Blaringhem has argued that these muta- action is on the olfactory nerves, and on those of
Municipal
Hygiene is to be opened in
tions have in many cases followed upon they think it may act somewhat like a
of the respiratory tract and skin, although Paris.
tions have in many cases followed upon they think it may act somewhat like a
of the respiratory tract and skin, although Paris.
Athenaeum - London - 1912a
James Stephens.
commended as “ topical. "
Origin of Commerce and Currency,'
INCLUDING 630 women, the total of
There is at least an increased keenness beginning with the Stone Age, and dis-
matriculated students in Edinburgh Uni- about the records of sociology which cussing the standards of barter in many
versity last year was 3,421, or 55 more than ought to widen the public intelligence parts of the world.
1910.
concerning matters of vital importance,
and the scope of its sympathies.
NEXT WEEK we shall devote special
THE half-yearly returns of the German
attention to School-Books and the Lite-
students show an increase of 2,593, as com-
SIR E. SHACKLETON has abridged and rature of Education, noticing various
pared with those of the summer session, adapted for school use the story of his I meetings and conferences.
## p. 46 (#54) ##############################################
46
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4394, JAN. 13, 1912
66
Preparation of Partially Methylated Sugars Gamma rays at least a hundred times
and Polyhydric Alcohols' hardly lend them- greater than pure radium bromide one
SCIENCE
selves to summary treatment. One turns month old; while the Alpha ray activity
with pleasure from these to Prof. M'Intosh's of radio-thorium ought to be about three
'Brief History of the Chair of Natural hundred times greater than that of radium
History at St. Andrews,' which seems to in equilibrium. As it can probably be
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
have developed, oddly enough, from the produced at a much cheaper rate, we ought
Professorship of Civil History established to have here the easily obtained substitute
The Chemistry of the Radio-Elements, by by the Act of Union in 1747 on the ruins of for radium so long sought.
Frederick Soddy (Longmans), is one of a former Chair of Humanity. For the
It was this mesothorium with which
Prof. Findlay's series of • Monographs on twenty years before the memorable year Prof. Rutherford's lecture was mainly con-
Inorganic and Physical Chemistry. ”. By 1793, the fees reaped hardly covered, cerned. The lecture is fully reported in
omitting as far as possible all description of Prof. M'Intosh tells us, the cost of the paper, The Archives of the Röntgen Ray for this
processes and apparatus, Mr. Soddy has pens, and ink used by the occupant of the month, which announces in an editorial note
contrived to include within the space of a chair in preparing his lectures ; but they that Dr. Bottinger has placed a quantity of
hundred pages all that is known with made an advance about 1827, when Dr.
mesothorium at the disposal of the Berlin
certainty in regard to radium and its con- Chalmers insisted that a knowledge of natural Academy of Sciences, to be lent to medical
geners, which he asserts to be thirty in history, including botany, was indispensable
number. The book is well and clearly to students of divinity. A more congruous purposes.
men under certain conditions for experimental
In view of the increasing atten-
written, and its contents can be understood line of development was taken when it was
by the lay reader. What will most strike him, perceived that St. Andrews, owing to the research this is important. From the
tion paid to the use of radiumin cancer
perhaps, is the number of curious anomalies nature of its position, was an excellent place for physicist's point of view, the relation of
which these thirty new elements present. studying marine biology, and the Edinburgh thorium to uranium, the supposed common
Uranium, for instance, which is assumed Fisheries Exhibition in 1882–3 fortunately sup- parent of all these substances, remains a
rather than proved to be their parent, plied some of the funds required for establish-
mystery.
probably gives birth directly to actinium, and, ing a station there. Since then its progress has
at one or more removes, to the newly dis- been rapid,
and it now boasts a Marine Labora.
M. E. Bloch, Professor at the Lycée
covered ionium, which is ascertained to be the tory and other advantages, besides Research
St. Louis, lately lectured at the Sorbonne
immediate source of radium. Yet, unlike the Scholarships. If we compare this with the
on the electronic theory of metals, the lecture
other highly radio-active substances, uranium poverty-stricken nature of the University's being the last of a series organized by the
gives out no emanation that has yet been resources at the beginning of last century-
discovered, and its connexion with
thorium satirized, by the way, in Sir Walter Scott's Modern Ideas of the Constitution
of Matter. '
remains a mystery. Mr. Soddy here sug- Doom of Devorgoil? –we see the wisdom of He said that we must imagine the electrons
gests—so far as one recollects, for the first allowing such institutions to develope along in a conductor as free, so that the positive
time-as an explanation of this, that “ura- their natural lines instead of forcing them particles could displace themselves in one
nium is not a single element, but a mixture all into some State-modelled frame. A
direction, and the negative in the opposite
of two, chemically non-separable, differing similar latitude has, one believes, produced the other hand, they could also be displaced ;
In a dielectric or non-conductor, on
in atomic weight by four units, and both a similarly happy result at Marseilles.
expelling Alpha rays. ” The ionium which
but then a force like that of elasticity
Other papers agreeable to read in the appeared to come into play, which compelled
it produces-after changes only one of which,
i. e. , that into uranium x, has yet been present volume are Prof: D'Arcy Thompson? s them to return to their position of equi-
traced-chemically resembles thorium, the dential Address to the Zoological Section
librium. The united movement of the
chief difference between them being in of the British Association in August last, and
electrons gives rise to Maxwell's “ displace-
their respective atomic weights. Hence Mr.
ment current,” and the substance in which
one by Prof. Marshall on the Toxicity of this occurs is said to be electrically polarized.
Soddy suggests that “thorium and ionium Local Anæsthetics,' which, although highly
form a pair of non-separable elements, technical, may be regarded as of general
The lecture is reported at length in La
which would certainly remove some diffi- interest.
Nature for the 30th of last month, and
culties.
marks a decided advance in our conception
Mr. Soddy rejects the theory that all
of the constitution of matter. The idea of
matter is radio-active, which, he says, rests
the electrons forming a gas bears much
on no foundation; but his statement-
RESEARCH NOTES.
resemblance to a theory of Sir William
perhaps a little too dogmatic-that all
Ramsay on the subject, to which we may
common rocks and minerals contain minute
PROF. RUTHERFORD lectured last month return later.
amounts of radium" explains how the mis- to the Röntgen Society on 'The Radio- Sir William Crookes has a paper in the
conception, if such it be, has been brought activity of Thorium,' the commonest, and
about. He also admits the emission of Beta in some respects the most interesting, of all Royal Society on the spectrum of boron,
current number of the Proceedings of the
rays by potassium and rubidium, and, says the highly radio-active substances. It is which gives us for the first time much in-
that "it is not possible to doubt the largely used in the manufacture of incan- formation on some unsuspected qualities of
existence here of two new specific types descent gas mantles, and can be obtained this element. Boron, which with aluminium
of Beta-radio-activity. ” Yet he refuses to in practically unlimited quantities from the was said by Mendeléeff to form a kind of
believe that the atoms of potassium and monazite sand which occurs in most parts bridge between the metals and the non-
rubidium are really disintegrating until their of the earth's surface, especially in Brazil metals, has hitherto been virtually un-
disintegration products have been obtained, and North Carolina. Prof. Rutherford known in the metallic state, Moissan having
and in this he is doubtless judicious, though acknowledged in his lecture that our know- been able to produce it only in the shape
hardly logical. For the students to whom, ledge of the radio-activity of thorium was of amorphous brown powder. Dr.
as we gather from the prospectus of the largely due to the work of Prof. Otto Weintraub, of the West Lynn Research
Series, it is primarily addressed, no better Hahn, who helped Sir William Ramsay at Laboratory of the General Electric Company
book can be recommended.
University College, London, in 1903, when of America, has, however, succeeded in
the last-named scholar was examining a preparing it from chloride of boron con-
THE PREFACE to the handsome book large quantity of thorianite from Ceylon, taining a large excess of hydrogen, by the use
entitled University of Saint Andrews, Five Prof. Hahn discovered, as has been several of alternating-current arcs with water-cooled
Hundredth Anniversary : Memorial Volume times mentioned in these Notes, that the electrodes. He has placed several specimens
of Scientific Papers contributed by Members radio-activity of thorium is due to a sub- of the fused metal thus obtained at the dis-
of the University, edited by William c. stance which he called radio-thorium, which posal of Sir William Crookes, who finds
M'Intosh, John E. A. Steggall, and James C. in its turn presupposed an intermediate that it presents some extraordinary foatures,
Irvine (The University), tells us that it substance called mesothorium. This last, such as a hardness sufficient to scratch
is published in order that the distin- which is further separable into mesothorium i corundum, and an electric conductivity
guished guests of the University should and mesothorium 2—the difference between which rises enormously with a slight increase
receive an appropriate remembrance of which is negligible in practice-has the dis-
in temperature. Its spectrum exhibits three
their visit, and also in order to afford a tinction of possessing a very long period of new lines with a wave-length of 3451. 50,
record of the kind and quality of the scien- change, five and a half years elapsing before 2497. 83, and 2496. 89 respectively, but
tific research now pursued by her children. its activity sinks to half-value.
Sir William was unable to verify the exist-
Truth to say, the latter seems to be a little Meso-thorium is nearly as radio-active as ence of fourteen other lines previously an-
dry, and subjects such as Concrete Repre- radium, while it can be obtained in a much nounced by Profs. Eder and Valenta, or five
sentations of Non-Euclidean Geometry,' higher state of concentration. One day others claimed for it by Profs. Exner and
"The Algebraic Solution of Indeterminate after separation it shows, according to Prof. Haschek. In his spectroscopic examination
Cubic and Quartic Equations,' and 'The Rutherford, an emission of Beta and he was obliged to use clips of pure gold
an
## p. 47 (#55) ##############################################
No. 4394, JAN. 13, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
47
Mr. E. Jenkinson.
Palmer.
on
Residence Tarife. '
Linnean, 8. - Some Features of tho Marine Flora of St.
Andrews,' Dr. A. A. LAwson.
Chemical, 8. 30. - Boiling Points of Mercury, Cadmium, Zinc,
Potassium, and Sodium,' Messrs. C. T. Heycock and F. E. E.
be
FRI.
Institution of Civil Engineers, 8. -- The Turbo-Blower and
Present Development of the Turbine-Pump,' Messrs. E.
Hopkinson and A. E. L. Chorlton.
Bar.
Uganda,' Lecture I. , Rev. J. Roscoe.
an
for holding the metal, because, as he says, ' tissues. This he obtains by soaking them
THURS. Society of Arts, 4. 30. —'The Old District Records of Bengal,'
Rev. W. K. Firminger.
gold gives no lines near those of copper or in one of two liquids, one of these being the Historical, 8. The Records of the Royal African Company,
aluminium, and all its own lines are well methylic ether of salicylic acid, and the London Institution, 6. -'Literary Blunders,' Dr. A. 8.
mapped and ascertained. The existence other a benzoate of benzyl. The rationale
Institution of Electrical Engineers, 8. - Discussion
of a metal which can scratch the ruby, and of the method lies in the fact that a part of
of which the electric conductivity increases the light which strikes an object penetrates
instead of falling when heated, seems likely below the surface, while the remainder is
to be of practical use, and the construction reflected. The part which penetrates may
Lamplough, 'Formation and Reactions of Imino-Com.
pounds: Part XVII. , The Alkylation of Imino-Compounds,
of fire alarms and pyrometers is only one of absorbed, the object then becoming opaque,
Mr. J. F. Thorpe; '1:2-Diketohydrindene,' Messrs. W. H.
Perkin, W. M. Roberts, and R. Robinson ; and other Papers.
the purposes to which it might be adapted. or may pass through it, rendering it trans-
Society ot Antiquaries, 9. 30.
An article by M. L. Lutz, Professor at the parent-both opaque and transparent being Turbo-Compressor,' Mr. G. Ingram. (Students' Meeting. )
But the quantity of light
Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 8. - The Evolution and
Ecole supérieure de Pharmacie de Paris, relative terms.
produced
for
the International Con-
reflected depends on the surface of the
Royal Institution, 9. – Heat Problems, ' Prof. Sir J. Dowar.
ference on Genetics recently held in Paris, object and the nature of the media traversed Royal Institution, s. - The Banyoro: a Pastoral People of
gives in readable form some much-needed by the light, which in its turn depends on the
light on current problems of biology. In it index of refraction of these last, the maxi-
M. Lutz acknowledges the services of our mum of transparency being reached when
countryman Prof. Bateson, whose definition the indices of the different media are equal.
of genetics as “the physiology of descent
Prof. Spalteholtz's discovery consists in the
Science Gossip.
he quotes with approval. He also shows production of a liquid which has
clearly the gradual transformation of the index of refraction of the greatest mean MESSRS. LONGMANS announce a revised
science since the days of Darwin, who value, and this he considers he has obtained in and enlarged edition in five volumes of Sir
thought that the essential principle of evolu- those above mentioned. . By, their aid, Edward Thorpe's
well-known Dictionary
tion was natural selection, whereby all those either separately or combined, he claims of Applied Chemistry. The first volume
competing
forms which did not possess the that he is able to impart to the tissues of will be ready in a few days, and the second
maximum power of resistance were gradually any organ a far greater degree of trans- early in the summer.
eliminated. M. Lutz declares that beside parency than by radioscopy, and that those
M. EIFFEL has just published a complement
these gradual changes there also take place parts whose index of refraction differs
others which occur suddenly and without from the mean value stand out distinctly, to the first edition of his book on the resist-
warning, and form the "abrupt mutations
which they do not under the Röntgen rays.
ance of air and aviation, a study to which for
With its
of De Vries and others. These muta- He has written a treatise on the subject, ten years he has devoted himself.
tions had been in some sort reduced to a
which is clearly summarized by Dr. Alfred small models of different types of aeroplane,
law by Mendel in 1865, the neglect of whose Gradenwitz in the current number of the and its artificial winds of high velocity, his
theories until their discovery and translation Revue Générale des Sciences.
aerodynamic laboratory is rendering import-
by De Vries and Tschermak in 1900 forms Dr. Leonard Hill and Dr. Martin Flack ant practical service to aviation, reducing to
a minimum the experience so dearly gained
one of the romantic incidents constantly examine 'The Physiological Influence of
occurring in science.
Ozone' in the current Proceedings of the
on full-sized machines.
TOWARDS the end of the month a Museum
M. Lutz, however, also reminds us that Royal Society. They find that its chief
M.
Blaringhem has argued that these muta- action is on the olfactory nerves, and on those of Municipal Hygiene is to be opened in
tions have in many cases followed upon they think it may act somewhat like a
of the respiratory tract and skin, although Paris. Its twenty-eight halls and galleries
will be devoted to the exhibition of collec-
mutilations or
summed up in the word "traumatisms. ” His blister in bringing an increase of blood and tions relating to urban and dwelling-house
experiments on plants and animals lead tissue lymph to a particular part. They hygiene, contagious disease, food adultera-
the last-named scholar to conclude that the
further say that it is a powerful deodorizer tion, hygiene of the transport service,
characteristics of the parents are not so
which masks rather than destroys smells, alcoholism, tuberculosis, and allied subjects.
much transmitted as juxtaposed on the and, in a concentration as low as one in a Evening meetings and lectures will be
descendants, which he calls“ heredity in million, causes annoying irritation to the arranged. The museum will be open free
mosaic,” and this is peculiarly noticeable respiratory tract, which becomes dangerous to the public.
in the case of grafts, where some branches
if further increased. It reduces the re-
A NEW method of vaccination has been
present the characteristics
of one, and others spiratory metabolism, and, to judge from introduced by Dr. de Libessart into the
that of the other parent. The true explana
some experiments on rats, the temperature French army. Noticing that hardly 20 per
tion of this phenomenon is still disputed,
also. The experiments from which these con-
cent of the vaccinations were effective-a fact
clusions were drawn were made with a grant which he ascribed to the disinfectants
but there can be little doubt that it
decides in the affirmative the question so
from the Hospital Research Fund, and may applied to the skin before puncture — he
long discussed by biologists as to whether
correct some popular errors. F. L.
hit upon the idea of causing a slight burn
acquired characteristics can or cannot be
instead of a prick. The arm is first washed
inherited. M. Lutz's article, which goes
in water that has been boiled, then wiped
into many other questions besides those here
SOCIETIES.
with a sterilized rag, and an electric cautery
summarized, appeared in the Revue Scien-
applied on the traditional three points. On
tifique of the 6th inst.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. Jan. O:- the slight blisters thus caused the vaccine
6 Members, 47 Associate Members, and Associate lymph is applied with a small spatula, which
In a recent number of the Compte Rendu were elected; whilst 29 Associate Members were
of the Académie des Sciences M. André transferred to the class of Members.
is changed for each patient, and the skin is
Lancien draws attention to the medicinal
exposed to the air for five minutes. By this
use of the colloidal form of rhodium when
process the number of “takes is rather
prepared by the electrical process. After Mox. Royal Academy, 4. -'Portraits,' Lecture I. , Sir W. B. Rich. more than doubled, while the pain is said to be
a long series of experiments upon fish, frogs, Bibliographical, 5. -Annual Meeting : Presidential Address.
even less than when the lancet is employed.
rabbits, and dogs, he is able to pronounce Surveyors' Institution, 7. -Mortgages,' Mr. E. H. Blake PLATO's story about the submerged con-
that it is a perfectly safe remedial agent,
Geographical, 8. 30.
tinent of Atlantis has again cropped up,
and is not poisonous even when used in TUES. Royal Institution, 3. -'The Study of Genetics,' Lecture I. ,
this time with some scientific evidence in
large doses. He has employed it at the Royal Academy, 4. - Portraits, Lecture II. , Sir W. B. Rich-
its support. M. Louis Germain, in a recent
Paris hospital of La Pitié for intra-veinous statistical, 5. The Recruiting of the Employing Classes from communication to the French Academy of
injections in cases of acute pneumonia,
the Ranks of the Operatives in the Cotton Industry,' Prof.
Sciences, draws attention to the existence in
typhoid fever, enteritis, and two bad cases Institution of Civil Engineers, 8. --Discussion on 'Reinforced.
Quaternary strata in Morocco of many fossil
of appendicitis, and finds that in every
The Direct Experimental Determination of
molluscs, including the Helix Graveli Ger-
case it reduces the bodily temperature imme-
Concrete Columns'; and Composite Columns of Concrete main, of the same species as are still extant in
diately, without producing any effect on the
WED. Royal Society of Literature, 5. 15. - Dramatic Construction : the Azores, the Canaries, Madeira, and the
liver or kidneys. If these results can be
Meteorological, 7. 46. Some Meteorological Observations,'
islands of the Cape Verd archipelago.
reproduced by other practitioners, it would
From this and other evidence of the same
Entomological, 8. -Annual Meeting:
seem that medicine has gained another Polk-lore, 8. – The Folk-lore of the British Gypsies,' Mr. nature he deduces the sinking under the
weapon which should supplement or sup-
13
MEETINGS NEXT WEEK.
mond. :
London Institution, 5. -' Alchemy, Mr. M. M. P. Muir.
(Junior Meeting. )
Prof. W. Bateson.
mond.
-
8. J. Chapman and Mr. P. J. Marquis.
Concrete Wharves and Warehouses at Lower Pootung.
Shanghai'
the stresses in the 8teel and in the Concrete of Reinforced-
and Steel. '
the Need of a New Technique,' Prof. W. L. Courtney.
-
Dr. H. N. Dickson. (Presidential Address. )
11
sea of a continent once extending from these
Society of Arts, 8. -Illuminated M88. ,'Mr. O. Davenport.
plant the always dangerous use of the
Tnurs. Royal Institution, 3. The New Astronomy,' Lecture I. , Prof.
islands to Morocco, and gives reasons for
depressants now employed.
Royal Academy, 1. - Realism,' Bir W. B. Richmond.
thinking that the submersion took place
Prof. Spalteholtz of Leipsic also announces
Royal, 4. 30. The Physiological Effects of Low Atmo- in late Pliocene times. It may be so ; but
a method of rendering anatomical prepara- (Preliminary Communication), Dr. J. 8. Haldane, Mr. C. G. from the Pliocene Age to that of Plato is a
Douglas, Prof. Y. Henderson, and Prof. E. O. Schneider :
tions transparent without any lesion of their
long time, and by whom was the tradition
Blood," Mr. J. Barcroft;, Noto on Astrosclera willeyana,
surfaces or alteration of the structure of the
handed down ?
Lister,' Mr. R. Kirkpatrick; and other Papers.
T. W. Thompson.
Microscopical, 8. -Certain Blood Parasitos,' the President.
A. W. Bickerton.
spheric Pressures, as observed on Pike's Peak, Colorado'
The Etroct of Altitude on tho Dissociation Ourve of the
## p. 48 (#56) ##############################################
48
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4394, JAN. 13, 1912
NO.
Enbon
Don
wald
1825
SO
as
same.
ha
6
6
yets"
now
THE death was announced at Windy-
fessional critic, torn between the rival
dene, Sussex, last Sunday, of Dr. Sophia
attractions of these two schools, has been
Jex-Blake, leader of the movement at
FINE ARTS
enormously impressed by the demonstration
Edinburgh University, forty years ago, for
that a mind of acrobatic agility could com-
the medical education of women. The
bine the two. Admired of all beholders,
youngest daughter of Thomas Jex-Blake,
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
Mr. Fry has pranced along, a foot on either
Proctor of Doctors' Commons, she took
steed, as though it were the simplest thing
her M. D. at the University of Berne in
IN handling a subject vast
in the world, followed by plunging and
1877; was mathematical tutor at Queen's
Wood Sculpture (Methuen) Mr.
Alfred gasping imitators who would fain do the
College, London, 1858-61; and studied Maskell displays such wide knowledge and
Again and again have kind-hearted
medicine under Dr. Lucy Sewall in Boston, such sound taste that we are bound to onlookers re-sanded the arena, standing
U. S. , in 1866. She matriculated in 1869 in the
welcome a
less comprehensive
ready to soften inevitable falls. The result
Medical Faculty of the University of Edin. work upon an art comparatively
neglected has been not so much to reduce the dangers
burgh, but not being allowed to complete by English writers. To be readable is, he of the
as to encumber it with
her studies and take her degree, she brought declares, rather his aim than to be erudite, padding which makes progress impossible.
an action against the University in 1872.
and readable the book certainly is. Up-
Admirers of the critic in his “pre-Post-
Sho left Edinburgh in 1874, and founded wards of 400 pages of detail
, however, baffle Impressionist” days will flock to his exhi-
the London School of Medicine for Women; the average reader, just as the Flemish bition for light on Mr. Fry's state of mind.
she also founded in 1886 the Edinburgh carved altarpieces, crowded with figures, The irresponsible journalist may blindly
School of Medicine for Women, which in
are apt to puzzle and fatigue the beholder believe in the latest developments of ad-
1894 was recognized by the University for
in spite of the brilliant execution of each vanced painters, the President of the Royal
graduation, so that her old battle was won
of Academy may devoutly disbelieve, and both
at last. She has written on American passage. Indeed, the very emphasis
Schools and Colleges," and Care of Infants. ' parts in these carvings, their lavish under leave us cold-“Who wonders and who
cares ? ” Blougram, on the other hand,
Two essays— Medicine as a Profession for cutting and bold relief, only make their
extent and copiousness more terrifying; holds our interest. “ He to believe at this
Women,' and 'Medical Education of Women'
and by the analogous use of a style over-rich late time of day And yet we have his
-were published in 1872 in a volume
in disjunctives—" buts and
word in black and white. "
entitled Medical Women. '
Mr. Maskell makes it additionally difficult Without wishing to discourage pilgrims,
It is amusing for those who are behind to follow the main groupings of the works we must record our impression that from
the scenes in astronomical matters to note he passes under survey.
the exhibition itself we should hardly have
the solemn manner in which writers like
To keep such grouping clear is in any case deduced the inclusiveness of the artist's
Mr. G. F. Chambers (Journal of the British difficult enough, because the distribution of appreciations. We see in it mainly an
Astronomical Association, vol. xxii. No. 2)
attempt to utilize just those reactionary,
refer to the discrepancies 'as to the duration the subject-matter into chapters is not so
much systematicas opportunist
and in the better sense of the word academic,
of totality of the solar eclipse of April 17th being made according to date, now by principles of design which we have ourselves
next, given in the different national, ephe nationality, now by material or subject- endeavoured to disengage from the more
merides. The simple fact of the matter is
matter or destination. The scope of the anarchic elements of Post-Impressionism.
that different values of the moon's diameter work, too, is a little arbitrary, as its We find nothing here, for example, of the
are adopted in the several publications to
author concedes: “It may be asked,” recondite, and to many impenetrable, charac-
which Mr. Chambers refers, and hence, he says, " why such and such a figure has ter of the drawing by Picasso which recently
necessarily, different values of the duration been included, and why such another one puzzled subscribers to The New Age. The
of totality result in the calculations. . . The has been passed over. The only answer is vision is very much the vision of the Mr. Fry
Nautical Almanac' uses the smallest dia-
that a choice had to be made. " Yet, after of yesterday, but with a more conscious,
meter, and therefore gives the shortest all, it would seem reasonable that this perhaps somewhat too conscious, acceptance
duration of totality. But recent experience choice should be consistent, and that a of the essential conventions of painting.
seems to show that this diameter is not too
school should either be taken or left en bloc. The basis of his method appears to us for
small
, and it is quite possible that the dura- If Medieval, Romanesque, and, above all
, the most part very sound. Reasonable
tion of totality on the central line may be
Gothic work, be the author's main subject, enough is Mr. Fry's distrust of any design
even less than the 03•6 given in our national it would have simplified his task if he had which depends too much on hair-splitting,
ephemeris.
cut out Renaissance work more completely. evasive distinctions, whether of tone or colour
DURING the year 1911 fifty-eight small Similarly, in a book which ignores Oriental or angle. In such a work as No. 2, A
planets were discovered, but eight of these and barbaric woodcarving, we are not sure Novelist, we see how much of the eloquence
were found on examination to be identical of the utility of including that of ancient of the head is dependent on a bold simplifica-
with bodies previously observed, so that Egypt, unless more be made of the connexion tion of angles, the artist using obvious
on balance there are fifty asteroids to be between it and the earlier, more primitive harmonic divisions of his 360° available
added to the family that circulate round the sculpture of Gothic and Renaissance schools degrees much as a musician uses the notes
sun between Mars and Jupiter. Of these alike than is made by Mr.
commended as “ topical. "
Origin of Commerce and Currency,'
INCLUDING 630 women, the total of
There is at least an increased keenness beginning with the Stone Age, and dis-
matriculated students in Edinburgh Uni- about the records of sociology which cussing the standards of barter in many
versity last year was 3,421, or 55 more than ought to widen the public intelligence parts of the world.
1910.
concerning matters of vital importance,
and the scope of its sympathies.
NEXT WEEK we shall devote special
THE half-yearly returns of the German
attention to School-Books and the Lite-
students show an increase of 2,593, as com-
SIR E. SHACKLETON has abridged and rature of Education, noticing various
pared with those of the summer session, adapted for school use the story of his I meetings and conferences.
## p. 46 (#54) ##############################################
46
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4394, JAN. 13, 1912
66
Preparation of Partially Methylated Sugars Gamma rays at least a hundred times
and Polyhydric Alcohols' hardly lend them- greater than pure radium bromide one
SCIENCE
selves to summary treatment. One turns month old; while the Alpha ray activity
with pleasure from these to Prof. M'Intosh's of radio-thorium ought to be about three
'Brief History of the Chair of Natural hundred times greater than that of radium
History at St. Andrews,' which seems to in equilibrium. As it can probably be
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
have developed, oddly enough, from the produced at a much cheaper rate, we ought
Professorship of Civil History established to have here the easily obtained substitute
The Chemistry of the Radio-Elements, by by the Act of Union in 1747 on the ruins of for radium so long sought.
Frederick Soddy (Longmans), is one of a former Chair of Humanity. For the
It was this mesothorium with which
Prof. Findlay's series of • Monographs on twenty years before the memorable year Prof. Rutherford's lecture was mainly con-
Inorganic and Physical Chemistry. ”. By 1793, the fees reaped hardly covered, cerned. The lecture is fully reported in
omitting as far as possible all description of Prof. M'Intosh tells us, the cost of the paper, The Archives of the Röntgen Ray for this
processes and apparatus, Mr. Soddy has pens, and ink used by the occupant of the month, which announces in an editorial note
contrived to include within the space of a chair in preparing his lectures ; but they that Dr. Bottinger has placed a quantity of
hundred pages all that is known with made an advance about 1827, when Dr.
mesothorium at the disposal of the Berlin
certainty in regard to radium and its con- Chalmers insisted that a knowledge of natural Academy of Sciences, to be lent to medical
geners, which he asserts to be thirty in history, including botany, was indispensable
number. The book is well and clearly to students of divinity. A more congruous purposes.
men under certain conditions for experimental
In view of the increasing atten-
written, and its contents can be understood line of development was taken when it was
by the lay reader. What will most strike him, perceived that St. Andrews, owing to the research this is important. From the
tion paid to the use of radiumin cancer
perhaps, is the number of curious anomalies nature of its position, was an excellent place for physicist's point of view, the relation of
which these thirty new elements present. studying marine biology, and the Edinburgh thorium to uranium, the supposed common
Uranium, for instance, which is assumed Fisheries Exhibition in 1882–3 fortunately sup- parent of all these substances, remains a
rather than proved to be their parent, plied some of the funds required for establish-
mystery.
probably gives birth directly to actinium, and, ing a station there. Since then its progress has
at one or more removes, to the newly dis- been rapid,
and it now boasts a Marine Labora.
M. E. Bloch, Professor at the Lycée
covered ionium, which is ascertained to be the tory and other advantages, besides Research
St. Louis, lately lectured at the Sorbonne
immediate source of radium. Yet, unlike the Scholarships. If we compare this with the
on the electronic theory of metals, the lecture
other highly radio-active substances, uranium poverty-stricken nature of the University's being the last of a series organized by the
gives out no emanation that has yet been resources at the beginning of last century-
discovered, and its connexion with
thorium satirized, by the way, in Sir Walter Scott's Modern Ideas of the Constitution
of Matter. '
remains a mystery. Mr. Soddy here sug- Doom of Devorgoil? –we see the wisdom of He said that we must imagine the electrons
gests—so far as one recollects, for the first allowing such institutions to develope along in a conductor as free, so that the positive
time-as an explanation of this, that “ura- their natural lines instead of forcing them particles could displace themselves in one
nium is not a single element, but a mixture all into some State-modelled frame. A
direction, and the negative in the opposite
of two, chemically non-separable, differing similar latitude has, one believes, produced the other hand, they could also be displaced ;
In a dielectric or non-conductor, on
in atomic weight by four units, and both a similarly happy result at Marseilles.
expelling Alpha rays. ” The ionium which
but then a force like that of elasticity
Other papers agreeable to read in the appeared to come into play, which compelled
it produces-after changes only one of which,
i. e. , that into uranium x, has yet been present volume are Prof: D'Arcy Thompson? s them to return to their position of equi-
traced-chemically resembles thorium, the dential Address to the Zoological Section
librium. The united movement of the
chief difference between them being in of the British Association in August last, and
electrons gives rise to Maxwell's “ displace-
their respective atomic weights. Hence Mr.
ment current,” and the substance in which
one by Prof. Marshall on the Toxicity of this occurs is said to be electrically polarized.
Soddy suggests that “thorium and ionium Local Anæsthetics,' which, although highly
form a pair of non-separable elements, technical, may be regarded as of general
The lecture is reported at length in La
which would certainly remove some diffi- interest.
Nature for the 30th of last month, and
culties.
marks a decided advance in our conception
Mr. Soddy rejects the theory that all
of the constitution of matter. The idea of
matter is radio-active, which, he says, rests
the electrons forming a gas bears much
on no foundation; but his statement-
RESEARCH NOTES.
resemblance to a theory of Sir William
perhaps a little too dogmatic-that all
Ramsay on the subject, to which we may
common rocks and minerals contain minute
PROF. RUTHERFORD lectured last month return later.
amounts of radium" explains how the mis- to the Röntgen Society on 'The Radio- Sir William Crookes has a paper in the
conception, if such it be, has been brought activity of Thorium,' the commonest, and
about. He also admits the emission of Beta in some respects the most interesting, of all Royal Society on the spectrum of boron,
current number of the Proceedings of the
rays by potassium and rubidium, and, says the highly radio-active substances. It is which gives us for the first time much in-
that "it is not possible to doubt the largely used in the manufacture of incan- formation on some unsuspected qualities of
existence here of two new specific types descent gas mantles, and can be obtained this element. Boron, which with aluminium
of Beta-radio-activity. ” Yet he refuses to in practically unlimited quantities from the was said by Mendeléeff to form a kind of
believe that the atoms of potassium and monazite sand which occurs in most parts bridge between the metals and the non-
rubidium are really disintegrating until their of the earth's surface, especially in Brazil metals, has hitherto been virtually un-
disintegration products have been obtained, and North Carolina. Prof. Rutherford known in the metallic state, Moissan having
and in this he is doubtless judicious, though acknowledged in his lecture that our know- been able to produce it only in the shape
hardly logical. For the students to whom, ledge of the radio-activity of thorium was of amorphous brown powder. Dr.
as we gather from the prospectus of the largely due to the work of Prof. Otto Weintraub, of the West Lynn Research
Series, it is primarily addressed, no better Hahn, who helped Sir William Ramsay at Laboratory of the General Electric Company
book can be recommended.
University College, London, in 1903, when of America, has, however, succeeded in
the last-named scholar was examining a preparing it from chloride of boron con-
THE PREFACE to the handsome book large quantity of thorianite from Ceylon, taining a large excess of hydrogen, by the use
entitled University of Saint Andrews, Five Prof. Hahn discovered, as has been several of alternating-current arcs with water-cooled
Hundredth Anniversary : Memorial Volume times mentioned in these Notes, that the electrodes. He has placed several specimens
of Scientific Papers contributed by Members radio-activity of thorium is due to a sub- of the fused metal thus obtained at the dis-
of the University, edited by William c. stance which he called radio-thorium, which posal of Sir William Crookes, who finds
M'Intosh, John E. A. Steggall, and James C. in its turn presupposed an intermediate that it presents some extraordinary foatures,
Irvine (The University), tells us that it substance called mesothorium. This last, such as a hardness sufficient to scratch
is published in order that the distin- which is further separable into mesothorium i corundum, and an electric conductivity
guished guests of the University should and mesothorium 2—the difference between which rises enormously with a slight increase
receive an appropriate remembrance of which is negligible in practice-has the dis-
in temperature. Its spectrum exhibits three
their visit, and also in order to afford a tinction of possessing a very long period of new lines with a wave-length of 3451. 50,
record of the kind and quality of the scien- change, five and a half years elapsing before 2497. 83, and 2496. 89 respectively, but
tific research now pursued by her children. its activity sinks to half-value.
Sir William was unable to verify the exist-
Truth to say, the latter seems to be a little Meso-thorium is nearly as radio-active as ence of fourteen other lines previously an-
dry, and subjects such as Concrete Repre- radium, while it can be obtained in a much nounced by Profs. Eder and Valenta, or five
sentations of Non-Euclidean Geometry,' higher state of concentration. One day others claimed for it by Profs. Exner and
"The Algebraic Solution of Indeterminate after separation it shows, according to Prof. Haschek. In his spectroscopic examination
Cubic and Quartic Equations,' and 'The Rutherford, an emission of Beta and he was obliged to use clips of pure gold
an
## p. 47 (#55) ##############################################
No. 4394, JAN. 13, 1912
THE ATHENÆUM
47
Mr. E. Jenkinson.
Palmer.
on
Residence Tarife. '
Linnean, 8. - Some Features of tho Marine Flora of St.
Andrews,' Dr. A. A. LAwson.
Chemical, 8. 30. - Boiling Points of Mercury, Cadmium, Zinc,
Potassium, and Sodium,' Messrs. C. T. Heycock and F. E. E.
be
FRI.
Institution of Civil Engineers, 8. -- The Turbo-Blower and
Present Development of the Turbine-Pump,' Messrs. E.
Hopkinson and A. E. L. Chorlton.
Bar.
Uganda,' Lecture I. , Rev. J. Roscoe.
an
for holding the metal, because, as he says, ' tissues. This he obtains by soaking them
THURS. Society of Arts, 4. 30. —'The Old District Records of Bengal,'
Rev. W. K. Firminger.
gold gives no lines near those of copper or in one of two liquids, one of these being the Historical, 8. The Records of the Royal African Company,
aluminium, and all its own lines are well methylic ether of salicylic acid, and the London Institution, 6. -'Literary Blunders,' Dr. A. 8.
mapped and ascertained. The existence other a benzoate of benzyl. The rationale
Institution of Electrical Engineers, 8. - Discussion
of a metal which can scratch the ruby, and of the method lies in the fact that a part of
of which the electric conductivity increases the light which strikes an object penetrates
instead of falling when heated, seems likely below the surface, while the remainder is
to be of practical use, and the construction reflected. The part which penetrates may
Lamplough, 'Formation and Reactions of Imino-Com.
pounds: Part XVII. , The Alkylation of Imino-Compounds,
of fire alarms and pyrometers is only one of absorbed, the object then becoming opaque,
Mr. J. F. Thorpe; '1:2-Diketohydrindene,' Messrs. W. H.
Perkin, W. M. Roberts, and R. Robinson ; and other Papers.
the purposes to which it might be adapted. or may pass through it, rendering it trans-
Society ot Antiquaries, 9. 30.
An article by M. L. Lutz, Professor at the parent-both opaque and transparent being Turbo-Compressor,' Mr. G. Ingram. (Students' Meeting. )
But the quantity of light
Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 8. - The Evolution and
Ecole supérieure de Pharmacie de Paris, relative terms.
produced
for
the International Con-
reflected depends on the surface of the
Royal Institution, 9. – Heat Problems, ' Prof. Sir J. Dowar.
ference on Genetics recently held in Paris, object and the nature of the media traversed Royal Institution, s. - The Banyoro: a Pastoral People of
gives in readable form some much-needed by the light, which in its turn depends on the
light on current problems of biology. In it index of refraction of these last, the maxi-
M. Lutz acknowledges the services of our mum of transparency being reached when
countryman Prof. Bateson, whose definition the indices of the different media are equal.
of genetics as “the physiology of descent
Prof. Spalteholtz's discovery consists in the
Science Gossip.
he quotes with approval. He also shows production of a liquid which has
clearly the gradual transformation of the index of refraction of the greatest mean MESSRS. LONGMANS announce a revised
science since the days of Darwin, who value, and this he considers he has obtained in and enlarged edition in five volumes of Sir
thought that the essential principle of evolu- those above mentioned. . By, their aid, Edward Thorpe's
well-known Dictionary
tion was natural selection, whereby all those either separately or combined, he claims of Applied Chemistry. The first volume
competing
forms which did not possess the that he is able to impart to the tissues of will be ready in a few days, and the second
maximum power of resistance were gradually any organ a far greater degree of trans- early in the summer.
eliminated. M. Lutz declares that beside parency than by radioscopy, and that those
M. EIFFEL has just published a complement
these gradual changes there also take place parts whose index of refraction differs
others which occur suddenly and without from the mean value stand out distinctly, to the first edition of his book on the resist-
warning, and form the "abrupt mutations
which they do not under the Röntgen rays.
ance of air and aviation, a study to which for
With its
of De Vries and others. These muta- He has written a treatise on the subject, ten years he has devoted himself.
tions had been in some sort reduced to a
which is clearly summarized by Dr. Alfred small models of different types of aeroplane,
law by Mendel in 1865, the neglect of whose Gradenwitz in the current number of the and its artificial winds of high velocity, his
theories until their discovery and translation Revue Générale des Sciences.
aerodynamic laboratory is rendering import-
by De Vries and Tschermak in 1900 forms Dr. Leonard Hill and Dr. Martin Flack ant practical service to aviation, reducing to
a minimum the experience so dearly gained
one of the romantic incidents constantly examine 'The Physiological Influence of
occurring in science.
Ozone' in the current Proceedings of the
on full-sized machines.
TOWARDS the end of the month a Museum
M. Lutz, however, also reminds us that Royal Society. They find that its chief
M.
Blaringhem has argued that these muta- action is on the olfactory nerves, and on those of Municipal Hygiene is to be opened in
tions have in many cases followed upon they think it may act somewhat like a
of the respiratory tract and skin, although Paris. Its twenty-eight halls and galleries
will be devoted to the exhibition of collec-
mutilations or
summed up in the word "traumatisms. ” His blister in bringing an increase of blood and tions relating to urban and dwelling-house
experiments on plants and animals lead tissue lymph to a particular part. They hygiene, contagious disease, food adultera-
the last-named scholar to conclude that the
further say that it is a powerful deodorizer tion, hygiene of the transport service,
characteristics of the parents are not so
which masks rather than destroys smells, alcoholism, tuberculosis, and allied subjects.
much transmitted as juxtaposed on the and, in a concentration as low as one in a Evening meetings and lectures will be
descendants, which he calls“ heredity in million, causes annoying irritation to the arranged. The museum will be open free
mosaic,” and this is peculiarly noticeable respiratory tract, which becomes dangerous to the public.
in the case of grafts, where some branches
if further increased. It reduces the re-
A NEW method of vaccination has been
present the characteristics
of one, and others spiratory metabolism, and, to judge from introduced by Dr. de Libessart into the
that of the other parent. The true explana
some experiments on rats, the temperature French army. Noticing that hardly 20 per
tion of this phenomenon is still disputed,
also. The experiments from which these con-
cent of the vaccinations were effective-a fact
clusions were drawn were made with a grant which he ascribed to the disinfectants
but there can be little doubt that it
decides in the affirmative the question so
from the Hospital Research Fund, and may applied to the skin before puncture — he
long discussed by biologists as to whether
correct some popular errors. F. L.
hit upon the idea of causing a slight burn
acquired characteristics can or cannot be
instead of a prick. The arm is first washed
inherited. M. Lutz's article, which goes
in water that has been boiled, then wiped
into many other questions besides those here
SOCIETIES.
with a sterilized rag, and an electric cautery
summarized, appeared in the Revue Scien-
applied on the traditional three points. On
tifique of the 6th inst.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. Jan. O:- the slight blisters thus caused the vaccine
6 Members, 47 Associate Members, and Associate lymph is applied with a small spatula, which
In a recent number of the Compte Rendu were elected; whilst 29 Associate Members were
of the Académie des Sciences M. André transferred to the class of Members.
is changed for each patient, and the skin is
Lancien draws attention to the medicinal
exposed to the air for five minutes. By this
use of the colloidal form of rhodium when
process the number of “takes is rather
prepared by the electrical process. After Mox. Royal Academy, 4. -'Portraits,' Lecture I. , Sir W. B. Rich. more than doubled, while the pain is said to be
a long series of experiments upon fish, frogs, Bibliographical, 5. -Annual Meeting : Presidential Address.
even less than when the lancet is employed.
rabbits, and dogs, he is able to pronounce Surveyors' Institution, 7. -Mortgages,' Mr. E. H. Blake PLATO's story about the submerged con-
that it is a perfectly safe remedial agent,
Geographical, 8. 30.
tinent of Atlantis has again cropped up,
and is not poisonous even when used in TUES. Royal Institution, 3. -'The Study of Genetics,' Lecture I. ,
this time with some scientific evidence in
large doses. He has employed it at the Royal Academy, 4. - Portraits, Lecture II. , Sir W. B. Rich-
its support. M. Louis Germain, in a recent
Paris hospital of La Pitié for intra-veinous statistical, 5. The Recruiting of the Employing Classes from communication to the French Academy of
injections in cases of acute pneumonia,
the Ranks of the Operatives in the Cotton Industry,' Prof.
Sciences, draws attention to the existence in
typhoid fever, enteritis, and two bad cases Institution of Civil Engineers, 8. --Discussion on 'Reinforced.
Quaternary strata in Morocco of many fossil
of appendicitis, and finds that in every
The Direct Experimental Determination of
molluscs, including the Helix Graveli Ger-
case it reduces the bodily temperature imme-
Concrete Columns'; and Composite Columns of Concrete main, of the same species as are still extant in
diately, without producing any effect on the
WED. Royal Society of Literature, 5. 15. - Dramatic Construction : the Azores, the Canaries, Madeira, and the
liver or kidneys. If these results can be
Meteorological, 7. 46. Some Meteorological Observations,'
islands of the Cape Verd archipelago.
reproduced by other practitioners, it would
From this and other evidence of the same
Entomological, 8. -Annual Meeting:
seem that medicine has gained another Polk-lore, 8. – The Folk-lore of the British Gypsies,' Mr. nature he deduces the sinking under the
weapon which should supplement or sup-
13
MEETINGS NEXT WEEK.
mond. :
London Institution, 5. -' Alchemy, Mr. M. M. P. Muir.
(Junior Meeting. )
Prof. W. Bateson.
mond.
-
8. J. Chapman and Mr. P. J. Marquis.
Concrete Wharves and Warehouses at Lower Pootung.
Shanghai'
the stresses in the 8teel and in the Concrete of Reinforced-
and Steel. '
the Need of a New Technique,' Prof. W. L. Courtney.
-
Dr. H. N. Dickson. (Presidential Address. )
11
sea of a continent once extending from these
Society of Arts, 8. -Illuminated M88. ,'Mr. O. Davenport.
plant the always dangerous use of the
Tnurs. Royal Institution, 3. The New Astronomy,' Lecture I. , Prof.
islands to Morocco, and gives reasons for
depressants now employed.
Royal Academy, 1. - Realism,' Bir W. B. Richmond.
thinking that the submersion took place
Prof. Spalteholtz of Leipsic also announces
Royal, 4. 30. The Physiological Effects of Low Atmo- in late Pliocene times. It may be so ; but
a method of rendering anatomical prepara- (Preliminary Communication), Dr. J. 8. Haldane, Mr. C. G. from the Pliocene Age to that of Plato is a
Douglas, Prof. Y. Henderson, and Prof. E. O. Schneider :
tions transparent without any lesion of their
long time, and by whom was the tradition
Blood," Mr. J. Barcroft;, Noto on Astrosclera willeyana,
surfaces or alteration of the structure of the
handed down ?
Lister,' Mr. R. Kirkpatrick; and other Papers.
T. W. Thompson.
Microscopical, 8. -Certain Blood Parasitos,' the President.
A. W. Bickerton.
spheric Pressures, as observed on Pike's Peak, Colorado'
The Etroct of Altitude on tho Dissociation Ourve of the
## p. 48 (#56) ##############################################
48
THE ATHENÆUM
No. 4394, JAN. 13, 1912
NO.
Enbon
Don
wald
1825
SO
as
same.
ha
6
6
yets"
now
THE death was announced at Windy-
fessional critic, torn between the rival
dene, Sussex, last Sunday, of Dr. Sophia
attractions of these two schools, has been
Jex-Blake, leader of the movement at
FINE ARTS
enormously impressed by the demonstration
Edinburgh University, forty years ago, for
that a mind of acrobatic agility could com-
the medical education of women. The
bine the two. Admired of all beholders,
youngest daughter of Thomas Jex-Blake,
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
Mr. Fry has pranced along, a foot on either
Proctor of Doctors' Commons, she took
steed, as though it were the simplest thing
her M. D. at the University of Berne in
IN handling a subject vast
in the world, followed by plunging and
1877; was mathematical tutor at Queen's
Wood Sculpture (Methuen) Mr.
Alfred gasping imitators who would fain do the
College, London, 1858-61; and studied Maskell displays such wide knowledge and
Again and again have kind-hearted
medicine under Dr. Lucy Sewall in Boston, such sound taste that we are bound to onlookers re-sanded the arena, standing
U. S. , in 1866. She matriculated in 1869 in the
welcome a
less comprehensive
ready to soften inevitable falls. The result
Medical Faculty of the University of Edin. work upon an art comparatively
neglected has been not so much to reduce the dangers
burgh, but not being allowed to complete by English writers. To be readable is, he of the
as to encumber it with
her studies and take her degree, she brought declares, rather his aim than to be erudite, padding which makes progress impossible.
an action against the University in 1872.
and readable the book certainly is. Up-
Admirers of the critic in his “pre-Post-
Sho left Edinburgh in 1874, and founded wards of 400 pages of detail
, however, baffle Impressionist” days will flock to his exhi-
the London School of Medicine for Women; the average reader, just as the Flemish bition for light on Mr. Fry's state of mind.
she also founded in 1886 the Edinburgh carved altarpieces, crowded with figures, The irresponsible journalist may blindly
School of Medicine for Women, which in
are apt to puzzle and fatigue the beholder believe in the latest developments of ad-
1894 was recognized by the University for
in spite of the brilliant execution of each vanced painters, the President of the Royal
graduation, so that her old battle was won
of Academy may devoutly disbelieve, and both
at last. She has written on American passage. Indeed, the very emphasis
Schools and Colleges," and Care of Infants. ' parts in these carvings, their lavish under leave us cold-“Who wonders and who
cares ? ” Blougram, on the other hand,
Two essays— Medicine as a Profession for cutting and bold relief, only make their
extent and copiousness more terrifying; holds our interest. “ He to believe at this
Women,' and 'Medical Education of Women'
and by the analogous use of a style over-rich late time of day And yet we have his
-were published in 1872 in a volume
in disjunctives—" buts and
word in black and white. "
entitled Medical Women. '
Mr. Maskell makes it additionally difficult Without wishing to discourage pilgrims,
It is amusing for those who are behind to follow the main groupings of the works we must record our impression that from
the scenes in astronomical matters to note he passes under survey.
the exhibition itself we should hardly have
the solemn manner in which writers like
To keep such grouping clear is in any case deduced the inclusiveness of the artist's
Mr. G. F. Chambers (Journal of the British difficult enough, because the distribution of appreciations. We see in it mainly an
Astronomical Association, vol. xxii. No. 2)
attempt to utilize just those reactionary,
refer to the discrepancies 'as to the duration the subject-matter into chapters is not so
much systematicas opportunist
and in the better sense of the word academic,
of totality of the solar eclipse of April 17th being made according to date, now by principles of design which we have ourselves
next, given in the different national, ephe nationality, now by material or subject- endeavoured to disengage from the more
merides. The simple fact of the matter is
matter or destination. The scope of the anarchic elements of Post-Impressionism.
that different values of the moon's diameter work, too, is a little arbitrary, as its We find nothing here, for example, of the
are adopted in the several publications to
author concedes: “It may be asked,” recondite, and to many impenetrable, charac-
which Mr. Chambers refers, and hence, he says, " why such and such a figure has ter of the drawing by Picasso which recently
necessarily, different values of the duration been included, and why such another one puzzled subscribers to The New Age. The
of totality result in the calculations. . . The has been passed over. The only answer is vision is very much the vision of the Mr. Fry
Nautical Almanac' uses the smallest dia-
that a choice had to be made. " Yet, after of yesterday, but with a more conscious,
meter, and therefore gives the shortest all, it would seem reasonable that this perhaps somewhat too conscious, acceptance
duration of totality. But recent experience choice should be consistent, and that a of the essential conventions of painting.
seems to show that this diameter is not too
school should either be taken or left en bloc. The basis of his method appears to us for
small
, and it is quite possible that the dura- If Medieval, Romanesque, and, above all
, the most part very sound. Reasonable
tion of totality on the central line may be
Gothic work, be the author's main subject, enough is Mr. Fry's distrust of any design
even less than the 03•6 given in our national it would have simplified his task if he had which depends too much on hair-splitting,
ephemeris.
cut out Renaissance work more completely. evasive distinctions, whether of tone or colour
DURING the year 1911 fifty-eight small Similarly, in a book which ignores Oriental or angle. In such a work as No. 2, A
planets were discovered, but eight of these and barbaric woodcarving, we are not sure Novelist, we see how much of the eloquence
were found on examination to be identical of the utility of including that of ancient of the head is dependent on a bold simplifica-
with bodies previously observed, so that Egypt, unless more be made of the connexion tion of angles, the artist using obvious
on balance there are fifty asteroids to be between it and the earlier, more primitive harmonic divisions of his 360° available
added to the family that circulate round the sculpture of Gothic and Renaissance schools degrees much as a musician uses the notes
sun between Mars and Jupiter. Of these alike than is made by Mr.
