidified slowly and +successively from center out to surface. In later slow +depositions of materials, the denser substance would not be +able to sink down to the deepest strata: they must lie within a +limited depth and horizontal distance from where they fell, and +the outer stratum of the Earth would be heterogeneous in +density. + +The simplest hypothesis we can make concerning the Earth's deep +interior is that the chief ingredient is iron; perhaps a full +half of the volume is iron. The normal density of iron is 7.8, +and of rock formations about 2.8. If these are mixed, half and +half, the average density is 5.3. Pressures in the Earth should +increase the density and the heat in the Earth should decrease +the density. The known density of the Earth is 5.5. We know +that iron is plentiful in the Earth's crust, and that iron is +still falling upon the Earth in the form of meteorites. The +composition of the Earth as a whole, on this assumption, is +very similar to the composition of the meteorites in general. +They include many of the metals, but especially iron, and they +include a large proportion of stony matter. Iron is plentiful +in the Sun and throughout the stellar universe. Why should it +not be equally plentiful in the materials which have coalesced +to form the Earth? It is difficult to explain the Earth's +constitution on any other hypothesis. + +The Earth's form is that which its rotation period demands. +Undoubtedly if the period has changed, the form has changed. +Given a little time, solids under great pressure flow quite +readily into new forms. Now any great slowing-down of the +Earth's rotation period within geological times would be +expected to show in the surface features. The strata should +have wrinkled, so to speak, in the equatorial regions and +stretched in the polar regions, if the Earth changed from a +spheroid that was considerably flatter than it now is, to its +present form. Mountains, as evidence of the folding of the rock +strata, should exist in profusion in the torrid zone, and be +scarce in or absent from the higher latitudes of the Earth. +Such differential effects do not exist, and it seems to follow +that changes in the Earth's rotation period and in its form +could have been only slight while the stratification of our +rocks was in progress. + +Geologists estimate from the deposition of salt in the oceans, +and from the rates of denudation and sedimentation, that the +formation of the rock strata has consumed from 60,000,000 to +100,000,000 years. If the Earth had substantially its present +form 80,000,000 years ago we are safe in saying that the period +of time represented in the building up of the Earth from a +small nucleus to its present dimensions has been vastly longer, +probably reckoned in the thousands of millions of years. + +For more than a century past the problem of the evolution of +the stars, including the solar system and the Earth, has +occupied the central place in astronomical thought. No one is +bold enough to say that the problem has been solved. The chief +difficulty proceeds from the fact that we have only one Earth, +one solar system and one stellar system available for tests of +the hypotheses proposed; we should like to test them on many +systems, but this privilege is denied us. However, the search +for the truth will undoubtedly proceed at an ever increasing +pace, partly because of man's desire to know the truth, but +chiefly, as Lessing suggested, because the investigator finds +an irresistible satisfaction in the process. There is always +with him the certainty that the truth is going to be +incomparably stranger and more interesting than fiction. + + + +A METRICAL TRAGEDY + +BY DR. JOS. V. COLLINS + +STEVENS POINT, WIS. + +THE war in Europe has opened up a large field of trade in South +America. Three things especially stand in the way of its +development, viz., the absence of a proper credit system, the +failure to make goods of the kind demanded and third, the use +of our antiquated system of weights and measures, all the South +American countries employing the metric system. Of these three +obstructing influences, the first two are in a fair way to be +obviated soon; not so the last. + +It is the use by our modern progressive country of an ancient +system of weights and measures which it is here proposed to +discuss and show up as an absurdity. Our present system is +organized and set forth in arithmetics under some fifteen +so-called "tables." These tables are all different and there is +no uniformity in any one table. Only one unit suggests +convenience in reductions, viz., hundredweight. It is easy to +reduce from pounds to hundredweight and vice versa. Some fifty +ratio numbers have to be memorized or calculated from other +memorized numbers to make the common needed reductions. History +shows that ancient Babylonia had tables superior to those now +in use, and ancient Britain a decimal scale which was crowded +out by our present system. + +The metric system of weights and measures was developed in +France about 1800 and has come to be employed over all the +civilized world except in the United States, Great Britain and +Russia. The system was legalized in the United States in 1866 +but not made mandatory and here we are fifty years later using +the old system, with most of the civilized world looking on us +with more or less scorn because of our belatedness. + +In this age everywhere the cry is efficiency, always more +efficiency. Ten thousand improvements and labor-saving devices +are introduced every day. But here is an improvement and +labor-saving device which would affect the life of every person +in the land and in many instances greatly affect such persons' +lives, and yet almost no one really knows anything about the +matter. + +So let us now consider the good points in the metric system +(each implying corresponding elements of great weakness in the +common system), and then study briefly what stands in the way +of its adoption in this country. These good points are: + +First, the metric units have uniform self-defining names (cent, +mill, meter and five more out of the eleven terms used already +familiar to us in English words), are always the same in all +lands, known everywhere, and fixed with scientific accuracy. + +Second, every REDUCTION is made almost instantaneously by +merely moving the decimal point. There are no reductions +performed by multiplying by 1,728 or 5,280, etc., or dividing +by 5 1/2, 30 1/4 or 31 1/2, etc., and hence there is A GREAT +SAVING in the labor and time of making necessary calculations. + +Third, there are but FIVE tables in the metric system proper, +these taking the place of from twelve to fifteen in our system +(or lack of it). These are linear, square, cubic, capacity and +weight. + +Fourth, any one table is about as easy to learn as our United +States money table, and after one is learned, it is much easier +to learn the others, since the same prefixes with the same +meanings are used in all. + +Fifth, the weights of all objects are either known directly +from their size, or can be very quickly found from their +specific gravities. + +Sixth, the subject is made so much easier for children in +school that a conservative expert estimate of the saving is two +thirds of a year in a child's school life. The rule in this +country is eight years of arithmetic, the arithmetic occupying +about one fourth of the child's activity. With metric +arithmetic substituted for ours, what it now takes two years to +prepare for, could be easily done in 1 1/3 years. This involves +an enormous waste of money and energy every twelvemonth. + +Seventh, only ONE set of measures and ONE set of weights are +needed to measure and weigh everything, and ONE set of machines +to make things for the world's use. There would be no +duplication of costly machinery to enter the foreign trade +field, thus securing enormous saving. It is well known that the +United States and Great Britain have lost a vast amount of +foreign commerce in competition with Germany and France, +because of their non-use of the metric units. Britain realizes +this and is greatly concerned over the situation. + +Eighth, every ordinary practical problem can be solved +conveniently on an adding machine. Our adding machines are used +almost solely for United States money problems. + +Ninth, no valuable time is lost in making reductions from +common to metric units, or vice versa, either by ourselves or +foreigners. To make our sizes in manufactured goods concrete to +them foreign customers have to reduce our measures to theirs +and this is a weariness to the flesh. + +Tenth, the metric system is wonderfully simple. All the tables +with a rule to make all possible reductions can be put on a +postal card.[1] + +[1] See article by the writer in Education (Boston), Dec., +1894. + + + +The metric weights and measures constitute a SCIENTIFIC SYSTEM; +our weights and measures are a DISORGANIZATION. Naturally one +can expect a GREAT SAVING OF TIME, THOUGHT AND LABOR from the +use of a system, and this is the fact. If one dared introduce +ordinary arithmetical problems into an article like this, it +would be easy to show by examples how a person has to be +something of a master of common fractions in order to solve in +our system common every-day problems, whereas in the metric +system nearly everything is done very simply with decimals. In +our system a mechanic after making a complicated calculation +with common fractions is as likely as not to get his result in +sixths, or ninths, etc., of an inch, whereas his rule reads to +eighths, or sixteenths, and he must reduce his sixths, or +ninths, to eighths, or sixteenths, before he can measure off +his result. In the metric system results always come out in +units of the scale used. The metric system measures to +millimeters or to a unit a trifle larger than a thirty-second +of an inch. In our system one is likely to avoid sixteenths or +thirty-seconds on account of the labor of calculation. Then, +besides, the amount of figuring is so much less in the metric +system. Take the case of a certain problem to find the cubical +contents of a box. Our solution calls for 80 figures and the +metric for 35, and this is a typical case, not one specially +selected. Thus, metric calculations, while only from one third +to two thirds as long, are likely to be two or three times as +accurate, are far easier to understand, and the results can be +immediately measured off. Hence, we waste time in these four +ways. Shakespeare in Hamlet says: "Thus conscience does make +cowards of us all." In like vein it might be said: Thus custom +(in weights and measures) doth make April fools of us all. It +is no exaggeration to say that counting grown-ups solving +actual problems and children solving problems in school we are +sent on much more than a billion such April fool errands round +Robin Hood's barn every year. + +Noting how much time is saved in making simple every-day +calculations by using the metric system, suppose that we assume +of the 60 or more millions of adults in active life in this +country, on the average only one in 60 makes such calculations +daily and that only twenty minutes' time is saved each day. Let +us suppose that the value of the time of the users is put at +$2.40 per day or 10 cents for 20 minutes. Then 1,000,000 users +would save $100,000 per day or $30,000,000 per year. But +perhaps some one is saying that much of this time is not really +saved, since many persons are paid for their time and can just +as well do this work as not. The answer to this is that in many +instances such calculations take the time of OTHERS as well as +the person making the calculation. Occasionally a contractor +might hold back, or work to a disadvantage a gang of a score of +workmen while trying to solve a problem that came up +unexpectedly. + +An estimate of the value of all weighing and measuring +instruments places the sum at $150,000,000. Thus, we see that +in five years, merely by a saving in TIME--for time is +money--all metric measuring and weighing instruments could be +got NEW at no extra expense. This estimate of the cost of +replacing our weighing and measuring instruments by new metric +ones and of saving time has been made by others with a similar +result. + +A matter of very much more importance than that just discussed +is the extra unnecessary expense put upon education, viz., two +thirds of a year for every child in the land. Presumably if the +metric system were in use with us, all our children would stay +in school as long as they now do, thus getting two thirds of a +year farther along in the course of study. Actually, if +arithmetic were made more simple, vast numbers would; stay +longer, since they would not be driven out of school by the +terrible inroads on their interest in school work by dull and +to them impossible arithmetic. If metric arithmetic texts were +substituted for our present texts, it is safe to say children +would average one full year more of education. What the +increased earning power would be from this it would be hard to +estimate, but clearly it would be a huge sum. + +Consider also how much more life would be worth living for +children, teachers and parents if a very large portion of +arithmetical puzzles inserted to qualify the children to +understand our crazy weights and measures were cut out of our +text-books. If we were to adopt the metric system, literally +millions of parents would be spared worry, and shame, and fear +lest Johnny fail and drop out of school, or Mary show +unexpected weakness and have to take a grade over again; +uncounted thousands of teachers would be saved much gnashing of +teeth and uttering of mild feminine imprecations under their +breath; and, best of all, the children themselves would be +saved from pencil-biting, tears, worries, heartburns, arrested +development, shame and loss of education! + +A committee of the National Educational Association has +recently reported that Germany and France are each two full +years ahead of us in educational achievement, that is, children +in those countries of a certain age have as good an education +as our children which are two years the foreign childrens' +seniors. Surely one of these years is fully accounted for by +the inferiority of our American ARITHMETIC and SPELLING. This +much, at least, of the difference is neither in the children +themselves, nor in the lack of preparation of our teachers, nor +in educational methods. + +Professor J. W. A. Young, of the University of Chicago, in his +work on "Mathematics in Prussia," says: "In the work in +mathematics done in the nine years from the age of nine on, we +Americans accomplish no more than the Prussians, while we give +to the work seven fourths of the time the Germans give." +Professor James Pierpont, of Yale, writing in the Bulletin of +the American Mathematical Society (April, 1900), shows a like +comparison can be made with French instruction. Pierpont's +table exhibits only one hour a week needed for arithmetic for +pupils aged 11 and 12! As the advertisements sometimes say, +there must be a reason. + +But if the children are kept in school two thirds of a year +longer somebody pays for this extra expense. Now children do +not drop out of school until they are about 12 years of age and +have both appetites and earning power. The number of these +children that drop out each year is probably about 2 1/2 +millions. Of this number let us say 1 1/2 millions would +become wage earners, thus passing from the class that are +supported to the class that support themselves and earn a small +wage besides. We have then three items in this count: (1) The +cost to the state in taxes for the education of 2 1/2 million +for two thirds of a year, or $50,000,000; (2) The cost to the +parents for support of 1 1/2 millions for two thirds of a year +at $67 each, or $100,000,000; (3) The wages of 1 1/2 millions +over and above the cost of their support, say $50 each, or +$75,000,000. + +The above figures are put low purposely so that they can not be +criticized. It should be remembered that 46 per cent. of our +population is agricultural, and that on the farm, youths of +from 13 to 15 very often do men's and women's work: also that +in many manufacturing centers great numbers of children get +work at relatively good wages, and that the number of +completely idle children out of school is not large. + +With these figures in hand let us consider now a kind of debit +and credit sheet against and for our present system of weights +and measures. + +PRESENT SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES + +In ANNUAL account with UNCLE SAM + +Cr. +By culture (?) acquired by the +children through learning more +common fractions and our crazy +tables of weights and measures.......... $? + +Dr. +To cost in school taxes of keeping 2 1/2 +millions of children in school 2/3 year. $50,000,000 +To cost to parents for supporting 1 1/2 +millions children 2/3 year............. 100,000,000 +To loss of productive power of 1 1/2 +millions youth for 2/3 year ............. 75,000,000 +To loss of earning power by having +children driven out of school by +difficulties of arithmetic as now +taught .................................... 25,000,000 +To loss of time in making arithmetical +calculations by men in trade, industries +and manufactures.......................... 30,000,000 +To extra weighing and measuring +instruments needed for sundry tables....... 10,000,000 +To loss of time in making cross reductions +to and from our system and +metric system .............................. 5,000,000 +To loss of profit from foreign trade +because our goods are not in metric +units ..................................... 20,000,000 + ------------ + Total annual loss ................. $315,000,000 + +Commenting for a moment on the credit side of the above ledger +account, it can be said that recent psychology shows +conclusively that training in common fractions and weights and +measures can not be of much practical help as so-called +culture, or training for learning other things, unless those +other things are closely related to them, and there are not +many things in life so related to them once we had dropped our +present weights and measures. + +It may be complained that the expense of changing to the new +system is not taken account of in the above table. The reason +is that that expense would occur once for all. The above table +deals with the ANNUAL cost of our present medieval system. + +One powerful reason for the adoption of the metric system +different in character from the others is the ease of cheating +by the old system. In the past the people have been +unmercifully abused through short weights and measures. Many of +the states have taken this matter up latterly and prosecuted +merchants right and left. Nine tenths of this trouble would +disappear with the new system in use. + +Let us consider now for a little time the reasons why the +metric system has not been accepted and adopted for use in the +United States. Evidently the great main reason has been that +the masses of the people, in fact all of them except a very +small educated class in science are almost totally uninformed +on this whole question. Such articles as have been published +have almost invariably appeared in either scientific, technical +or educational magazines, mostly the first, so that there has +been no means of reaching the masses, or even the school +teachers with the facts. For another reason the United States +occupies an isolated position geographically, and our people do +not come into personal contact with those in other countries +using the metric system. But there is still another potent +reason. After the United States government legalized the metric +system in 1866, all the school books on arithmetic began +presenting the topic of the metric system, and, quite +naturally, they did it by comparing its units with those of our +system and calling for cross reductions from one system to the +other. No better means of sickening the American children with +the metric system could have been devised. Multitudes of the +young formed a strong dislike for the foreign system with its +foreign names, and could not now be easily convinced that it is +not difficult to learn. Every school boy knows how easy it is +to learn United States money. The boy just naturally learns it +between two nights. The whole metric system UNDER FAVORABLE +CONDITIONS is learned nearly as easily. By favorable conditions +is meant the constant use of the system in homes, schools, +stores, etc. These favorable conditions, of course, we have +never had. + +In 1904 an earnest effort was made again both in this country +and Great Britain to have the metric system adopted for general +use. The exporting manufacturers in both countries grew much +concerned over the whole situation. A petition to have the +metric system adopted in Great Britain was signed by over +2,000,000 persons. A bill to make the system mandatory was +passed by the House of Lords and its first reading in the House +of Commons. The forces of conservatism then bestirred +themselves and the bill was held up. Forseeing a movement of +the same kind in this country, the American Manufactures' +Association got busy, laid plans to defeat such movement which +they later did. Strictly speaking this action was not taken by +the association as such but only by a part of it. One fourth of +the membership and probably much more than a fourth of the +capital of the association was on the side for the adoption of +the system. Politically, however, the side opposed to the new +system had altogether the most influence. + +Careful study of the whole matter showed that the main cost to +make the change to the new system would be in dies, patterns, +gauges, jigs, etc. A careful estimate put this cost at $600 for +each workman and assuming a million workmen, we have a total +cost of $600,000,000. But we have just seen that the annual +expense of retaining the old system of weights and measures is +over $300,000,000. Thus we see that two short years would +suffice to pay for what seems to the great manufacturers +association an insuperable expense. From all this we see that +the question is not one for N. M. A. bookkeeping, but for +national bookkeeping. + +Many well-informed people studying the matter superficially, +think the difficulties in the way of a change to the new system +insurmountable. Thus, they think of the cost to the +manufacturer--which we have just seen to be rather large but +not insurmountable; they think of the changes needed in books, +records, such as deeds, and the substitution of new measuring +and weighing instruments. Germany and all the other countries +of continental Europe made the change. Are we to assume that +the United States can not? That would be ridiculous. Granting +that commerce has grown greatly, so also has intelligence and +capability of the people for doing great things. + +Scientists are universally agreed as to the wisdom of the +adoption of the metric system. The country, as a whole, must be +educated up to the notion that sooner or later it is sure to be +universally adopted, that it is only a question of time when +this will be done. Already electrical, chemical and optical +manufacturing concerns use the metric units and system +exclusively. The system is also used widely in medicine and +still other arts. Then all institutions of learning use the +metric system exclusively whenever this is possible. All that +is needed is to complete a good work well begun. + +There is one rational objection to the metric system and but +one. It is that 10 is inferior to 12 as a base for a notation +for numbers, but the world is not ready to make this change nor +is it likely to be for generations to come. Moreover, this +improvement is far less important than uniformity in weights +and measures. For these reasons this objection can be passed +over. Men said the metric system would never be used outside of +France; but it has come to be used all over the world. The +prophets said we should never have uniformity as regards a +reference meridian of longitude. But we have. And so it will be +with the adoption of the metric system in the United States and +Great Britain. It is only a question of whether it comes sooner +or later. When that day comes, the meter, a long yard, will +replace the yard, the liter, the quart (being smaller than a +dry and larger than a liquid quart), the kilogram will replace +the pound, being equal to 2.2 pounds, and the kilometer (.6 +mi.) will replace the mile. Within a week or so after the +change has been made to the new system, all men in business +will be reasonably familiar with the new units and how they are +used, and within a few months every man, woman and child will +be as familiar with the new system as they ever were with the +simplest parts of the old. So easy it will be to make the +change as far as ordinary business affairs are concerned. +However, for exact metal manufactures years will be needed to +fully change over to the new. Here the plan is to begin with +new unit constructions and new models, as automobiles using new +machinery constructed in the integral units of the metric +system. All old constructions are left as they are and repaired +as they are. This was the plan used in Germany and of course it +works. + +In conclusion it can be said that we started with the idea that +the change to the metric system was needed for the sake of +foreign commerce. We now see that we need it also for our own +commercial and manufacturing transactions. If we are to have +the efficiency so insistently demanded by the age in which we +live, then we must have the metric system in use for the +ordinary affairs of daily life of the masses of the people, we +must have it in commercial and manufacturing industries, and we +must have it in education. If efficiency is to be the slogan, +then the metric system must come no matter what obstacles stand +in its way. + + + +ADAPTATION AS A PROCESS + +BY PROFESSOR HARRY BEAL TORREY + +REED COLLEGE + +FOR the physicist and chemist the term adaptation awakens but +the barren echo of an idea. In biology it still retains a +certain standing, though its significance has, in recent years, +been rapidly contracting, as the influence of the conception +for which it stands has waned. Many biologists are now of the +opinion that their science would be better off entirely without +it. They believe it has not only outlived its usefulness, but +has become a source of confusion, if not, indeed, reaction. + +Darwin's first task, in the "Origin of Species," was to +demonstrate that species had not been independently created, +but had descended, like varieties, from other species. But he +was well aware that + +such a conclusion, even if well founded, would be +unsatisfactory until it could be shown how the innumerable +species inhabiting the world have been modified, so as to +acquire that perfection of structure and coadaptation which +justly excites our admiration. + +To establish convincingly the doctrine of descent with +modification as a theory of species, it was necessary for him +to develop the theory of adaptation which we now know as +natural selection. + +The origin of adaptive variations gave him, at that time, +little concern. Though keenly appreciative of the problem of +variation which his studies in evolution presented, he +dismissed it in the "Origin" with less than twenty-five pages +of discussion. Such brevity is not surprising, since a more +extended treatment would only have embarrassed the progress of +the argument. In fact, his restraint in this direction enabled +him, first, to avoid the difficulties into which Lamarck, with +his bold attack on the problem of variation, had fallen; and +second, by doing so, to deal the doctrine of Design a blow from +which it has never recovered. + +The latter was a service of well-nigh incalculable value to the +young science of biology--and, as it appeared, to modern +civilization as well. But it has not been uncommon, from +Aristotle's day to this, for the work of great men to suffer at +the hands of less imaginative followers. Sweeping applications +of Darwin's doctrine have been repeatedly made without due +regard either for its original object or for the success with +which that object was achieved. So I believe it to be no fault +of Darwin that the growing indifference of European +laboratories toward natural selection should find occasional +expression in such a phrase as "the English disease." Disease, +indeed, I believe we must in candor admit that devotion to it +to be which blinds its devotees to those problems of more +elementary importance than the problem of adaptation, which +Darwin clearly saw but was born too soon to solve. + +The problem of species has profoundly changed since 1859. For +Darwin it was perforce a problem of adaptation. For the +investigator of to-day it has become a part of the more +inclusive problem of variation. Along with the logical results +of natural selection he contemplates the biological processes +of organic differentiation. He is no longer satisfied to assume +the existence of those modifications that make selection +possible. In his efforts to control them, the conception of +adaptation as a result has been crowded from the center of his +interest by the conception of adaptation as a process. + +The survival of specially endowed organisms, the elimination of +competing individuals not thus endowed, are facts that possess, +in themselves, no immediate biological significance. Selection +as such is not a biological process, whether it is accomplished +automatically on the basis of protective coloration, or +self-consciously by man. Separating sheep from goats may have a +purely commercial interest, as when prunes and apples, gravel +and bullets, are graded for the market. Such selection is, at +bottom, a method of classification, serving the same general +purpose as boxes in a post-office. Similarly, natural selection +is but a name for the segregation and classification that take +place automatically in the great struggle for existence in +nature. The fact that it is a result rather than a process +accounts, probably more than anything else, for its remarkable +effect upon modern thought. It is non-energetic. It exerts no +creative force. As a conception of passive mechanical +segregation and survival, it was a most timely and potent +substitute for the naive teleology involved in the idea of +special creation. + +As a theory of adaptation, then, natural selection is +satisfactory only in so far as it accounts for the +"preservation of favored races." It throws no light upon the +origin of the variations with which races are favored. Since it +is only as variations possess a certain utility for the +organism that they become known as adaptations, the conception +of adaptation is inevitably associated with the welfare of +individuals or the survival of races. To disregard this +association is to rob the conception of all meaning. Like +health, it has no elementary physiological significance. + +Our profound interest in the problem of survival is natural and +practical and inevitable. But in spite of Darwin's great +contribution toward a scientific analysis of the mechanism of +organic evolution, and in spite of the marvelous recent +progress of medicine along its many branches, the fact remains +that so far as this interest in the problem of survival is +dominant it must continue to hinder adequate analysis of the +problem of adaptation. Indeed, it is in large measure due to +such domination in the past that biology now lags so far behind +the less personal sciences of physics and chemistry. For +survival means the survival of an individual. And there is no +doubt that the individual organism is the most conspicuous +datum in the living world. The few who, neglectful of +individuals and survivals, find their chief interest in living +substance, its properties and processes, are promptly +challenged by the many to find living substance save in the +body of an organism. Thus, in a peculiarly significant sense, +organisms are vital units. And since the individual organism +shows a remarkable capacity to retain its identity under a wide +range of conditions, adaptability or adjustability comes to be +reckoned as the prime characteristic of life by all to whom the +integrity of the individual organism is the fact of chief +importance. + +With the use of the words adaptability and adjustability, our +discussion assumes a somewhat different aspect. Instead of +contemplating further the mechanical selection of individuals +on the basis of characters that, like the structure of "the +woodpecker, with its feet, tail, beak and tongue, so admirably +adapted to catch insects under the bark of trees," can not be +attributed to the influence of the external conditions that +render them useful, we are invited to consider immediate and +plastic adjustments of the organism to the very conditions that +call forth the response. For the fortuitous adjustments that +tend to preserve those individuals or races that chance to +possess them, are substituted, accordingly, the direct primary +adjustments that tend to preserve the identity of the reacting +organism. We turn thus from the RESULTS of the selection of +favorable variations to the biological PROCESSES by which +organisms become accommodated to their conditions of life. + +At once the old questions arise. Are these processes +fundamentally peculiar to the life of organisms? Does the +capacity of the organism thus to adjust itself to its +environment involve factors not found in the operations of +inorganic nature? Our answers will be determined essentially by +the nature of our interest in the organism--whether we regard +its existence as the END or merely an incidental EFFECT of its +activities. The first alternative is compatible with +thoroughgoing vitalism. The second, emphasizing the nature of +the processes rather than their usefulness to the organism, +relieves biology of the embarrassments of vitalistic +speculation, and allies it at the same time more intimately +than ever with physics and chemistry. This alliance promises so +well for the analysis of adaptations, as to demand our serious +attention. + +Physiologically, the living organism may be thought of as a +physico-chemical system of great complexity and peculiar +composition which varies from organism to organism and from +part to part. Life itself may be defined as a group of +characteristic activities dependent upon the transformations in +this system under appropriate conditions. According to this +definition, life is determined not only by the physical and +chemical attributes of the system, but by the fitness of its +environment, which Henderson has recently done the important +service of emphasizing.[1] Relatively trifling changes in the +environment suffice to render it unfit, however, that is, to +modify it beyond the limits of an organism's adaptability. The +environmental limits are narrow, then, within which the +transformations of the organic system can take place that are +associated with adaptive reactions. The conditions within these +limits are, further, peculiarly favorable for just such +transformations in just such physico-chemical systems. + +[1] "The Fitness of the Environment." + + + +The essential characteristic of the adaptive reaction appears +to be that the organism concerned responds to changing +conditions without losing certain attributes of behavior by +which we recognize organisms in general and by which that +organism is recognized in particular. It exhibits stability in +the midst of change; it retains its identity. But this +stability, let us repeat, is the stability of a certain type of +physico-chemical system, with respect to certain characters +only, and exhibited under certain circumscribed conditions. In +so far as the problem of adaptation is thus restricted in its +application, it remains a question of standards, a taxonomic +convenience, a problem of the organism by definition only, +empty of fundamental significance. + +It is to be expected that systems differing widely in +composition and structure will differ in their responses to +given conditions. This will be true whether the systems +compared thus are organic, or inorganic, or representative of +both groups. The compounds of carbon, of which living substance +is so characteristically composed, exhibit properties and +reactions that distinguish them at once in many respects from +the compounds of lead or sulphur. They also differ widely among +themselves; compare, in this connection, serum albumen, acetic +acid, cane sugar, urea. No vitalistic factor is needed for the +interpretation of divergencies of this kind. But there are many +significant similarities between organisms and inorganic +systems as well. These are so frequently overlooked that it +will now be desirable to consider a few illustrative cases. For +the sake of brevity, they have been selected as representative +of but two types of adaptation commonly known under the names +of ACCLIMATIZATION and REGULATION. + +Let us first consider the case of organisms which become +acclimatized by slow degrees to new conditions that, suddenly +imposed, would produce fatal results. Hydra is an organism +which becomes thus acclimatized finally to solutions of +strychnine too strong to be endured at first. Outwardly it +appears to suffer in the process no obvious modifications. Yet +modifications of a physiological order take place, as is shown, +first, by the necessary deliberation of the acclimatization, +second, by the death of the organism if transferred abruptly +back to its original environment. + +In other forms the structural changes accompanying +acclimatization may be far more conspicuous. For example, the +aerial leaves of Limnophila heterophylla are dentate, while +those grown under water are excessively divided. Again, the +helmets and caudal spines of Hyalodaphnia vary greatly in +length with the seasonal temperature. + +In these and the large number of similar cases that might be +cited, stability of the physiological system under changed +conditions is only obtained by changes in the system itself +which are often exhibited by striking structural modifications. + +Compare with such phenomena of acclimatization the responses of +sulphur, tin, liquid crystals and iron alloys to changes of +temperature. The rhombic crystals that characterize sulphur at +ordinary temperatures and pressures, give place to monoclinic +crystals at 95.5 degrees C. Sulphur thus exists with two +crystalline forms whose stability depends directly upon the +temperature. + +Similarly, tin exists under two stable forms, white and gray, +the one above, the other below the transitional point, which +is, in this case, 18 degrees C. At this temperature white tin +is in a metastable condition, and transforms into the gray +variety. The transformation goes on, then, at ordinary +temperatures, but, fortunately for us as users of tin +implements, very slowly. Its velocity can be increased, +however, by lowering the temperature, on which, then, not only +the transformation itself, but its rate depends. + +In this connection may be mentioned cholesteryl acetate and +benzoate and other substances which possess two crystalline +phases, one of which is liquid, unlike other liquids, however, +in being anisotropic. As in the preceding cases, these phases +are expressions of equilibrium at different temperatures. + +Especially instructive facts are afforded by the alloys of iron +and carbon. Iron, or ferrite, exists under three forms: as +alpha ferrite below 760 degrees, as beta ferrite between 760 +degrees and 900 degrees, and as gamma ferrite above 900 +degrees. Only the last is able to hold carbon in solid +solution. The alloys of iron and carbon exist under several +forms. Pearlite is a heterogeneous mixture containing 0.8 per +cent. carbon. When heated to 670 degrees, it becomes +homogeneous, an amount of carbon up to two per cent. dissolves +in the iron, and hard steel or martensite is formed. In +appearance, however, the two forms are so nearly identical as +to be discriminated only by careful microscopical examination. +Cementite is a definite compound of iron and carbon represented +by the formula Fe<3 subscript>C. + +When cooled slowly below 670 degrees, martensite yields a +heterogeneous mixture of pearlite and ferrite (or cementite, if +the original mixture contained between 0.8 per cent. and two +per cent. of carbon). Soft steels and wrought iron are thus +obtained. When cooled rapidly, however, as in the tempering of +steel, martensite remains a homogeneous solid solution, or hard +steel. + +One can not fail to notice the remarkable parallel between +these facts and the behavior of Hydra in the presence of +strychnine. In both cases new positions of stability are +reached by modifying the original conditions of stability; and +in both, the old positions of stability are regained only by +returns to the original conditions of stability so gradual as +to afford time sufficient for the necessary transformations in +the systems themselves. + +The forms which both organic and inorganic systems assume thus +appear to be functions of the conditions in which they exist. + +The fact that Hydra is able to regain a position of stability +from which it had been displaced connects the behavior of this +organism not only with the physical phenomena already cited, +but still more intimately with the large class of chemical +reactions which are similarly characterized by equilibrium and +reversibility. Such reactions do not proceed to completion, +which is probably always the case wherever the mixture of the +systems under transformation is homogeneous, as in the case of +solutions. They occur widely among carbon compounds. The +following typical case will suffice to indicate their essential +characteristics. + +When ethyl alcohol and acetic acid are mixed, a reaction ensues +which yields ethyl acetate and water. But ethyl acetate and +water react together also, yielding ethyl alcohol and acetic +acid. This second reaction, in a direction opposite to the +first, proceeds in the beginning more slowly also. There comes +a time, however, when the speeds of the two reactions are +equal. A position of equilibrium or apparent rest is thus +reached, which persists as long as the relative proportions of +the component substances remain unchanged. + +A great many reversible reactions are made possible by enzymes. +In the presence of diastase, glucose yields glycogen and water, +which, reacting together in the opposite direction, yield +glucose again. In the presence of emulsin, amygdalin is +decomposed into glucose, hydrocyanic acid and benzoic aldehyde, +and reformed from them. Similarly in the presence of lipase, +esters are reformed from alcohols and fatty acids, their +decomposition products. + +With the introduction of enzymes, certain complications ensue. +Though it has been shown that lipase acts as a true catalyser, +this may not hold for all, especially for proteolytic, enzymes. +That reversible reactions actually occur in proteids, however, +accompanied as they are in some cases at least by certain +displacements of the position of equilibrium, there appears to +be no question.[2] + +[2] Robertson, Univ. Calif. Publ. Physiol., 3, 1909, p. 115. + + + +These examples are but suggestions of the many reversible +reactions that have now been observed among the compounds of +carbon. That they have peculiar significance for the present +discussion resides in the fact that living substance is +composed of carbon compounds, so many and in such exceedingly +complex relations as to present endless possibilities for +shifting equilibria and the physical and chemical adjustments +resulting therefrom. + +With these facts in mind we may now turn from the consideration +of acclimatization to a brief discussion of certain phenomena +of regulation--adaptive reactions that are especially +conspicuous in the growth and development of organisms, but +separated by no sharp dividing line from adaptive reactions of +the other type. + +When a fragment of an organism transforms, under appropriate +conditions, into a typical individual, the process includes +degenerative aa well as regenerative phases. There is always +some simplification of the structures present, whose character +and amount is determined by the degree of specialization which +has been attained. The smaller the piece, within certain +limits, and the younger physiologically, the more nearly does +it return to embryonic conditions, a fact which can be studied +admirably in the hydroid Corymorpha. In some cases the +simplification is accomplished by abrupt sacrifice of highly +specialized parts, as in Corymorpha, when in a process of +simplification connected with acclimatization to aquarium +conditions, the large tentacles of well-grown specimens fall +away completely from their bases. In other hydroids (e. g., +Campanularia) the tentacles may be completely absorbed into the +body of the hydranth from which they originally sprang. Among +tissue cells degenerative changes may be abrupt, as in the +sacrifice of the highly specialized fibrillae in muscle cells; +or they may be very gradual, as in the transformation of cells +of one sort into another that occurs in the regeneration of +tentacles in Tubularia. + +An interesting case of absorption of parts came to my notice +while studying the larvae of the pennatulid coral Renilla some +fifteen years ago. As will be remembered, Renilla possesses +eight tentacles with numerous processes pinnately arranged. +During a period of enforced starvation, these pinnae were +gradually absorbed, and the tentacles shortened, from tip to +base. With the advent of food--in the form of annelid eggs--the +reverse of these events took place. The tentacles lengthened +and the pinnae reappeared, the larvae assuming their normal +aspect. + +It appears, then, that in some circumstances at least, the +process of simplification may resemble very nearly, even in +details, a reversal of the process of differentiation. That one +is actually in every respect the reverse of the other is +undoubtedly not true. This, however, is not to be wondered at. +Mechanical inhibitions that are so conspicuous in some cases +(e. g., Corymorpha) are to be expected to a certain degree in +all. The regenerative process itself depends upon the +cooperation of many physical and chemical factors, in many and +complex physicochemical systems in varying conditions of +equilibrium. And it is important to note that even the +equilibrium reactions by which a single proteid in the presence +of an enzyme, is made and unmade, do not appear always to +follow identically the same path in opposite directions.[3] + +[3] Robertson, vid. sup., p. 269. + + + +Whatever their course in the instances cited and in many +others, reversals in the processes of development do take +place. In perhaps their simplest form these can be seen in egg +cells. The development of a fragment of an egg as a complete +whole involves reversals in the processes of differentiation of +a very subtle order. The fusion of two eggs to one involves +similar readjustments. Such phenomena have been held to be +peculiar to living machines only. Yet it may be pointed out +that there are counterparts of both in the behavior of +so-called liquid crystals. When liquid crystals of +paraazoxyzimtsaure-Athylester are divided, the parts are +smaller in size, but otherwise identical with the parent +crystal in form, structure and optical properties. The fusion +of two crystals of ammonium oleate forming a single crystal of +larger size has also been observed. Though changes in +equilibrium that accompany such behavior of liquid crystals are +undoubtedly very much simpler than the changes that accompany +the regulatory processes exhibited by the living egg, the +striking resemblance between the phenomena themselves tempts us +not to magnify the difference. + +Further temptation in the same direction is offered by the +recent discovery[4] that the processes of development +stimulated in the eggs of the sea urchin Arbacia by butyric +acid or weak bases, and evidenced by the formation of the +fertilization membrane, is reversible. When such eggs are +treated with a weak solution of sodium cyanide or chloral +hydrate, they return to the resting condition. Upon +fertilization with spermatozoa, in normal sea water, they +proceed again to develop. + +[4] Loeb, Arch. f. Entw., 28, 1914, p. 277. + + + +The facts that have now been briefly summarized have been +selected to emphasize the growing intimacy between the +biological and the inorganic sciences. No harm can conceivably +come from it. On the contrary, there is every reason to be +hopeful that the investigation of biological problems in the +impersonal spirit that has long distinguished the maturer +sciences of physics and chemistry will continue to develop a +better control and fuller understanding of the processes in +living organisms, of which the phenomena of variation in +general, and of adaptation in particular, are but incidental +effects. + + + +WHY CERTAIN PLANTS ARE ACRID + +BY PROFESSOR WILLIAM B. LAZENBY + +OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY + +EVER since my first lessons in botany, the characteristic +qualities and properties of plants have given me much thought. +Why certain plants produced aromatic oils and ethers, while +others growing under the same conditions produced special acids +or alkaloids, was a subject of endless speculation. + +The pleasing aroma of the bark of various trees and shrubs, the +spicy qualities of the foliage and seeds of other plants; the +intense acridity; the bitterness; the narcotic, the poisonous +principle in woody and herbaceous species; all were intensely +interesting. + +This interest was biological rather than chemical. I cared less +for the ultimate composition of the oils, acids, alkalis, etc., +than I did for their use or office in the plant economy, and +their effect upon those who might use them. + +Perhaps no one plant interested me more from this point of +view, than the well-known Indian turnip (Arisoema triphyllum). +As a boy I was well acquainted with the signally acrid quality +of this plant; I was well aware of its effect when chewed, yet +I was irresistibly drawn to taste it again and again. It was +ever a painful experience, and I suffered the full penalty of +my rashness. As an awn from a bearded head of barley will win +its disputed way up one's sleeve, and gain a point in advance +despite all effort to stop or expel it, so did every +resolution, every reflection, counteract the very purpose it +was summoned to oppose, and to my sorrow I would taste the +drastic, turnip-shaped corm wherever opportunity occurred. + +It is a well-known fact that the liquid content of the cells of +plants contain numerous inorganic substances in solution. Among +these, not considering oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon +dioxide, there are the salts of calcium, magnesium, potassium, +iron, sulphur and phosphorus. The above substances are found in +the cells of every living plant. Other substances like salts of +sodium and silica are also found, but these are not regarded as +essential to the life and growth of plants. They appear to be +present because the plant has not the power to reject them. +Many of the substances named above, are found deposited either +in an amorphous or crystalline form in the substance of the +cell wall. In addition to this, crystals of mineral matter, +having various shapes and sizes, are often found in the +interior of cells. The most common of these interior cell +crystals are those composed of calcium oxalate and calcium +carbonate. Others composed of calcium phosphate, calcium +sulphate and silica are sometimes found. These crystals may +occur singly or in clusters of greater or less size. In shape +they are prismatic or needle-like. + +It is not the object of this paper to treat of plant crystals +in general, but to consider the peculiar effect produced by +certain forms when found in some well-known plants. + +The extreme acridity or intense pungency of the bulbs, stems, +leaves and fruit of various species of the Araceae or Arum +family, was recognized centuries ago. The cause of this +characteristic property or quality was, until a comparatively +recent date, not definitely determined. + +As far as I am aware the first scientific investigation of this +subject was made by the writer. At a meeting of the American +Association for the Advancement of Science held at Indianapolis +in 1890, some studies and experiments were reported in a short +paper entitled "Notes upon the Crystals in certain species of +the Arum Family." + +This paper expressed the belief that the acridity of the Indian +turnip and other plants belonging to the same family, was due +to the presence of needle-shaped crystals or raphides found in +the cells of these plants. This conclusion was not accepted by +Professor T. J. Burrill, of the University of Illinois, nor by +other eminent botanists who were present and took part in the +discussion that followed the reading of the paper. + +The opposition was based mainly on the well-known fact that +many other plants like the grape, rhubarb, fuchsia, spiderwort, +etc., are not at all, or but slightly acrid, although the +raphides are as abundant in them as in the Indian turnip and +its allies. + +Up to this time the United States Dispensatory and other works +on pharmacy, ascribed the following rather indefinite cause for +the acridity of the Indian turnip. It was said to be due to an +acrid, extremely volatile principle. This principle was +insoluble in water and alcohol, but soluble in ether. It was +dissipated both by heating and drying, and by this means the +acridity is destroyed. There was no opinion given as to the +real nature of this so-called principle. + +More recently it has been intimated that the acridity may be +due to some ferment or enzyme, which has been derived in part +from the self-decomposition of protoplasm and in part by the +process of oxidation and reduction. + +Here the question appeared to rest. At all events I was unable +to glean any further knowledge from the sources at my command. + +Some time later the subject was taken up in a more +comprehensive manner and the following report is the first +detailed description of an investigation that has occupied more +or less of my leisure for some years. + +A dozen or more species of plants have been used for +examination and study. Among these were: + +Indian turnip (Arisoema triphyllum). +Green dragon (Arisoema dracontium). +Sweet-flag (Acorus). +Skunk cabbage (Spathyema). +Calla (Richardia). +Caladium (Caladium). +Calocasia (Calocasia). +Phyllodendron (Phyllodendron). +Fuchsia (Fuchsia). +Wandering Jew (Tradescantia). +Rhubarb (Rheum). +Grape (Vitis). +Onion (Allium). +Horse-radish (Armoracia). + +Most of the plants selected were known to have crystals in +certain parts. Some of them were known to be intensely acrid. +In these the acridity was in every instance proportional to the +number of crystals. + +The following order of study was pursued and the results of +each step noted. Only the more salient points of the methods +employed and the conclusions reached are presented. + +1. The Character of the Taste Itself.--It was readily noted +that the sensation produced by chewing the various acrid plants +was quite different. For example, the Indian turnip and its +close allies do not give the immediate taste or effect that +follows a similar testing of the onion or horse-radish. When +the acridity of the former is perceived the sensation is more +prickling than acrid. + +The effect produced is more like the pricking of numerous +needles. It is felt not only upon the tongue and palate, but +wherever the part tasted comes into contact with the lips, roof +of mouth or any delicate membrane. It is not perceived where +this contact does not occur. + +The acridity of the onion and horse-radish is perceived at once +and often affects other parts than those with which it comes +into direct contact. + +2. The Acrid Principle Is Not Always Volatile.--This is shown +by the fact that large quantities of the mashed or finely +grated corms of the Indian turnip and allied species, produced +no irritation of the eyes or nose even when these organs were +brought into close contact with the freshly pulverized +material. This certainly is in marked contrast with the effect +produced by freshly grated horse-radish, peeled onions, crushed +mustard seed when the same test is applied. + +It seems fair to assume that in the latter case some principle +that is volatile at ordinary air temperatures is present. The +assumption that such principle is present in the former has no +room. + +In order to test this matter further a considerable quantity of +the juice of the Indian turnip was subjected to careful +distillation, with the result that no volatile principle or +substance of any kind was found. + +Various extractive processes were tried by using hot and cold +water; alcohol, chloroform, benzene, etc. These failed in every +instance to remove any substance that had a taste or effect +anything like that found in the fresh Indian turnip. + +3. The Acrid Principle Is Not Soluble in Ether.--Inasmuch as +various works on pharmacy made the claim that the active or +acrid principle of the plants in question was soluble in ether, +this was the next subject for investigation. The juice was +expressed from a considerable quantity of the mashed Indian +turnip. This juice was clear and by test was found to possess +the same acrid property as the unmashed corms. + +Some of the juice and an equal quantity of ether were placed +into a cylinder and well shaken. After waiting until the ether +had separated a few drops of the liquid were put into the +mouth. For a little time no result was perceived, but as soon +as the effect of the ether had passed away the same painful +acridity was manifest as was experienced before the treatment +with the ether. A natural conclusion from this test was that +the acridity might come from some principle soluble in ether. + +Observing that the ether was quite turbid and wishing to learn +the cause, a drop or two was allowed to evaporate on a glass +slide. Examining the residue with a microscope it was found to +consist of innumerable raphides or needle-like crystals. Some +of the ether was then run through a filter. The filtrate was +clear. An examination showed it to be entirely free from +raphides, and it had lost every trace of its acridity. The +untreated acrid juice of the Indian turnip, calla, and other +plants of the same family was then filtered and in every +instance the filtered juice was bland and had lost every trace +of its acridity. These tests and others that need not be +mentioned, proved conclusively that the acridity of various +species of the Arum family was not due to a volatile principle, +but was due to the needle-shaped crystals found so abundantly +in these plants. + +Several questions yet remained to be answered. (1) If these +needle-like crystals or raphides are the cause of the acridity +of the plants just mentioned, why do they not produce the same +effect in the fuchsia, tradescantia and other plants where they +are known to be just as abundant? (2) Why does the Indian +turnip lose its acridity on being heated? (3) Why does the +dried Indian turnip lose its acridity? + +It was first thought that the raphides found in plants having +no acridity, might be of different chemical composition than +those which produce this effect. + +A chemical examination proved beyond question that the raphides +were of the same composition. The needle-shaped crystals in all +the plants selected for study were composed of calcium oxalate. +The crystals, found in grape, rhubarb, fuchsia and tradescantia +were identical in form, fineness and chemical composition with +those found in the plants of the Arum family. How then account +for the painfully striking effect in one case and the +non-effect in the other? This was the perplexing question. + +In expressing some juice from the stems and leaves of the +fuchsia and tradescantia it was found to be quite unlike that +of the Indian turnip and calla. The juice of the latter was +clear and limpid; that of the former quite thick and +mucilaginous. There was no difference as to the abundance of +crystals revealed by the microscope. + +After diluting the ropy, mucilaginous juice with water, and +shaking it thoroughly with an equal volume of ether, there was +no turbidity seen in the supernatent ether. Allowing a few +drops of the ether to evaporate scarcely any crystals could be +found. Practically none of them had been removed from the +insoluble mucilaginous covering. Here and there an isolated +specimen was all that could be seen. So closely were these +small crystals enveloped with the mucilaginous matter that it +was almost impossible to separate or dissect them from it. + +It was now easy to explain why certain plants whose cells were +crowded with raphides were bland to the taste, while other +plants with the same crystals were extremely acrid. + +In one case the crystals were neither covered nor embedded in +an insoluble mucilage, but were free to move. Thus when the +plant was chewed or tasted the sharp points of these +needle-like crystals came into contact with the tongue, lips +and membranous surface of the mouth. + +In the other case the insoluble mucilage which surrounded the +crystals prevented all free movement and they produced no +irritation. + +Why do these intensely acrid, aroid plants lose their acridity +on being heated? It is well known that the corms of the Indian +turnip and its allies contain a large amount of starch. In +subjecting this starch to heat it becomes paste-like in +character. This starch paste acts in the same manner as the +insoluble mucilage. It prevents the free movement of the +crystals and in this way all irritant action is precluded. In +heating the Indian turnip and other corms, it was found that +the heat applied must be sufficient to change the character of +the starch or the so-called acridity was not destroyed. + +One other question remains to be answered. It has long been +noted that the old or thoroughly dried corms of the Indian +turnip are not acrid like those that are fresh. The explanation +is simple. As the plant dries or loses its moisture, the walls +of the cells collapse and the crystals are closely encased in +the hard, rigid matter that surrounds them. This prevents free +movement and the crystals can not exert any irritant action. + +It is generally believed by biologists that the milky juice, +aromatic compounds, alkaloids, etc., found in plants have no +direct use in the economy of the plant. They are not connected +with the nutritive processes. They are excretions or waste +products that the plant has little or no power to throw off. +There can be little doubt, however, that these excretory +substances often serve as a means of protection. Entomologists +have frequently stated that the milky juice and resins found in +the stems of various plants act as a protection against stem +boring insects. In like manner the bulbs, stems and leaves of +plants that are crowded with crystals have a greater immunity +from injurious biting insects than plants that are free from +crystals. It is quite generally believed that the formation of +crystals is a means of eliminating injurious substances from +the living part of the plant. These substances may be regarded +as remotely analogous to those organic products made by man in +the chemical laboratory. + +Some progress has been made in this direction, but so far the +main results are certain degradation-products such as aniline +dyes derived from coal tar; salicylic acid; essences of fruits; +etc. Still these and many other discoveries of the same nature +do not prove that the laboratory of man can compete with the +laboratory of the living plant cell. + +Man has the power to break down and simplify complex substances +and by so doing produce useful products that will serve his +purposes. We may combine and re-combine but so far we only +replace more complex by simpler combinations. + +The plant alone through its individual cells, and by its living +protoplasm has fundamentally creative power. It can build up +and restore better than it can eliminate waste products. + + + +HOW OUR ANCESTORS WERE CURED + +BY PROFESSOR CARL HOLLIDAY + +UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA + +SUPPOSE you had a bad case of rheumatism, and your physician +came to your bedside and exclaimed loudly, "Hocus pocus, toutus +talonteus, vade celeriter jubeo! You are cured." What would you +think, what would you do, and what fee would you pay him? +Probably, in spite of your aches and pangs, you would make +astonishing speed--for a rheumatic person--in proffering him +the entire room to himself. But there was a time--and that as +late as Shakespeare's day--when so-called doctors in rural +England used just such words not only for rheumatism, but for +many another disease. And to this hour the fakir on the street +corner uses that opening expression, "Hocus pocus." Those words +simply prove how slowly the Christian religion was absorbed by +ancient Anglo-Saxon paganism; for "Hocus pocus" is but the +hastily mumbled syllables of the Catholic priest to his early +English congregation--"Hoc est corpus," "this is the body"; and +the whole expression used by the old-time doctor meant merely +that in the name of the body of Christ he commanded the disease +to depart quickly. + +How superstitions and ancient rites do persist. To this hour +the mountaineers of southwestern Virginia and eastern Tennessee +believe that an iron ring on the third finger of the left hand +will drive away rheumatism, and to my personal knowledge one +fairly intelligent Virginian believed this so devoutly that he +actually never suffered with rheumatic pains unless he took off +the iron ring he had worn for fifteen years. It is an old, old +idea--this faith in the ring-finger. The Egyptians believed +that a nerve led straight from it to the heart; the Greeks and +Romans held that a blood-vessel called the "vein of love" +connected it closely with that organ; and the medieval +alchemists always stirred their dangerous mixtures with that +finger because, in their belief, it would most quickly indicate +the presence of poison. So, too, many an ancient declared that +whenever the ring-finger of a sufferer became numb, death was +near at hand. Thus in twentieth century civilization we hear +echoes of the life that Rameses knew when the Pyramids were +building. + +Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers had great faith in mysterious +words. The less they understood these the more they believed in +the curative power. Thus the name of foreign idols and gods +brought terror to the local demons that enter one's body, and +when Christianity first entered England, and its meanings were +but dimly understood, the names of saints, apostles and even +the Latin and Greek forms of "God" and "Jesus" were enemies to +all germs. Then, too, what comfort a jumbling of many languages +brought to the patient, especially if the polyglot cure were +expressed in rhythmic lines. Here, for instance, in at least +five languages, is a twelfth century cure for gout: + +Meu, treu, mor, phor, +Teux, za, zor, +Phe, lou, chri +Ge, ze, on. + +Perhaps to our forefathers suffering from over-indulgence in +the good things of this world, this wondrous group of sounds +brought more comfort than the nauseous drugs of the modern +practitioner. Any mysterious figure or letter was exceedingly +helpful in the sick room of a thousand years ago. The Greek +letters "Alpha" and "Omega" had reached England almost as soon +as Christianity had, and the old-time doctor triumphantly used +them in his pow-wows. Geometric figures in a handful of sand or +seeds would prophesy the fate of the ills--and do we not to +this day tell our fortune in the geometric figures made by the +dregs in our tea-cups? Paternosters, snatches of Latin hymns, +bits of early Church ritual were used by quacks of the olden +days for much the same reason as the geometric figures--because +they were unusual and little understood. + +It would have been well had our Anglo-Saxon forefathers +confined their healing practices to such gentle homeopathic +methods as those mentioned above; but instead desperate +remedies were sometimes administered by the determined +medicine-man. Diseases were supposed to be caused mainly by +demons--probably the ancestors of our present germs--and the +physician of Saxon days used all the power of flattery and +threat to induce the little monsters to come forth. When the +cattle became ill, for instance, the old-time veterinarian +shrieked, "Fever, depart; 917,000 angels will pursue you!" If +the obstinate cow refused to be cured by such a mild threat, +the demons were sometimes whipped out of her, and, if this +failed to restore her health, a hole was pierced in her left +ear, and her back was struck with a heavy stick until the evil +one was compelled to flee through the hole in her ear. Nor was +such treatment confined to cattle. The muscular doctors of a +thousand years ago claimed they could cure insanity by laying +it on lustily with a porpoise-skin whip, or by putting the +maniac in a closed room and smoking out the pestering fiends. +One did well to retain one's sanity in those good old days. + +This use of violent words or deeds in the cure of disease is as +ancient almost as the race of man. The early Germans attempted +to relieve sprains by reciting confidently how Baldur's horse +had been cured by Woden after all the other mighty inhabitants +of Valhalla had given up the task, and even earlier tribes of +Europe and Asia had used for illness such a formula as: "The +great mill stone that is India's is the bruiser of every worm. +With that I mash together the worms as grain with a mill +stone." Long after Christianity had reached the Anglo- Saxons +of England, the sick often hung around their necks an image of +Thor's hammer to frighten away the demon germs that sought to +destroy the body. This appeal to a superior being was common to +all Indo-European races, and the early Christian missionaries +wisely did not attempt to stamp out a belief of such antiquity, +but merely substituted the names of Christ, the Virgin Mary and +the saints for those of the heathen deities. And even into the +nineteenth century this ancient form of faith cure persisted; +for there are living yet in Cornwall people who heard, as +children, this charm for tooth-ache: + + Christ passed by his brother's door, +Saw his brother lying on the floor; +What aileth thee, brother! +Pain in the teeth. +Thy teeth shall pain thee no more, +In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, +I command the pain to be gone. + +Let us no longer boast of the carefulness of the modern +physician; the ceremonies and directions of the Anglo-Saxon +doctor were just as painstaking in minuteness and accuracy. +When you feel the evil spirits entering you, immediately seek +shelter under a linden tree; for out of linden wood were not +battle-shields made? Long before Christianity had brought its +gentler touches to English life the tribal medicine man wildly +brandished such a shield, and sang defiantly to the witch +maidens or disease demons: + +Loud were they, lo! loud, as over the land they rode; +Fierce of heart were they, as over the hill they rode; +Shield thee now thyself, from their spite thou may'st escape +thee. +Out, little spear, if herein thou be! +Underneath the linden stand I, underneath the shining shield, +For the might maidens have mustered up their strength, +And have sent their spear screaming through the air! +Back again to them will I send another, +Arrow forth a-flying from the front against them! +Out, little spear, if herein thou be! + +This business of singing was very necessary in the old time +doctor's practice. Sometimes he chanted into the patient's left +ear, sometimes into his mouth, and sometimes on some particular +finger, and the patient evidently had to get well or die to +escape the persistent concerts of his physician. Not +infrequently, too, the doctor placed a cross upon the part of +one's anatomy to which he was giving the concert, and often the +effect was increased by putting other crosses upon the four +sides of the house, the fetters and bridles of the patient's +horse, and even on the foot prints of the man, or the hoof +prints of the beast. Faith in the cross as a charm was +unwavering; "the cross of Christ has been hidden and is found," +declared the Saxon soothsayer, and by the same token the lost +cattle will soon be discovered. + +Many and marvelous were the methods to be followed scrupulously +by the sick. Cure the stomachache by catching a beetle in both +hands and throwing it over the left shoulder with both hands +without looking backward. Have you intestinal trouble? Eat +mulberries picked with the thumb and ring finger of your left +hand. Do you grow old before your time? Drink water drawn +silently DOWN STREAM from a brook before daylight. Beware of +drawing it upstream; your days will be brief. It reminds one of +the practice of the modern herb doctor in peeling the bark of +slippery elm DOWN, if you desire your cold to come down out of +your head, or peeling it up if you desire the cold to come up +out of your chest. One not desiring to place his trust in roots +and barks and herbs might turn for aid to the odd numbers, and +by reciting an incantation three or seven or nine times might +not only regain health, but recover his lost possessions. Or +the sufferer might transfer his disease by pressing a bird or +small animal to the diseased part and hastily driving the +creature away. The ever-willing and convenient family dog might +be brought into service on such an occasion by being fed a cake +made of barley meal and the sick man's saliva, or by being +fastened with a string to a mandrake root, which, when thus +pulled from the ground, tore the demon out of the patient. + +The cure of children was a comparatively easy task for the +Anglo-Saxon doctor; for the only thing to be done was to have +the youngster crawl through a hole in a tree, the rim of the +hole thus kindly taking to itself all the germs or demons. So, +too, minor sores, warts and other blemishes might easily be +effaced by stealing some meat, rubbing the spot with it, and +burying the meat; as the meat decayed the blemish disappeared. +So to this day some Indians, and not a few Mexicans make a +waxen image of the diseased part, and place it before the fire +to melt as a symbol of the gradual waning of the illness. So, +too, the ancient Celts are said to have destroyed the life of +an enemy by allowing his waxen image to melt before the fire. + +To cure a dangerous disease or the illness of a full-grown man +was, however, a much more difficult matter. Inflammation, for +instance, was the work of a stubborn demon, and stubborn, +therefore, must be the strife with him. Hence, dig around a +sorrel plant, sing three paternosters, pull up the plant, sing +"Sed libera nos a malo," pound five slices of the plant with +seven pepper corns, chant the psalm "Misere mei, Deus" twelve +times, sing "Gloria in excelsis, Deo," recite another +paternoster, at daybreak add wine to the plant and pepper +corns, face the east at mid-morning, make the sign of the +cross, turn from the east to the south to the west, and then +drink the mixture. Doubtless by this time the patient had +forgotten that he ever possessed inflammation. + +Long did the superstitions in medicine persist. In Chaucer's +day, the fourteenth century, violent and poisonous drugs were +used, but luckily they were often administered to a little +dummy which the doctor carried about with him. As we read each +day in our newspapers of the various nostrums advertised as +curing every mortal ill, we may well wonder if the average +credulity has really greatly lessened after twelve centuries of +fakes and faith cures, and we almost long for the return of the +day when the medicine man practiced on a dummy instead of the +human body. + + + +EMINENT AMERICAN NAMES + +BY LAUREN HEWITT ASHE + +UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH + +THE article entitled "The Racial Origin of Successful +Americans," by Dr. Frederick Adams Woods, which appeared in the +April (1914) issue of The Popular Science Monthly, set forth +some very interesting and instructive results. The methods used +to arrive at these results, however, do not seem to be such as +to establish them as final and conclusive. + +It is not sufficient to consider merely the number of persons +bearing certain names in "Who's Who in America," for the +purpose of establishing the relative capability of various +nationalities. The percentage of the number bearing that name +in the city in question is the significant figure. + +The writer has, therefore, taken the directories[1] of the four +American cities, which were the subjects of study in the +original article, and has estimated the number of persons of a +certain name living in each city by first counting the number +of names printed in a whole column of the directory and then +multiplying this figure by the number of columns occupied by +that name. The number of persons bearing the same name in +"Who's Who in America" (1912-1913) is then taken for each city. +The percentage is finally calculated of the number of the +"Who's Who in America" names in the number of those bearing +that name in the directories. + +[1] (1) Trow's General Directory--Boroughs of Manhattan and +Bronx, City of New York, 1913. Trow Directory, Printing & +Bookbinding Company, Pub. (2) Boyd's Philadelphia City +Directory, 1913. C. E. Howe Company, Pub. (3) The Lakeside +Annual Directory of the City of Chicago, 1913. Chicago +Directory Company, Pub. (4) The Boston Directory, 1913. Simpson +and Murdock Co., Publishers. + +It seems best, furthermore, to narrow down the consideration +from the fifty most common names in each city to only those of +this number which are common to all four cities in order that +any one family may not have too great a weight. The names in +each city are then arranged according to the established +percentages. + +The grouping of names as an indication of race or nationality +is taken from Robert E. Matheson's "Surnames in Ireland." It is +found to agree exactly with the grouping in the article by Dr. +Woods, who classified them from the table given in the New York +World Almanac and Encyclopedia for 1914, which table was, no +doubt, compiled from Matheson. + +NAMES COMMON TO ALL FOUR CITIES, NATIONALITY, ATTBIBUTED TO +THEM, AND THE PROPORTION FOR EACH NAME OF THE NUMBER OF TIMES +IT OCCURS FOR EACH CITY IN "WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA" (1912-1913) +AND THE TOTAL NUMBER OF THE SAME NAME IN THE SAME CITY + +New York (Exclusive of Brooklyn) +E White 1.39% +E Williams 1.18 +E Clark 1.05 +E Taylor 1.02 +E Jones 0.89 +E Martin 0.87 +E Smith 0.78 +E Thompson 0.74 +E-Sc-G Miller 0.73 +E Wilson 0.71 +E Brown 0.70 +E-Sc Moore 0.60 +E Davis 0.59 +E-Sn Johnson 0.56 +Sc-Sn Anderson 0.55 +I Murphy 0.46 +I Kelly 0.37 +E Klien 0.24 +E Hall 0.23 +Sc Campbell 0.17 +I O'Brien 0.14 +E Lewis 0.12 +E-Sc Young 0.10 + +Nationality Averages + +G German 0.73% +E English 0.69 +Sn Scandinavian 0.55 +Sc Scotch 0.43 +I Irish 0.32 + +Chicago +E Hall 0.72 +E-So Moore 0.41 +E Wilson 0.35 +E Davis 0.27 +E-Sc Young 0.27 +E Thompson 0.26 +E Brown 0.22 +E Lewis 0.20 +E Taylor 0.17 +E-Sc-G Miller 0.17 +E Martin 0.16 +I Kelly 0.16 +E Williams 0.15 +E White 0.14 +E Clark 0.14 +E Smith 0.14 +E Allen 0.13 +Sc Campbell 0.11 +E Jones 0.10 +E-Sn Johnson 0.06 +I Murphy 0.06 +Sn-ScAnderson 0.05 +I O'Brien 0.00 + +Nationality Averages + +E English 0.22% +Sc Scotch 0.20 +G German 0.17 +I Irish 0.11 +Sn Scandinavian 0.05 + +Philadelphia +E White 0.46% +E Lewis 0.32 +E Taylor 0.31 +E Wilson 0.30 +E Jones 0.27 +E-Sn Johnson 0.23 +E Williams 0.22 +E-Sc Moore 0.20 +E Davis 0.18 +E-Sc Young 0.18 +E Clark 0.14 +E Smith 0.13 +E Brown 0.13 +E-Sc-G Miller 0.12 +E Martin 0.08 +E Thompson 0.08 +I Murphy 0.08 +Sc Campbell 0.08 +Sn-Sc Anderson 0.00 +I Kelly 0.00 +E Allen 0.00 +E Hall 0.00 +I O'Brien 0.00 + +Nationality Averages +E English 0.18% +Sn Scandinavian 0.16 +G German 0.12 +Sc Scotch 0.11 +I Irish 0.02 + +Boston +E Allen 0.72 +E Williams 0.67 +E Brown 0.61 +E Hall 0.43 +E Campbell 0.33 +E Clark 0.30 +E Smith 0.29 +E Thompson 0.28 +E Taylor 0.25 +Sn-Sc Anderson 0.22 +E Lewis 0.20 +E-Sn Johnson 0.19 +E White 0.18 +E-Sc Moore 0.17 +E Wilson 0.13 +E Jones 0.11 +I O'Brien 0.08 +I Murphy 0.05 +E Martin 0.00 +E-Sc-G Miller 0.00 +E Davis 0.00 +I Kelly 0.00 +E-Sc Young 0.00 + +Nationality Averages + +E English 0.25 +Sn Scandinavian 0.20 +Sc Scotch 0.14 +I Irish 0.06 +G German 0.0? + +Name Averages + +E Williams 0.55 +E White 0.54 +E Taylor 0.44 +E Brown 0.41 +E Clark 0.40 +E Wilson 0.37 +E Jones 0.34 +E Thompson 0.34 +E-Sc Moore 0.34 +E Hall 0.34 +E Smith 0.33 +E Martin 0.27 +E Allen 0.27 +E Davis 0.26 +E-Sn Johnson 0.26 +E-Sc-G Miller 0.25 +E Lewis 0.21 +Sn-Sc Anderson 0.20 +Sc Campbell 0.17 +I Murphy 0.16 +E-Sc Young 0.14 +I Kelly 0.13 +I O'Brien 0.05 + +Nationality Averages +E English 0.34 +G German 0.25 +Sn Scandinavian 0.24 +Sc Scotch 0.22 +I Irish 0.12 + + +The nationality attributed to each name is indicated in the +tables below by capital letters in the parallel columns. In +some cases a name is shared by two or even three nationalities. +The percentages belonging to such names are attributed to each +of the sharing nationalities in making the final averages. +This, of course, is a serious source of error, since the +division of such names among the nationalities is not known. No +stress can be laid on our figures for the German, Scotch and +Scandinavian nationalities, because they contain so many of +these indecisive names. + +The names in each city are then arranged in groups according to +their nationality and averages computed from the percentages +established for each name. These averages, which appear at the +bottom of each column, give a fair estimation of the capability +of the different nationalities, but are, nevertheless, open to +a few minor errors. For instance, the Germans head the list in +New York with 0.73 per cent. for only one third of a single +name, while the English rank second with a total of 15 5/6 +names. The final averages for nationality, however, which +appear at the bottom of the fifth column and which are made +from the averages computed for each city, partly eliminate this +error and place the groups in their proper rank. + +In order to make the results more conclusive, general averages +are drawn for each name from the percentages established for +that name in all four cities and are placed in the fifth column +according to their rank. Final averages of percentages for +nationalities are then made from this column, just as they were +for each city. The results obtained agree exactly with the +final averages made before and, therefore, are placed +coincident with them at the bottom of the fifth column. + +The results finally arrived at seem to corroborate the +conclusions of Dr. Wood; namely, that in the four leading +American cities, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston, +"those of the English (and Scotch) ancestry are distinctly in +possession of the leading positions, at least from the +standpoint of being widely known." Yet it does not seem safe to +disregard entirely those other nationalities which rank so +closely with the English merely because of the small number of +them included in our consideration; for, as has been stated +above, we do not know what proportion of a certain name to +attribute to various nationalities. + +There is one serious, but unavoidable, source of error, +moreover, which has apparently been overlooked. The conclusions +as to the relative intelligence of various races are drawn from +the number of names, belonging to these races, which appeared +in "Who's Who in America." According to the standards of this +compilation, eminence is very largely dependent upon education, +which does not give the emigrants, who are too poor to get +proper education, an equal opportunity to display their +intellectual power and, therefore, to be considered in the +above calculations. Races that immigrated predominantly in the +last century will be less handicapped than those which have +only recently immigrated in large numbers. It is very +difficult, however to know how much weight to place upon this +modifying influence. + +Another source of error is the fact that certain nationalities +or races seem to have natural inclinations and desires to +follow in disproportionate numbers one kind of activity or +occupation and are content to let other people rise to those +positions which make them "the best-known men and women of the +United States." As Dr. Woods states, the Jews could not be +expected to show as large a percentage, since they largely turn +their attention to the banking, wholesale and retail trades, in +which they have been very successful, but in which eminence is +not correspondingly recognized in "Who's Who in America." + +No comment is made on Jewish achievement, however, because no +Jewish name is among the fifty most common in all four cities, +and hence there are not enough numbers for study. But the +Irish, by their traditional devotion to politics and their +success in attaining the lower ranks of political leadership, +would seem to be in line for recognition in large numbers, +which they nevertheless do not attain. + +In spite of these qualifications, however, it becomes apparent +that the statistics above established can not be rejected. +Although they do not exactly justify Dr. Woods's conclusions, +they at least show that the intellectual achievements of +different races vary. They also show that a much more extensive +study of the subject must be made before any conclusions can be +established as final. + +We believe, therefore, that Dr. Woods's conclusion--that "there +have been a few notable exceptions, but broadly speaking all +our very capable men of the present day have been engendered +from the Anglo-Saxon element already here before the beginning +of the nineteenth century"--should be modified. A sounder +conclusion and, in fact, the only one that could be reached +through the results established above, would be this: +Achievement in those activities represented in "Who's Who in +America" is acquired disproportionately by stocks predominantly +Teutonic in comparison with the Irish. + + + +A VISIT TO OENINGEN + +BY PROFESSOR T. D. A. COCKERELL + +UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO + +AS the Rhine broadens on its approach to the Lake of Constance +or Boden Sea it flows through a region made classic by the +researches of scientific men. Here at low tide it is sometimes +possible to see wooden piles which in prehistoric times +supported the houses of the lake-dwelling folk, whose work is +so well represented in various museums, especially at Zurich. +From the river, on each side, the land rises rapidly, and the +rounded summits of the hills are well wooded. It is on the left +side of the Rhine, about two and a half miles below the town of +Stein, that we come to the famous locality for Miocene fossils, +the European representative of our Florissant in Colorado. + +In all the books the fossil beds are said to be at Oeningen, +which is the name of a once celebrated Augustinian monastery +about two miles away. Actually, however, the locality is above +the village of Wangen, which is situated on the north bank of +the river. In some quite recent writings Oeningen (Wangen) is +referred to as being in Switzerland; it is in Baden, though the +opposite bank of the Rhine is Swiss. The error is natural, +since the fossils have chiefly been made known by the great +Swiss paleontologist Heer, of Zurich, and the best general +account of them is to be found in his book "The Primaeval World +of Switzerland," of which an excellent English translation +appeared in 1876. + +It was at the Oeningen quarries, in the eighteenth century, +that a wonderful vertebrate fossil, some four feet long, was +discovered. A writer of that period, Scheuchzer, announced it +as Homo diluvii testis, a man witness of the deluge! Cuvier +knew better, and was able to demonstrate its relationship to +the giant salamanders of Eastern Asia and North America. It +forms, in fact, a distinct genus of Cryptobranchidae, which +Tschudi, apparently mindful of the early error, named Andrias; +though the proper name of the animal appears to be +Proteocordylus scheuchzeri (Holl.). The stone at Wangen was +used for building purposes, and at one time there were three or +four quarries actively worked. In earlier times the larger +fossils naturally attracted most attention, fishes, snakes, +turtles, fresh-water clams and a variety of leaves and fruits. +Such specimens were saved, and were sold and distributed to +many museums. The supply was good, yet at times not sufficient +for the market; so the monks at Oeningen, and others, would +carve artificial fossils out of the soft rock, coating them +with a brown stain prepared from unripe walnut shells. In later +years, during the middle part of the nineteenth century, the +period of Darwin, the great importance and interest of the +fossil beds came to be better appreciated. Dr. Oswald Heer, +professor at Zurich, an accomplished botanist and entomologist, +did perhaps nine tenths of the work, describing plants, +insects, arachnids and part of the Crustacea. The fishes were +described by Agassiz, and later by Winkler. The remaining +vertebrates were principally made known by E. von Meyer. + +From 1847 to 1853 Heer published in three parts a great work on +fossil insects, largely concerned with those from Oeningen.[1] +In this and later writings he made known 464 species from this +locality; but in the latest edition of "The Primaeval World of +Switzerland" it is stated that there are 844 species, 384 of +these being supposedly new, and named, if at all, only in +manuscript. + +[1] "Die Insektenfauna der Tertiargebilde von Oeningen und von +Radoboj in Croatien" (Leipzig: Engelmann). + + + +My wife and I, having worked a number of years at Florissant, +were very anxious to see the corresponding European locality +for fossil insects. The opportunity came in 1909, when we were +able to make a short visit to Switzerland after attending the +Darwin celebration at Cambridge. We went first to Zurich, where +in a large hall in the University or Polytechnicum we saw +Heer's collections. A bust of Heer stands in one corner, while +one end of the room is covered by a large painting by Professor +Holzhalb, representing a scene at Oeningen as it may have +appeared in Miocene times, showing a lake with abundant +vegetation on its shores, and appropriate animals in the +foreground. Numerous glass-covered cases contain the +magnificent series of fossils, both plants and animals. Dr. +Albert Heim, professor of geology and director of the +Geological Museum, was most kind in showing us all we wanted to +see, and giving advice concerning the precise locality of the +fossil beds. Professor Heim is an exceedingly active and able +geologist, but neither he nor any one else has continued the +work of Heer, whose collections remain apparently as he left +them. The 384 supposedly new insects are still undescribed, +with a few possible exceptions. I had time only to critically +examine the bees, of which I found three ostensibly new forms. +Of these, one turned out to be a wasp,[2] one was +unrecognizable, but the third was a valid new species, and was +published later in The Entomologist. There can be no doubt that +Heer was too ready to distinguish species of insects in fossils +which were so poorly preserved as to be practically worthless, +consequently part of those he published and many of those he +left unpublished will have to be rejected. Nevertheless, the +Oeningen materials are extremely valuable, both for the number +of species and the good preservation of some of them. All +should be carefully reexamined, and the entomologist who will +give his time to this work will certainly be rewarded by many +interesting discoveries. + +[2] Polistes, or very closely related to that genus. + + + +Provided with instructions from Professor Heim, we started on +August 4 for Wangen, going by way of Constance. Thanks to the +map furnished by the Swiss railroad, we had no difficulty in +finding the Rosegarten Museum in Constance, which contains so +many interesting fossils and archeological specimens from the +surrounding region. At the moment we arrived, the old man in +charge was about to go to lunch, and we were assured that it +was impossible to get into the museum. It was then or never for +us, however; and when the necessary argument had been +presented, the curator not only let us in, but remained with us +to point out all the objects of interest, showing a great deal +of pride in the collection. The series of Oeningen fossils +could not, of course, rival that at Zurich; but it contained a +great many remarkable things, including some excellent insects. +We then boarded the river steamer, and, passing through the +Unter Sea, reached the small village of Wangen in the course of +the afternoon. This is not a tourist resort of any consequence; +the local guide book refers to it as follows: "Wangen (with +synagogue). Half an hour to the east is the Castle of Marbach, +now a well-appointed sanatorium for disorders of the nerves and +heart. To the west the romantic citadel Kattenhorn, formerly +used as a rendezvous by notorious highwaymen (at present in the +possession of a pensioned off German officer)." The guide +continues, calling our attention to "Oberstaad. Formerly a +castle, now a weaving mill for hose. Above it (448 meters) the +former celebrated Augustine monastery Oehningen. Near by +interesting and curious STONE FOSSILS are found." Thus the +visitor is likely to be misled as to the whereabouts of the +fossils, the tradition that they are at Oeningen having misled +the author of the guide. At Wangen we found a small but most +excellent hotel conducted by George Brauer, where we hastily +secured a room, and went out to hunt the fossil beds. We were +to walk over half an hour northward, up the hill, and look for +the quarries near the top of the high terrace above the +village. This we did, but at first without result. We passed a +small grassy pit, where some of the rock was visible, but it +did not look at all promising. We went back and forth, and up +the hill, until we were practically on the top. The country was +beautiful, and by the roadside we found magnificent red slugs +(Arion ater var. lamarckii[3]) and many fine snails, including +the so-called Roman snail, Helix pomatia. We accosted the +peasants, and enquired about the "fossilen." The word seemed to +have no meaning for them, so we tried to elucidate it in the +manner of the guide: where were the "stein fossilen"? +Immediately, with animation, we were shown a road going +westward to the town of Stein, where, it was naturally assumed, +the object of our enquiry would be found. Quite discouraged, we +wandered down the hill until we came to the pit we had noticed +when going up. Close by was a neat little cottage, and it +occurred to us to try our luck there as a last resort. We were +glad indeed when there appeared at the door an educated man, +who in excellent Shakespearian English volunteered at once to +show us the fossil beds. It was Dr. Ernst Bacmeister, a man of +considerable note in his own country, whose life and deeds are +duly recorded in "Wer ist's?" He came, with his wife and child, +to Wangen in the summer time, to enjoy these exquisite +surroundings, where he could write happily on philosophical +subjects, without much danger of interruption. Dr. Bacmeister +informed us that the poor little pit close by was in fact one +of the noted quarries, with the sides fallen in and the debris +overgrown with herbage. A short distance away we were shown the +others, in the same discouraging condition. + +[3] The earliest name for this richly colored variety is Limax +coccineus Gistel, but it is not Limax coccineus Martyn, 1784; +so the next name, lamarckii, prevails. + + + +One could see that there had once been considerable +excavations, but the good layers were now deeply covered by +talus, and could only be exposed after much digging. It was +about thirty years since the pits had been worked. Dr. +Bacmeister found for us a strong country youth, Max Deschle, +who dug under our direction all next day in the quarry near the +house. The rock is not so easy to work as that at Florissant, +and it does not split so well into slabs, but we readily found +a number of fossils. Most numerous were the plants; leaves of +cinnamon (Cinnamomurn polymorphum), soapberry (Sapindus +falcifolius), maple (Acer trilobatum), grass (Poacites loevis) +and reeds (Phragmites oeningensis), with twigs of the conifer +Glyptostrobus europoeus. We obtained a single seed of the very +characteristic Podogonium knorrii. Certain molluscs were +abundant; Planorbis declivis, Lymnoea pachygaster, Pisidium +priscum, with occasional fragments of the mussel Anodonta +lavateri. Ostracods, Cypris faba, were also found. The best +find, however, was a well-preserved fish, the lepidocottus +brevis (Agassiz), showing in the region of the stomach its last +meal, of Planorbis declivis. This greatly interested Max, who +during the rest of the day chanted, as he swung the pick, +"Fischlein, Fischlein, komme!"--but no other Fischlein was +apparently within hearing distance. Not a single insect was +obtained, except that on the talus at one of the other quarries +I picked up a poorly preserved beetle, apparently the Nitidula +melanaria of Heer. + +We left Wangen on the morning of August 6, and proceeded up the +Rhine to Schaffhausen and Basle. At Basle we found a certain +number of Oeningen (Wangen) fossils in the museum. + +Comparing Wangen with Florissant, it appears that the Colorado +locality is more extensive, more easily worked, and provides +many more well-preserved fossils. On the other hand, Wangen has +proved far richer in vertebrates and crustacea, and on the +whole gives us a better idea of the fauna as it must have +existed. Florissant far exceeds Wangen in the number of +described species, but this is only because it has so many more +insects. Each locality furnishes us with extraordinarily rich +materials, enabling us to picture the life of Miocene times. +Each, by comparison, throws light on the other, and while the +period represented is not sufficiently remote to show much +evidence of progressive evolution, it is hard to exaggerate the +value of the facts for students of geographical distribution. +Much light may also be thrown on the relative stability of +specific characters. + +Work on the Florissant fauna is going forward, though not so +fast as one could wish. It is very much to be hoped that the +Wangen quarries will receive attention before many years have +passed. Labor is comparatively cheap in Germany, and with a +force of a dozen men it would not take long to open up the +quarries and get at the best beds. It is really extraordinary +that no one has seen and taken advantage of the opportunities +presented. Probably no obstacles of any consequence would be +put in the way; at least the owner of the quarries came by when +we were digging, and expressed only his good will. With new +researches in the field, combined with studies of the rich +materials awaiting examination at Zurich and elsewhere, no +doubt the knowledge we possess of the European Miocene fauna +could be very greatly increased, to the advantage of all +students of Tertiary life. + + + +THE THEORY AND PRACTISE OF FROST FIGHTING[1] + +[1] Some of the instruments used were obtained through a grant +from the Elizabeth Thompson Science Fund. + +BY ALEXANDER McADIE + +BOTCH PROFESSOR OF METEOROLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY + +ONLY in recent years have aerologists given much attention to +the slow-moving currents of the lower strata of the atmosphere. +These differ greatly from the whirls and cataracts of both low +and high levels which we familiarly know as the winds. The +upper and larger air streams play a part in the formation of +frost, and we do not underestimate their function; but +primarily it is a slow surface flow, almost a creeping of the +air near the ground, which controls the temperature and is +all-important in frost formation. So important is it that the +first law of frost fighting may be expressed as follows: + +Where air is in motion and where there is good circulation, +frost is not so likely to occur as where the air is stagnant. + +In other words frost in the ordinary meaning of the word is a +problem IN LOCAL AIR DRAINAGE. It is true that there are times +when with thorough ventilation and mixing of the air strata the +temperature will fall rapidly and damage from frost result; but +such conditions are perhaps more fittingly described as cold +waves or freezes, as distinguished from frosts. Thus, in +California during the first week of January, 1913, when there +was much air movement, the citrus fruit crop was damaged to the +extent of $20,000,000. The condition is generally referred to +as a frost, but it was quite different from the usual frost +conditions in that section. It is, however, interesting to note +that improved frost-fighting devices were used with much +success and the total savings aggregated about $25,000,000. The +orange growers also had the benefit of accurate forecasts and +expert advice and were thus able to provide fuel and labor in +advance. Passing over at present the larger disturbances, we +shall consider only the frosts of still nights. And it should +not be forgotten that the accumulated losses of these frosts +may equal the losses of the individual freezes, for the latter +occur at long intervals, while the quiet frosts of the early +fall and the late spring are recurrent, destroying flowers, +fruits and tender vegetation in many sections, year after year. + +Air may flow in any direction, but attention has been centered +more upon the flow in a horizontal than in a vertical +direction. Thus none of the wind instruments used at Weather +Bureau stations gives any record of the up and down movement of +the air. In frosts of the usual type this vertical displacement +is all-important. True, there may be brought into the district, +by horizontal displacement, large masses of cold air and the +temperature thus materially lowered; but the marked INVERSION +of temperature occurs only when these horizontal currents or +winds are lulled. On windy nights, as is well known, there is +less likelihood of frost than on quiet nights, because of the +thorough mixing of the air vertically. There is then no +tendency for stratification and the formation of levels of +different temperature, followed by low surface temperature. + +In general, the temperature falls as one rises in the air; but, +at times of frost, it is found that the higher levels are +warmer than the lower ones. The coldest stratum is found about +ten centimeters (four inches) above the ground; while at a +distance of ten meters temperatures are as much as five degrees +higher than at the ground. + +It may be well to refer for a moment to the variations in +temperature known as inversions. In the accompanying diagram +it will be seen that the temperature falls with elevation, and +starting from the ground on a day when the temperature is near +the freezing point, 273 degrees A., one finds at a height of +seven thousand meters a fall of about forty degrees. It is not +easy to represent on a single diagram the variation in detail +and therefore we have divided the air column into three parts, +the scales being as one to a hundred. + +The right-hand diagram shows the gradual rise in temperature +for a height of one meter and the peculiar inversion that +occurs a few centimeters above the ground. Unfortunately it is +in this layer where detailed temperature observations are most +needed that our instruments are least satisfactory. Ordinary +thermometers can not be relied on for such small differences +and the exploration of this stratum by self-recording +instruments is difficult. In the middle diagram is shown the +temperature gradient at times of frost, from the ground to a +height of one hundred meters. It will be seen that at a height +of fifty meters the temperature may be ten degrees higher; and +in general the rise continues with elevation. A good +illustration of a valley inversion is given by the chart of May +20, in which continuous records for three levels, 18, 64 and +196 meters above sea level, are given. At such times fruit or +flowers on hillsides escape damage from frost while in all the +depressions and low level places the injury may be marked. +These differences in temperature are not at all unusual and may +be anticipated on clear, still nights during spring, fall and +winter. Clouds or a moderate wind will prevent such an +inversion. We shall refer again to this in speaking of the +cranberry bogs of the Cape Cod district and the frost warnings +issued from Blue Hill Observatory. + +The great inversion in the atmosphere, however, is that which +we have indicated as occurring at the height of nine thousand +meters. Above this, the temperature ceases to fall and we enter +what has been called the stratosphere or isothermal region. For +convenience we will call this upper change the MAJOR inversion +and the lower one near the ground the MINOR inversion. In some +ways we know more about the former than the latter. Strictly +speaking, the minor inversion is the chief factor in +determining local climate since it controls night and early +morning temperatures and in large measure the early or late +blooming of flowers and ripening of fruits. + +Ordinarily cold air falls to the ground; but not always, for +under certain conditions cold, heavy air may actually rise, +displacing warm, lighter air. But such conditions can be +explained and there is no contradiction of the fundamental law +that if acted on only by gravity, cold air, being denser, will +settle to the ground and warm air, being lighter, will rise. +And there must be a certain relation between the height of the +level from which the cold air falls and the level to which the +warm air rises. In other words, we have to apply the laws of +falling bodies since a given mass of air, although invisible, +is matter and as subject to gravity as a cannon ball. + +One of Galileo's most ingenious experiments consisted in +swinging a pendulum and then by means of a nail driven in +various positions intercepting the swing. He found that the bob +always rose to the same level whatever circuit it was forced to +take. But Galileo did not know what every schoolboy to-day +knows, that air exerts pressure and is subject to physical +processes like other matter, else he would certainly have given +to the world a delicate air pendulum; and devised experiments +on the movement of air that would have opened men's eyes to the +fascinating flow and counter-flow of the air, even on a +seemingly still night, one favorable for the formation of +frost. + +The problem of the moving air mass, however, is more +complicated than it looks. For with the air is mixed a quantity +of water vapor. In a strict sense they are independent +variables, and the view set forth in most text-books that air +has a certain capacity for water vapor is misleading. We seldom +meet with pure, dry air. A cubic meter of such a gas mixture +would weigh 1,247 grams, at a temperature of 283 degrees A. (50 +degrees F.). If chilled ten degrees, that is, to the freezing +point of water, it would weigh 46 grams more. So that by +cooling, air becomes denser and heavier. A cubic meter of a +mixture of air and water vapor at saturation, at the first +temperature above mentioned weighs only 1,242 grams, or five +grams less, and if this were cooled ten degrees the mixture +would weigh three grams less than the same volume of pure dry +air. We see that in each case the mixture of air and water +vapor weighs less than the air by itself. One would think that +by adding water vapor which, while light, still has weight, the +total weight would be the sum of both. It really is so, +notwithstanding the above figures, and the explanation of the +puzzle is that there was an increase in pressure with +expansion, so that the volume of the air and saturated vapor +was greater than one cubic meter. Since then a cubic meter of +air and saturated vapor weighs less than a cubic meter of dry +air at freezing temperature, speaking generally, we may expect +moist air to rise and dry air to fall. Consequently, if in +addition to falling temperature there is also a drying of the +air, we shall have an accelerated settling or falling of cold +dry air to the ground, which of course favors the formation of +frost. The water vapor plays also another role besides that of +varying the weight per unit volume. The heat received by the +ground consists of waves of a certain wavelength; but the heat +re-radiated by the ground consists of waves of longer +wave-length, and these so-called long waves (12 thousandths of +a millimeter) are readily absorbed by water vapor. Thus water +vapor acts like a blanket and holds the heat, preventing loss +of heat by radiation to space. Further on we shall speak of the +high specific heat of both water and water vapor as compared +with air and show the bearing of this in frost fighting; but at +present we may from what precedes formulate the second law of +frost fighting as follows: "Frost is more likely to occur where +the air is dry than where it is moist." It is also true that a +dusty atmosphere is less favorable for frost than a dust-free +atmosphere. Thus we may generalize and say that whatever favors +clear, still, dry air favors frost. The theory of successful +frost fighting then is to interfere with or prevent these +processes which as we have seen facilitate cooling close to the +ground. In what way can this best be done? + +The most natural way would be by conserving the earth's heat, +which could be accomplished by covering plants with cloth, +straw, newspaper, or perhaps better still, modern weather-proof +sheeting, or in still another way by a cover of moistened dense +smoke, generally called a smudge. A second method would be by +means of direct application of heat; and this is accomplished +in orange groves by means of improved orchard heaters. Large +fires waste heat and are neither economical nor effective. A +third method would be based upon a mixing of the air strata, +thus getting the benefit of the warmer higher levels. Fourth, +advantage might be taken of some agency such as water or water +vapor, having a high specific heat. Finally, if the crop is of +a certain character such as the cranberry, it will be found +advisable to use sand, to drain and clean, here again making +use of the specific heat of some intermediary. And, +furthermore, any one of these methods may be combined with some +other method. + +Regarding the first method, that of covers, it may be said that +the practice goes back to the early husbandmen; but only in the +last few years has the true function of the cover been properly +interpreted and we are still far from obtaining maximum +efficiency. Nor is there yet a suitable, scientific cover +available. Any medium that interferes with loss of heat through +free radiation before and after sunset is a cover. The best +type of cover is a cloud; and clouds, whether high or low, are +good frost protectors. On cloudy nights there is little +likelihood of frost; and when we can bring about the formation +of a layer of condensed water vapor we can practically +eliminate frost. We have mentioned above the fact that the +earth radiates the heat it has received not in the same but in +longer wave-lengths perhaps three times as long. These are +easily trapped and held by the vapor of water. Furthermore, the +rate of radiation is a function of the absolute temperature and +so the rapidity of loss depends somewhat upon the heat +received. Therefore the cover should be used as early in the +afternoon as possible, that is just before sunset. Aside from +the water cover or vapor cover there are cheap cloth screens, +fiber screens and in some places lath screens. + +The second method, that of direct heating, has met with much +success in the orange groves of California and elsewhere. +Modern heating and covering methods date from experiments begun +in 1895. A number of basic patents granted to the writer in +this connection have been dedicated to the public. At the +present time there are on the market some twenty forms of +heaters, which have been described with more or less detail in +farm journals and official publications. It is not necessary to +refer to them further here. The fuel originally used was wood, +straw and coal, but these are now supplanted by crude oil or +distillate. It has also been seriously proposed to use electric +heaters; also to use gas in the groves. With modern orchard +heaters properly installed and handled, there is no difficulty +in raising the temperature of even comparatively large tracts +five degrees and maintaining a temperature above freezing, thus +preventing refrigeration of plant tissue. + +The third method, that of utilizing the heat of higher levels +by mixing, has not yet been commercially developed; but the +methods of applying water, either in the spraying of trees or +the running of ditches or the flooding of bogs, together with +methods of sanding, cleaning; and draining, have all been +proved helpful. Methods available and most effective in one +section may not necessarily be effective in another section or +with different crop requirements. Certain devices most +effective in the groves of California may not answer in Florida +or Louisiana because of entirely different weather conditions. +In the Gulf coast states where water is available it may be +advantageously used to hold back ripening and retard +development until after the cold waves of middle and late +February have passed, whereas in the west coast sections +conditions are very different, water having a definite value +and the critical periods coming in late December or early +January. + +In what precedes stress has been laid chiefly upon the fall of +temperature and the congelation of the water vapor. There is, +however, another important matter connected with injury to +plant tissue, and that is the rise in temperature AFTER the +frost. A too rapid defrosting may do considerable damage where +no damage was originally done by the low temperature. It is in +this connection that water may be used to great advantage. +Water, water-vapor and ice have, compared with other +substances, remarkably high specific heats. If the specific +heat under constant pressure of water be taken as unity, that +of ice is 0.49; of water-vapor 0.45 and of air 0.24. Or in a +general way we may say that water has four times the capacity +for heat that air has. Therefore it is apparent that water will +serve excellently to prevent rapid change in temperature. This +is important at sunrise and shortly after when some portion of +the chilled plant tissue may be exposed to a warming sufficient +to raise the temperature of the exposed portion ten degrees in +an hour. The latent heat of fusion of ice is 79.6 calories and +the latent heat of vaporization of water is nearly 600 calories +(a gram calorie is the amount of heat that will raise the +temperature of a gram of pure water one degree) or in exact +terms from 273 degrees A. to 274 degrees A. Therefore in the +process of changing from solid to liquid to vapor, as from ice +to water to vapor, there is a large amount of heat required. +The latent heat serves to prevent fall in temperature and also +serves to retard a too rapid rise. This does not mean, as is +generally assumed, that the air will be warmed, but it does +mean a retardation of temperature change. And it is essential +that the restoration of the tissues and juices to their normal +state be accomplished gradually, neither too rapidly nor yet +too slowly. + +There is probably an optimum temperature for thawing or +defrosting frozen fruits and flowers. Finally the temperature +records as ordinarily obtained need careful interpretation. It +may be that the freezing point of liquids under pressure in the +plant cells or exposed to the air through the stomata is not +the same as in the free air. It is unfortunate too that in most +places data showing temperatures of soil, plant and air are of +doubtful character. A word of warning may be given against the +too ready acceptance of Weather Bureau records made in cities +and on the roofs of buildings. Garden and field conditions vary +greatly from these. It is further advisable to obtain a +continuous record of the temperature of evaporation such as is +shown by the records herewith. The two temperature curves made +simultaneously and easily read at any moment enable the +gardener or orchardist to forecast the probable minimum +temperature of the ensuing ten or twelve hours. But not always, +and some study is necessary. A slight increase in cloudiness or +a slight shift in wind direction will prevent the fall in +temperature which otherwise seemed probable. With a persistent +inversion of temperature there is sometimes an increasing +absolute humidity. + +SUMMARY + +The problem is many sided and we must consider the motion of +the air vertically as well as horizontally. Air gains and loses +heat chiefly by convection, and any gain or loss by conduction +may be neglected. The plant gains heat by convection, radiation +and perhaps by conduction of an internal rather than surface +character. The ground gains and loses heat chiefly by +radiation. But the whole process is complicated and may not +even be uniform. Frosts generally are preceded by a loss of +heat from the lower air strata, due to convection and a +horizontal translation of the air. Then follows an equally +rapid and great loss of heat by free radiation. There are minor +changes such as the setting free of heat in condensation and +the utilization in evaporation, but these latent heats are of +less importance than the actual transference of the air and +vapor and the removal of the latter as an absorber and retainer +of heat. + +Frosts are recurrent phenomena reasonably certain to occur +within given dates, and, as pointed out above, the cumulative +losses are considerable. Methods of protection to be +serviceable must be available for more than one occasion, for +there is no profit in saving a crop on one night and losing it +on the succeeding night. But the effort is worth while. +Consider that the horticulturist regularly risks the labor of +many months on the temperatures of a few hours. An efficient +frost fighting device is in a way the entering wedge for +solving problems of climate control. One may not take a crop +indoors, it is true, but there is no valid reason, in the light +of what has been already accomplished, why at critical periods +which may be anticipated, the needed volume of surface air may +not be sufficiently warmed; and the losses which have +heretofore been considered inevitable be prevented. + + + +THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE + +THE NEW YORK MEETING OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES + +THE National Academy of Sciences held its annual autumn meeting +during the third week of November in the American Museum of +Natural History. The central situation of New York City and its +scientific attractions led to a large meeting and an excellent +program There were present over sixty members, nearly one half +of a membership widely scattered over the country. When the +academy was established in 1863 as the adviser of the +government in scientific questions, the membership was limited +to fifty which was subsequently increased to 100, under which +it was kept until recently. The present distribution of the 141 +members among different institutions in which there are more +than two is: Harvard, 19; Yale, 15; Chicago, 13; Johns Hopkins, +12; Columbia, 11; U. S. Geological Survey, 8; Carnegie +Institution, 5; California, Rockefeller Institute, Smithsonian, +4; Clark, Wisconsin, Cornell, Stanford, 3. + +The scientific program of the meeting began with a lecture by +Professor Michael I. Pupin, of Columbia University, who +described the work on aerial transmission of speech of which no +authentic account has hitherto been made public. To Professor +Pupin we owe the discovery through mathematical analysis and +experimental work of the telephone relays which recently made +speech by wire between New York City and San Francisco +possible, and we now have an authoritative account of speaking +across the land and sea a quarter way round the earth. One +session of the academy was devoted to four papers of general +interest. Professor Herbert S. Jennings, of the Johns Hopkins +University, described experiments showing evolution in +progress, and Professor John M. Coulter, of the University of +Chicago, discussed the causes of evolution in plants Professor +B. B. Boltwood made a report on the life of radium which may he +regarded as a study of inorganic evolution. Professor Theodore +Richards, of Harvard University, spoke of the investigations +recently conducted in the Wolcott Gibbs Memorial Laboratory. +These are in continuation of the work accomplished by Professor +Richards in the determination of atomic weights, which led to +the award to him of a Nobel prize, the third to be given for +scientific work done in this country, the two previous awards +having been to Professor Michelson, of the University of +Chicago, in physics, and Dr. Carrel, of the Rockefeller +Institute, in physiology. + +Of more special papers, some of which, however, were of general +and even popular interest, there were on the program 36, +distributed somewhat unequally among the sections into which +the academy is divided as follows: Mathematics, 0; Astronomy, +3; Physics and Engineering, 7; Chemistry, 1; Geology and +Paleontology, 6; Botany, 7; Zoology and Animal Morphology, 8; +Physiology and Pathology, 4; Anthropology and Psychology, 0. A +program covering all the sciences belongs in a sense to the +eighteenth rather than to the twentieth century; still there is +human as well as scientific interest in listening to those who +are leaders in the conduct of scientific work. + +The academy was fortunate in meeting in the American Museum of +Natural History, where in addition to the scientific sessions +luncheon and an evening reception were provided. The museum has +assumed leadership both in exhibits for the public and in the +scientific research which it is accomplishing. The planning of +museum exhibits is itself a kind of research and in this +direction the American Museum, together with the National +Museum in Washington and the Field Museum in Chicago, now +surpasses any of the museums of the old world and in the course +of the next ten years will have no rivals there. It is +interesting that the city and an incorporated board of trustees +are able to cooperate in the support of the museum, as is also +the case with the Zoological Park and the Botanical Gardens +which the members of the academy visited in the course of the +meeting. + + + +FREDERIC WARD PUTNAM + +POWELL in Washington, Brinton in Philadelphia and Putnam in +Cambridge may be regarded as the founders of modern +anthropology in America. In the death of Putnam, at the age of +seventy-six years, we have lost the last of these leaders. + +Putnam is often spoken of as the father of anthropological +museums because he, more than any other one person, contributed +to their development. He seems to have been a museum man by +birth, for at an early age we find him listed as curator of +ornithology in the Essex Institute of Salem, Mass. The Peabody +Museum of Archeology at Cambridge is largely his work, he +having entered the institution in 1875 and continued as its +head until his death. This institution is in many respects one +of the most typical anthropological museums in America. During +his college career Professor Putnam came under the influence of +Professor Louis Agassiz and was for several years an assistant +in the laboratory of that distinguished scientist. It seems +likely that this was the source of Professor Putnam's faith and +enthusiasm for the accumulation and preservation of concrete +data. As his interest in anthropology grew, he seems to have +sought to bring together in the Peabody Museum a collection of +scientific material that should have the same relation to the +new and developing science of anthropology as the collections +of Professor Agassiz's laboratory had to the science of +biology. Professor Putnam's great skill in developing the +Peabody Museum brought him into public notice and led to his +appointment as director of the anthropological section of the +World Columbian Exposition in Chicago The exhibit he prepared +made an unusual impression and it is said that largely to his +personal influence is due the interest of the late Marshall +Field in developing and providing for the museum which now +bears his name. After this achievement Professor Putnam was +invited by the American Museum of Natural History to organize +the department of anthropology which he proceeded to do upon +broad lines, giving it a status and impetus which is still +manifest. Later on he was invited to the University of +California to organize a department and a museum similar to the +one at Harvard and this also is now one of our leading +institutions. Thus it is clear that the history of American +anthropological museums is to a large extent the life history +of Professor Putnam. + +The one new and important idea which Professor Putnam brought +into his museum work was that they should be in reality +institutions of research. Until that time they were chiefly +collections of curios brought together by purchase of +miscellaneous collections without regard to the scientific +problems involved. Professor Putnam's idea was that the museum +should go into the field and by systematic research and +investigation develop a definite problem, bringing to the +museum such illustrative and concrete data as should come to +hand in the prosecution of research. Professor Putnam also +played a large part in securing the recognition of anthropology +by universities and by his position at Harvard pointed the way +to mutual cooperation between museums and universities. He +possessed an unusual personality which enabled him to approach +and interest men of affairs so as to secure their financial +support for anthropological research and as a teacher he was +intensely interested in young men, offering them every possible +opportunity for advancement and never really losing personal +interest in them as long as he lived. + + + +SCIENTIFIC ITEMS + +WE record with regret the deaths of Brigadier-general George M. +Sternberg, retired, surgeon-general of the army, from 1893 to +1902, distinguished for his investigations of yellow fever and +other diseases; of Edward Lee Greene, associate in botany at +the Smithsonian Institution; of Wirt Tassin, formerly chief +chemist and assistant curator of the division of mineralogy, U. +S. National Museum; of Augustus Jay Du Bois, for thirty years +professor of civil engineering in the Sheffield Scientific +School, Yale University; of Sir Andrew Noble, F.R.S., +distinguished for his scientific work on artillery and +explosives; of Edward A. Minchin, F.R.S., professor of +protozoology in the University of London, and of R. Assheton, +F.R.S., university lecturer in animal embryology at the +University of Cambridge. + + + +THE Nobel prize for chemistry for 1914 has been awarded to +Professor Theodore William Richards, of Harvard University, for +his work on atomic weights. The prize for physics has been +awarded to Professor Max von Laue of Frankfort-on-Main, for his +work on the diffraction of rays in crystals. + + + +PROFESSOR ADOLF VON BAEYER celebrated his eightieth birthday on +October 31. With the beginning of the present semester he +retired from the chair of chemistry at Munich in which he +succeeded von Liebig in 1875.--The Romanes lecture before the +University of Oxford will be delivered this year by Professor +E. B. Poulton, Hope professor of zoology in the university, on +December 7. The subject will be "Science and the Great War." + + + +AT the recent meeting in Manchester, as we learn from Nature, +the general committee of the British Association unanimously +adopted the following resolution, which has been forwarded to +the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the +Presidents of the Board of Education and of Agriculture and +Fisheries: "That the British Association for the Advancement of +Science, believing that the higher education of the nation is +of supreme importance in the present crisis of our history, +trusts that his Majesty's government will, by continuing its +financial support, maintain the efficiency of teaching and +research in the universities and university colleges of the +United Kingdom." + + + +COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY received by the will of Amos F. Eno the +residuary estate which may amount to several million dollars. +In addition, the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen +receives $1,800,000, and bequests of $250,000 each are made to +New York University, The American Museum of Natural History, +the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Association for +improving the Condition of the Poor--Mr. James J. Hill has +presented $125,000 to Harvard University to be added to the +principal of the professorship in the Harvard graduate school +of business administration, which bears his name. The James J. +Hill professorship of transportation was founded by a gift of +$125,000, announced last commencement day, the donors including +John Pierpont Morgan, Thomas W. Lamont, Robert Bacon and Howard +Elliott.--The sum of about $400,000 has been subscribed in the +University of Michigan alumni campaign for $1,000,000 with +which to build and endow a home for the Michigan Union, as a +memorial to Dr. James B. Angell, president emeritus. + + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Popular Science Monthly Volume 86 + + |