Popular Science Monthly/Volume 61/May 1902/The Progress of Science
THE WILL OF CECIL RHODES.
The bequest of Cecil Rhodes for education and the promotion of a good understanding between Great Britain and the United States follows very closely upon Mr. Carnegie's endowments of education in Scotland and of research in the United States. These three gifts, each of $10,000,000, are of such magnitude that they not only assure the accomplishment of vast plans for the general good, but also attract public attention and mold opinion in a way that is perhaps as beneficent as the direct results. Mr. Rhodes was misunderstood during his lifetime—he was called the 'Diamond King of South Africa,' a promoter of stock companies and an adventurer. Now his will is misunderstood in some quarters; it is said on the one hand to aim to aggrandize England at the cost of other nations, and, on the other hand, to be chimerical—a chapter from Rousseau's Emile. Rhodes almost ranks with Napoleon and Bismarck in his masterful personality, and in a certain straightforward lack of scrupulousness. While Napoleon subordinated all to his personal ambition and Bismarck was chiefly concerned with the aggrandizement of a dynasty, Rhodes devoted himself to building an empire, including in his projects, as his life in part and his will fully indicate, the welfare first of the British Empire, then of the Anglo-Saxon race, then of the Germanic nations and finally of the whole world. Both in his life and in the provisions of his will he was a dreamer and an idealist. But in his life he proved that he was a seer who could turn his visions into facts, and there is every reason to believe that his plans for the disposition of his fortune will actually accomplish the ends he had in view.
It was certainly a fine dream to bring together at Oxford young men from the colonies, from the United States and from Germany, selected for intellect and character, learning to esteem each other, carrying to all parts of the world common interests and a common culture. It would be intolerable if all our universities were Oxfords, but there is room in the world for one place that shall fully represent the traditional culture of the past, and Oxford possesses a unique fascination that seems to adapt it to the purpose planned. The more Oklahomian the young man sent to Oxford, the more will he profit and the more will Oxford itself profit. The students from the United States who have studied in Germany have brought the two countries close together, and the hundred American boys constantly at Oxford will surely make more intimate and cordial the relations between the two great Anglo-Saxon races.
Oxford is not a university for research, but a place for culture: the boys who are awarded the scholarships should be just from school, as Mr. Rhodes intended. His provisions for selecting them deserve quotation. The qualifications are to be:
First—His literary and scholastic attainments.
Second—His fondness for or success in manly outdoor sports, such as cricket, football, and the like.
Third—His qualities of manhood, such as truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship.
Fourth—His exhibition during school days of moral force of character and instincts to lead and take interest in his schoolmates, for these latter attributes will likely in after life guide him to esteem the performance of public duties as his highest aim.
Marks for these four qualifications should be awarded somewhat in the following proportions: Four-tenths for the first, one-tenth for the second, three-tenths for the third and two-tenths for the fourth.
Marks for the several qualifications should be awarded independently—that is to say, marks for the first qualification by examination; for the second and third qualifications, respectively, by the ballot of fellow-students of the candidates, and for the fourth qualification by the headmasters of the schools, and the result of the awards, that is to say the marks obtained by each candidate for each qualification, should be added together and the successful student be the one who received the greatest number of marks, giving him the highest all-round qualification.
THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY.
The great educational endowments created by Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Carnegie and others naturally direct attention to our universities, and the question as to what they are accomplishing is asked on many sides. An optimistic answer is given in the last number of the North American Review by President Harper, of the University of Chicago, and a pessimistic answer in the last and preceding number of the Forum by Professor Ladd, of Yale University. Dr. Harper points out that the library and the laboratory occupy the places of honor in the university. He tells us that the laboratory for a single science should 'cost more than the entire college plant of the last generation.' The largeness of the cost of a modern university is rather attractive than otherwise to him: he has spoken of the need of a university with an endowment of fifty million dollars; and this does not, as a matter of fact, appear to be extravagant at a time when a manufacturing corporation may have a capital of a thousand million dollars. The making of men and the advancement of knowledge is after all a more important industry than the manufacture of steel. Dr. Harper is certainly right in maintaining that professional schools should be part of the university, and is probably right in urging the affiliation of colleges with one another and with the university. But he seems to be unduly optimistic and perhaps locally influenced in professing faith in the future of the denominational university. He says: "Whatever the state may do, the obligation which rests upon the churches is as strong and as serious as it has ever been in the past." But the church can never permanently compete with the state; the future belongs to the state university. Baptists may endow a university, but no one should endow a Baptist university.
The cheerful if somewhat material optimism of President Harper is preferable to the complaining tone adopted by Professor Ladd. He gives correctly the functions of a university: "(1) The highest mental and moral culture of its own students; (2) the advancement, by research and discovery, of science, scholarship and philosophy; (3) the diffusion, as from a center of light and influence, of the benefits of a liberal, genial and elevating culture"; but he thinks that "the institutions of the higher education in this country are worth all that they are costing … only if they are to be prepared to exercise all these three functions in a much more intelligent and effective fashion than at present."
Now every one hopes that the American University will continually improve its methods of teaching, will increasingly contribute to the advancement of knowledge, and will more and more become the intellectual and moral center of the community; but it seems odd that a university professor should doubt whether a university is at present worth what it costs. All our universities together do not cost one tenth as much as the sugar we eat, the beer we drink or the tobacco we smoke. The education of a single man who makes a scientific discovery with industrial applications pays back to the community the entire cost of his university since its establishment. And surely the moral and intellectual influence of the university is entirely incommensurate with its cost. But Professor Ladd believes that our political leaders 'are as good as the people who tolerate them deserve,' and that in general we are in a condition of 'degradation, social and moral,' so it is perhaps no wonder that he does not altogether approve of our universities.
THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY AND THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION.
It is somewhat interesting to notice that at almost the same time last month, the American Philosophical Society, established in 1743, held a general meeting in Philadelphia, and a newly established American Philosophical Association held its first meeting in New York City. A hundred and fifty years ago all the sciences were parts of philosophy, and it was natural for a society established primarily for the promotion of useful knowledge to call itself a philosophical society. Now we have some twenty sciences, each maintaining a separate national society. The last of all the groups of special students to organize themselves is that of students of philosophy, and they not unnaturally take the name in which the American Philosophical Society has historic rights.
As a matter of fact students of philosophy have for some years met as a branch of the American Psychological Association, and it is gratifying that nearly a hundred teachers of philosophy in our colleges and universities have found it possible to organize a national society. It is also worthy of note that the Philosophical Association will meet next winter at Washington, in conjunction with the American Association for the Advancement of Science and its affiliated societies, thus indicating its intention to be a truly scientific society. There has certainly been a tendency for a branch of knowledge, when it became reasonably definite, to split off from philosophy, leaving to that discipline those subjects regarding which agreement is impossible. But students of philosophy are now finding a definite field that can be cultivated by scientific methods, whereas students of the special sciences discover the need of examining certain presuppositions that properly belong to philosophy. There is undoubtedly at present a rapprochement between philosophy and the sciences, of which the newly established Philosophical Association is a sign and to which it will contribute. The first meeting, held at Columbia University, was decidedly successful. Over forty members were present and some twenty papers were presented and discussed. Professor J. E. Creighton, of Cornell University, presided, and is succeeded in the chair by Professor A. T. Ormond, of Princeton University.
In the March issue of this Journal we published an article on the American Philosophical Society, established by Franklin and 'held in Philadelphia for the promotion of useful knowledge.' The oldest of American societies, it has for more than a century and a half maintained its activity and usefulness. The general meeting held last month in the old hall of the society brought together members from all parts of the country and a large and interesting program. There may be some question as to whether the Philosophical Society should undertake to retain the national character which it very properly assumed when first established, or whether the time has not now gone by when special papers on all the sciences can to advantage be presented on one program, but it is certain that the social and other arrangements made in Philadelphia could scarcely be equalled in any other city. Philadelphia must share with Washington, New York, Boston, Chicago and other cities the honor of being one of our chief scientific centers, but its Philosophical Society still retains a certain preeminence.
SOCIETIES FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF EDUCATION.
The backwardness of education as a science is borne witness to by the lack of professional societies such as exist for other sciences. It is a sign of progress, therefore, that at the last meeting of the British Association an educational section was established and that the first meeting of an 'American Society for the Scientific Study of Education 'met recently in connection with the meeting of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association. At the same time and place there was held a conference of teachers of education in American colleges who considered steps toward formal organization and elected as chairman, Professor John Dewey, of Chicago University, and as secretary, Professor M. V. O'Shea, of the University of Wisconsin. Both these organizations seem likely to become more and more societies of experts in the scientific treatment of educational problems rather than of men of practical influence in the management of school systems, and may seek affiliation with other scientific societies in the American Association. Next year, however, the Society for the Scientific Study of Education, and probably also the conference of college instructors, will meet with the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association. One of the functions of such societies is to judge as a jury of peers the value of the discoveries and hypotheses made by its members. To the lack of any association of sufficient weight to perform this service is due in part the sufferance of educational fads and the paucity of serious investigations of the facts of school life. The impulse to research is dependent upon emulation, pride and practical wants, and the direction it takes depends still more upon social considerations. Publicity and esteem for intellectual work are among the agencies that assist progress in any field of thought. Organizations composed of experts in the study of education might also cooperate with other learned and scientific societies in important ways. The men now engaged in the promotion of knowledge through research and through the training of advanced students exert but slight influence in improving the teaching of the millions of children in the schools, and they will rarely be fit to do so directly. But a society formed of students of education who were their university associates might make use of both the knowledge and the reputation of these experts, and at the same time amend their recommendations to suit the actual conditions of school work. The recommendation of the British Association for the Advancement of Science has been thus used to support measures of reform in the teaching of geometry in Great Britain. In our own country such a formal organization of expert students of education might have led the National Educational Association to insist that the teaching of physiology be put beyond the reach of politics and one-sided enthusiasts.
BIOGRAPHIES OF EMINENT CHEMISTS.
In our notice of the biography of the Swiss chemist Schönbein, in the Popular Science Monthly for April, we followed custom in giving him credit for discovering the passivity of iron, but the peculiar behavior of this metal induced by nitric acid had actually been observed forty-five years before by the English chemical manufacturer, James Keir. In his paper on the 'Dissolution of Metals in Acids,' read to the Royal Society on May 20, 1790, Keir described quite fully many of the phenomena due to 'altered' iron, as he called it, and this property was afterwards known to many chemists; nevertheless, Schönbein first used the term passivity, and the discovery of the phenomena is commonly ascribed to him.
The 'Sketch of the Life of James Keir' is one of the rarest of the biographies of chemists, having been printed for private circulation, and edited by his grandson, James Keir Moilliet (London, 1868). Keir, who was born in 1735, was educated as a physician, but entered the army, and on retiring became a successful man of business, associated at one time with Boulton and Watt; he was an intimate friend of Erasmus Darwin and of Joseph Priestley, whose phlogistic views he shared in spite of the clear demonstrations of Lavoisier. In a letter to Darwin, dated 1790, Keir wrote:
"I neither believe in phlogiston nor in oxygene, nor in any other of Lavoisier's metaphysical principles. … What I dislike in the anti-phlogistians is their pedantry and presumption; in the old system there is one assumed matter, whereas in Lavoisier's there are oxygene, hydrogene, calorique and carbone, all of which are imaginary, or at least hypothetical beings." Keir was a member of the social club known as the Lunar Society, which was founded in Birmingham in 1766, and lasted nearly forty years.
All that is known of this private society, its founders, its membership and its meetings is found in another privately printed volume, 'Scientific Correspondence of Joseph Priestley,' by Henry Carrington Bolton (New York, 1892); this contains ninety-seven letters of the eminent chemist who discovered oxygen, accompanied by historical and bibliographic notes. The book is illustrated by portraits of Priestley and of his friend Wedgewood, to whom many of the letters are addressed; they cover the period from 1780 to 1804, the last being written by Thomas Cooper to Dr. Benjamin Rush to announce the death of Priestley, which had occurred that morning (February 6). Some letters written in 1783 concerning Watts' experiments throw light on his share in the discovery of the composition of water. Priestley, as is well known, adhered throughout his life to the theory of phlogiston, and never accepted the doctrines of his contemporary Lavoisier. The life of this great French chemist was edited by Edouard Grimaux, in a handsome, well-illustrated volume (Paris, 1888). This contains besides the story of his grand discoveries, of his government positions and his domestic concerns, many official documents, supplying the historical proofs; the events associated with his arrest, imprisonment and unhappy and tragic end, are of painful interest.
Charles William Scheele, the poor apothecary of an obscure town in remote Sweden, made twenty-five prime discoveries, any one of which would have sufficed to make him famous; his 'Letters and Drawings,' edited by A. E. Nordenskiöld were published in a handsome octavo, illustrated with plates and fac-similes. The hundred and thirty-three letters extend from 1767 to 1781, and are addressed to Gahn, Bergman, Hjelm and others; the editor endeavors to prove from Scheele's manuscripts that he isolated oxygen more than a year earlier than Priestley. Books printed outside of Sweden were hardly accessible to Scheele. In 1777 he wrote to Gahn:
"Priestley's book I have not yet seen. If it were in French I should like to read it. Here I am in great darkness as respects literature, a deprivation that is very unfortunate." Those seeking details of the life and labors of Scheele must consult this authoritative work, which appears in two editions, Swedish and German (Stockholm, 1892). Scheele wrote in both these languages indifferently, but he used Latin and symbols taken from alchemical manuscripts to designate chemical substances.
THE CONDITIONS OF CHEMICAL ACTION.
It has long been known that the presence of water is necessary in order that many chemical reactions shall take place, and that substances which ordinarily unite with great violence have no action upon each other when thoroughly dried. It has even been found possible to distil phosphorus in an atmosphere of oxygen, provided that the phosphorus and oxygen are both perfectly free from any trace of the vapor of water. It has, however, been found by a number of experimenters that hydrogen and oxygen will unite with each other when heated, even if dried. This exception seemed to be due to the fact that when the two gases unite, water is formed, but theoretically the first particles of the gases could not unite unless a trace of water were present. This led Professor Brereton Baker, of Dulwich College, who has done much work along this line, to the idea that the gases used might not be perfectly pure. The oxygen and hydrogen for the experiment are generally formed by the electrolytic decomposition of dilute sulfuric acid or caustic potash. But several years ago Professor Morley, of Cleveland, pointed out that the gases from these sources contain traces of impurities. By electrolyzing highly purified barium hydroxid, Professor Baker was enabled to avoid previous errors and obtain absolutely pure gases. The mixed hydrogen and oxygen were thoroughly dried (over phosphorus pentoxid) and sealed in glass tubes. After ten days' drying the tubes were heated to 600 degrees Centigrade and remained perfectly unchanged, while companion tubes, similarly prepared, except as to the drying, exploded in every instance. In tubes which had been dried only two days, the hydrogen and oxygen united slowly to form water, but did not explode. In order to test the effect of higher temperatures, tubes were prepared with a silver spiral attached to platinum wires which were sealed into the glass. The spiral was heated until the silver melted, but no explosion took place and no hydrogen was formed. When, however, a platinum spiral was substituted the tubes did explode, probably owing to the catalytic action of the platinum. From the experiment with the silver wires it is evident that when perfectly dry, hydrogen and oxygen do not combine with each other, even at 1,000 degrees Centigrade, the melting point of silver.
The experiment with the partially dried gases seems to lend confirmation to the theory of Dr. Armstrong that without an electrolyte no chemical action is possible; for though water is but slowly formed, it is present in far greater quantity than is necessary to bring about the action, yet no explosion follows. It may be assumed here that the water formed by the union of very pure gases is itself very pure, and since pure water is not an electrolyte, this water should not cause an explosion of the gases.
THE PERIODICITY OF SOLAR PHENOMENA.
In the Astronomische Nachrichten (Numbers 3,723-24) F. Hahn has propounded a new theory to explain the periodicity of solar phenomena. The various theories, which have been advanced hitherto in explanation of the periodic phenomena which occur at the sun, have failed to take into account the so-called solar atmosphere, the light and heat absorbing envelope which surrounds the photosphere. The importance of this atmosphere, in connection with its influence on the radiant energy of the sun, has never been properly appreciated, although attention was called to it by Langley, who showed that the sun, if deprived of its atmosphere, would radiate into space twice as much energy as at the present time. He also showed that an increase of 25 per cent. in the absorption by the solar envelope would lower the surface temperature of the earth by 100°F. Langley's attention was directed chiefly to the earth, and not to the reflex action on the sun itself, which such an atmosphere must exert. A decrease in the outside radiation of energy, caused by any change in the enclosing solar envelope, means an increase in the energy contained in the sun. It is reasonable to assume that changes in the absorptive power of the atmosphere must arise, and Mr. Hahn presents the query: What becomes of the energy which is prevented from escaping into space by the solar envelope? He endeavors to show that there may occur in the atmosphere changes sufficient to lead to alterations in the thermal conditions of the sun's mass and attempts to decide how far such changes may lead to the known variations in the phenomena at the surface of the sun. Astronomers are generally agreed in accepting the theory of Helmholtz, which accounts for the generation of the sun's heat by the contraction of its mass. This theory, while it explains the generation of heat in any star, does not in itself give information as to whether the amount of heat thus formed is just sufficient to balance that which is lost by radiation. As a fact, there are doubtless suns, as indicated by the spectroscope, which are increasing, and others which are decreasing, in temperature, and in the life of each sun there is, probably, a period of increasing, and later one of decreasing, temperature. Our sun is perhaps an example of those stars in which the heat lost by radiation is greater than that gained by contraction. With this assumption the layer of maximum incandescence and radiation will be shifted nearer and nearer toward the sun's center. The result will be that, due to the increased absorption of the denser envelope, the solar radiation will be decreased, which will tend to raise the temperature of the inner layers of the sun itself. By this overheating the vertical temperature-gradient will become so steep that mechanical equilibrium will be impossible. Although retarded by the powerful convection currents which prevail, disturbances will sooner or later ensue as a result of these strained conditions of the internal overheating, and solar outbursts will occur. Mr. Hahn then proceeds to an analytical demonstration.
The problem consists in determining the changes in the amount of the outside radiation, caused by increased or decreased absorption. The method is an application of the Bouguer-Lambert formula for the extinction of light and heat in an absorbing medium. Formulas have been derived for the energy of radiation from the upper limits of the atmosphere, for the changes in the radiating power, and for the frequency of eruptions and spots. The results thus obtained appear to be in close agreement with observation. The object of the article is to give an abstract of the main principles upon which is built a new solar theory. In a paper which is to appear in the Annals of the Edinburgh Royal Observatory the author will enter more in detail into the various applications of the theory to periodic phenomena at the sun's surface. This theory differs from the views generally accepted, in that it involves the assumption that an increase in the dynamical forces at the surface of the sun indicates a decrease in the heat and light radiation, but here also the author believes that his theory accords well with the facts of observation.
SCIENTIFIC ITEMS.
The National Academy of Sciences held its annual stated session at Washington, beginning on April 15.—The spring meeting of the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science was held on April 17. The annual meeting will be held at Pittsburgh, beginning on June 30.
The portrait of Benjamin Franklin, executed by Gainsborough at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Paris, and lately given to the University of Pennsylvania by the class of 1852, has been hung in the University Library.—A memorial bronze tablet has been placed on the Albany (N. Y.) Academy in memory of Joseph Henry, stating that his experiments in electricity were made in that building while he was acting as professor of mathematics.
The British National Physical Laboratory was formally opened on March 19. Sir William Huggins, president of the Royal Society, presided, and addresses were made by the Prince of Wales, Lord Rayleigh, Lord Kelvin and others.—Professor Emil v. Behring (Marburg) will give the amount of the Nobel prize recently awarded him ($40,000) to the Prussian State for the permanent endowment of the Institute of Experimental Therapeutics founded by him in the University of Marburg. The gift is to be devoted to the prosecution on a large scale of the researches on serum initiated by Professor Behring.—Lord Walsingham has given to the British Museum (Natural History) his collection of butterflies and moths. This collection of microlepidoptera contains over 200,000 specimens, and is probably the largest and most valuable in the world. It includes the Zellar, Hoffman, Christoph and other collections, and contains many type specimens. Lord Walsingham has himself published numerous monographs on the microlepidoptera.—An anonymous gift of $20,000, for the benefit of the Harvard College Observatory, has been received from a friend of the director, Professor Edward C. Pickering.
Mr. Alexander Agassiz and his party have returned to America, from their exploration of the Maldives. The principal work done was the sounding ox the channels between the lagoons and the development of the plateau on which the atolls of the Maldives have been formed.—Dr. D. T. MacDougal has returned from Arizona and Sonora with an extensive collection of giant cacti and other large xerophytic plants, which are being installed in the horticultural houses of the New York Botanical Garden.
LORD KELVIN.