The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-10 00:00:00

likewise, and in a particular manner, to " that general
advancement of science by which all nations benefit
freely and alike in proportion to their degree of men-
tal cultivation." We may, then, learn whether that

beautiful hypothesis is correct or erroneous which

supposes that the double stars revolve round each
other in orbits, governed by rules similar to those
laws of molecular attraction which determine the

concentric orbits of the planets of the solar system.
We may, then, derive invaluable additions from the

nether hemisphere of facts throwing new light upon
the dawning glory of the new system of the

Nebulae, while amongst ourselves further
scrutiny ii being directed to such heavenly

bodies as are

more accessible to philo-

sophic investigation from their proximity—
to the surface, for example, presented to our gaze by

our own mysterious satellite. Referring to another
bj e likely to fall under the peculiar attention of
subject
same section of Physics and Mathematics, the
President spoke in terms of deserved praise of the
discoveries in reference to " Light," recently made
by Professor STOlCES—discoveries suggested by the
statement submitted to the Royal Society in 1845 by
Sir Joser HERSCHELL, by which it appeared that
light was capable of being subjected to " epipolic
dispersion, .
by passing it through a solution of sul-
phate of qamine. Guided by this singular revela-
tion, Professor STORES has demonstrated that epipo-
lised light is simply no other than light deprived of
certain inv-sible rays, which in the process of disper-
sion have bscome invisible in consequence of changing
their refrangibility. During the course of this sur-
prising elucidation, Professor STORES appears to have
defined an exquisite distinction between cases of
internal " false dispersion " or opalescence, and those
of " true internal dispersion," or, as he calls it, fluo-
rescence. In consequence of these subtle inquiries,
Colonel SABINE has remarked that " the facility with
which the highly refrangible invisible rays of the
spectrum may be rendered visible by being passed
through a solution of sulphate of quinine or other sen-
sitive medium, affords peculiar advantages for the
study of those rays ; the fixed lines of the invisible
part of the solar spectrum may now be exhibited to
our view at pleasure." The President sub-
sequently submitted to the consideration of
Section B--or, in other words, to the members;
of the " Chemical'' department—the advisability
of undertaking the revision of the Equivalent Num-
bers of the Elementary Bodies—a labour, it must be
confessed, about as enormous (but one which we trust
may not be found as apparently interminable) as that
of compiling the British Museum Library Catalogue.
That such • •
a revision is much to be desiderated must
be manifest,• when it is considered that almost all the
numbers now in use are dependent upon experiments
performed at a period " when the methods of re-
search then known were inadequate"—experiments
for the most part, namely, undertaken by BERZELIUS.
Upon the subject of the Theory of Heat it was re-
marked a little further on by Colonel SABINE, that
several researches which have recently been made
appear to be laying the groundwork for the ultimate
formation of a Mechanical Theory of Chemistry—a
statement which we are in hopes may be very
speedily verified by papers giving mathematical de-
velopments of the hypotheses of heat and electro-
dynamics. A brilliant illustration was thereupon
soon afterwards given by the President of the prac-
tical advantages resulting to the nation at large from
the scientific enterprise of the Association—this tes-
timony having reference to the extension of magnetic
researches throughout; the world, at the instance of its
members and under the patronage of her MMIESTY'S
Government. The astounding accumulation of facts
in relation to the force of the magnetic currents
in both hemispheres appears, in truth, to have more
than justified the exultation with which Colonel
SABINE alluded to the new light thereby thrown
upon the results of magnetic observations through the
medium, of course, of the lines of equal horiasontal
direction called the isogonic, those of equal vertical
direction called the isoclinal, and those of equal
force called the isodynamie. In consequence of the
satisfaction thereby inspired, the public will be re-
joiced to learn that another enterprise equally compre-
hensive of its kind, and equally, therefore, requiring
the encouragement of Ministers, has lately been sub-
mitted to the consideration of the British Govern•
ment, the originators of the enterprise, however,
being no purely scientific body, but—the Cabinet of
the United States! The project is that of under-
taking a general system of meteorological observa-
tions, to be conducted by the naval service of both
countries under the guidance and approval of their
respective Governments. Such is the remarkable
proposition submitted to the judgment of the English
Cabinet—a proposition which, during the course of
last spring, was referred (for a Report) to the
Royal Society by the Earl
of .“.ALMESBURY, in
his capacity as Foreign Secretary. That Report has
since been transmitted to the Ministry by the
Royal Society, and from its close we gladly tran-
scribe the following important passages :—" To the
Government of this country the demand for co-
operation and for the interchange of observations is
most earnestly addressed by the Government of the
United States ; and the President and Council of the
Royal Society express their hope that it will not be
addressed in vain.
We possess in our ships of war,
in our packet service, and in our vast commercial
navy, better means for making such observations,
and a greater interest in the results to which they
lead, than any other nation ; for this purpose every
ship which is under the control of the Admiralty
should be furnished
,with instruments properly con-
structed and compared, and with instructions for
using them ; similar instructions for making and re-
cording observations, as far as their means will allow,
should be given to every ship that sails, with a request
that they will transmit the results to the Hydro-
grapher's office of the Admiralty, where an adequate
staff of officers or others should be provided for their
prompt examination, and the publication of the im-
proved charts and sailing directions to which they
would lead ; above all, it seems desirable to establish
a prompt communication with the Hydrographer's
office of the United State, so that the united labours
of the two greatest naval and commercial nations of
the world may be combined, with the least practicable
delay, in promoting the interests of navigation."
A variety of other themes, equally interesting and
'liable in their character, might be
equally valuable
i parti-
cularisedhavng been referred to by
19 Colonel
SABINE, in
language of unusual:elegance and perspi-
cacit the course of his masterly inaugural ad-
y,
dress as President of the British Association. But
enough has
been said assuredly in our foregoing re-
marks to prove the attractive and elevated nature of
the subjects therein brought by that learned and dis-
tinguishedofficer under the scrutinizing gaze of the
part of our population.
more intelligent Everything
considered,
it will be readily allowed, we imagine,
that the Address was worthy of the occasion and,
therefore, not altogether unworthy, likewise, of the
translator of the Cosmos of HUMBOLDT.

Fhalf-yearly
meeting rEoeceeteedrningnseantwteh
ye
Company,it
o
os pno nedne nc e
Wednesday which we di-
last. If
to
will g
of the rom
S the
beuthP-
seen that the landowners of the Strood and Chilham
"
district have resolved to put on the screw,,,
in or-
der to compel the proprietors to accept the conditions
di-
rected e forwarddte i
public the
ntei
correspondence
South-Eastern Company consent to give the re-
quired guarantee of 3 per
all will be cent. upon the principal
sum of 600,0001., " serene." The
S
Noble Chairman of the
sub-Committee and his
coadjutors will be fully contented ; they
will ask for nothing but the
i constructionruction of the
at
line between these localitieg, t being in fact, all that
could be required, or tbat could, by even the most
sanguine, be considered to have the most remote
prospect of proving remunerative. But if the share-
holders hesitate for a moment—if they
do
not humbly submit to the" demands of the
" territorial aristocracy " then war to the knife" is
to be proclaimed, no mercy is to be shown—not
only will application be made to Parliament for
powers to construct the required line from Strood
to Chilham, but also new lines from Strood to Maid-
stone, from Strood to Dover, and from Roches-
ter to Gravesend, with traffic arrangements with
the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway ! ! !
This is a new mode of negotiation. These ex-
emplary landowners require additional railway
accommodation, which would materially b
en.ance
the value of the farms situate in the vicinity
of the proposed line. but, in place of putting