The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-08-22


OF Science.
This body has been IN session for several
days at Providence. Its proceedings have been
peculiarly interesting. The attendance has
been better than Of late years, and the spirit Of
the members has been more active and conse-
quently more useful. We notice with great
satisfaction tendency among the more dis
tinguished sauaats to allow no theory to pass
without a searching inquiry into its merits,
and If need be, thorough exposure Of its
fallaeies. This is as it should be. The old
system, when learned men dragged each other
by the beard because they belonged to rival
schools of philosophy, was undoubtedly bad;
but the new plan, according to which polite
ness bars the way for inquiry, and tenderness
of feeling strikes criticism dumb, is still more
injurious TO the best interests OF science.
Philosophers must ind mean between the
two-a course which shall conciliate the ut
most independence Of opinion and rebellion
against error with sach outward civility az
shall socthe the feelings of the criticised--if
they desire to lay us under obligation.
Astronomy, as usual, has been the favorite
topic OF discussion. Nor is it matter Of
wonder that the more popular and least GER
tain branches Of the science have been those
which have attracted most attention. Per-
haps the most successful paper Of this kind
was Professor Loomis' essay on the planets,
and their capacity for sustaining life. Are
the planets inhabited? is a question as old
as Confucius and Zoroaster at the least. We
regret to say that Professor Loomis has not
added as much as we might have hoped from
his eminence to our knowledge on this inte-
resting subject His ground is that the tempe
nature of the planets prccludes their being the
residence Of any forms Of vegetable or ami
NAL life with which we are acquainted. For
instance, he tells US that the mean temperature
of Jupiter and the larger planets at the equa-
| tOr-which is the warmest part of their cir
cumferencc-is eighty degrees Fahrenheit be-
low zero, or considerably colder than the cold
est weather experienced in the polar ATTITUDES
! Of our planet. On the other hand, as most Of
our readers are aware the temperature Of the
| planet Mars is almost that Of liquid iron; and
Venus at the equator is as hot as boiling wa
ter. Hence, says Professor Loomis, as neither
animal nor vegetable life can be sustained under
cold Of so degrees below, or 800 degrees
above, or even 2l2 degrees above, it may safe
~ be inferred that the greater pianetsshat is
to say, all those outside the earth in the solar
system--on the one hand, and the whole of
Mars and the equatorial regions Of Venus on
the inside. are destitute Of living creatures. In
the polar regions of Venus according TO the
Professor, mean temperature OF 50 degrees
above prevails--which is perhaps not far from
the mean temperature Of the city where the
association is now sitting: there, consequently,
Professor Locmis is ready TO believe that auo-
Their world is actively discharging subiimar
functions. But this is the only exception to the
rule. As for the moon, he alhcres TO the
old theory of The absence Of air and water
there; and when Messrs. Gould and Winlock
ventured to question their observations regard
ing the pcnumbra they had seen in the moon,
they were incontinently snubbed. Still, for
all the learning displayed by the Professor it
is impossible not I'd agree with those more
daring spectators who, reasoning from the
hypothesis that ii is not probable that this
one little planet Of ours is the only one in
the system inhabited, prefer to suppose that
the denizens of Jupiter and Saturn are framed
to bask in a temperature where the mercury
congeals while the tenants Of Mercury would
shiyer to death in kettle of boiling water,
than to imagine that they were created for no
other purpose than an enjoyment. Even the
rings Of Saturn, which Professor Loomis be-
lievcs consist Of alcohol, must have their occu-
pants, or the universe would cease to prove
the unvarying wisdom Of its Creator.
We are forbidden by want Of space to dc
more than mention the fact that other astro-
nomcrs likewise contributed the fruit Of their
researches Mr. Mitchell, whose works on the
subject are the most poeticaI in existence,
treated the association to some desperately
tough figures on parallay. Mr.. Peters of "a
mark was ingenious and learned on the spots
on the sun; his description Of their rise, pro
gress, decline and ultimate disruption was al
most dramatic; we found ourselves sympathiz-
ing warmly over the unhappy fate of the
''poor spot cut of in its prime Take, says
Mr.. Peters, tub of water: pour oil on the sur
face; then through tube which reaches to
the bottom Of the tub, blew bubbles Of air;
the consequence will he that the water will
force itself through the oil in spots, which in
course of time will obey the laws Of gravity
and redcscend through the oil. This is the
history of the spots on the sum. The oil and
water are its two atmosphcres: the air tube is
the volcanoes in incessant eruption.
Geology was represented by Professor Dana,
whose lecture was worthy Of the association
and of tho name no hears We have diSrovor-
cd but few new parts in this performance,
though the manner in which they are presented
is novel and striking. Mr.. Dana's classified
ton Of strata is slight Improvement on
Lycifs, and is continued so as to make allow
ance for the recent discoveries OF Miller, Vivi-
an Abraham and others He liyIas lhn