The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-16
PROGRESS OF SCIENCE IN 1870.
FROM NATURE.

FROM NATURE.
The year which has just come to close has
neither been characterized by any new and
scientific discoveries, nor have any novel ap-
plications of science to ordinary industry and
manufacture attracted special attention. The
work done has been more a strengthening of
that of past years, and confirming or a dis
provizg of theories and experiments, than the
inventipg of new ones. In one branch of
science only has any great advance been made,
and that, as we shall presently show, we be-
lieve to have taken place in geology. But
this advance is one somewhat overlooked at
present; but still of so important a character
that, when once fully recognized in all its
bearings, it may tend to disprove much of
the geological teaching of the present day.
Taking the various sciences as much as
possible separately, we will begin with AS
tronomy. Here attention has been chiefly
directed, as has been the case for so many
years past, to the sum- Since it is now gene
rally understood that when once the nature
of this vast self-luminous body is accurately
made out, much light will be thrown on many
now perplexing and strange phenomena, the
eclipse Of the 22d of December last was
anxieusly watched for, and all possible obser-
vations were taken here by those who were
unable to take part in the Government expe-
dition to Spain and Sicily. 1t is to be hoped
that the labors of this expedition, in spite of
accident both on land and sea, and the unsat-
isfactory state of the weather at the time of
observation, will yet yield results of great
importance.
Mr.. Lockyer and Mr.. Higgins have con-
tinued their spectroscopic observations of the
sun, and Professor Zolner has published a
very valuable paper on the solar prominences,
theorizipg very boldly as to the temperature
and pressure at the suns surface; while in
America Professor Young has worked with
good results at the same subject. Before
leaving this branch of our subject, we would
mention that Mr.. Proctor has published some
novel views as to the constitution of the stel-
lar systems, which, under the somewhat fan
ciful titles of "star-drift" and ''star-mist !"
must be familiar to most of our readers.
While the vast domain of Organic Chemistry
has been still further widened by the in
Vulnerable workers who plunge into this
branch of the subject and neglect the many
untrodden paths in inorganic chemistry,
nevertheless no special or important dis
coveries are to be chronicled unless we may
mention the beautiful process by which indigo
has been synthetically constructed by NM
Emmerling and Engler, following closely on
the artificial manufacture of alizarine by NM
Liebermann and Graebe.
Molecular Physics has occupied large
share of attention, and the discussion before
Iu0 Ou6uICdl OOcloLy Oh IHo 6AtBD6uC6 OF nOQ-
existence of atoms and molecules, has only
too clearly shown how doctors differ among
themselves, and that the very foundations of
q science, considered so essential by some,
are utterly repudiated by others. A very re-
markable paper on the size of atoms, origin
ally published in these columns by Sir Will
liam Thomson, in which he gives four dis
tinet trains of reasoning by which he arrives
at proof of their absolute magnitude, has
ott cd off orad hooh haa
lated and copied into most of the Continental
and American scientific journals. Dr. Thomas
Andrews has also pursued his remarkable in
vestigations on the continuity of the liquid
and gaseous states of matter The death of
Professor William Allen Miller, F. r. S., aud
DR.. Matthiessen, F. r. s., have left sad voids
in the ranks of our English experimental
chemists.
In Biology, the Investigations of Professor
Tyndall, "On Atmospheric Germs, and the
Germ Theory of Disease, have contributed
to clearer knowledge of the nature of some
of the most virulent of our infectious dis
eases, and have caused those diseases to be
studied in q much more scientific manner
than before.
The theory of spontaneous generation,
which has been very prominently before the
scientific world for the last ten years, has.
during the past year, been very strongly at
tackled on the one hand by Professor Huxlev.
and defended on the other by DIR. Bastisn
and DIR. Child. In his inaugural address to
the British Association meeting at Liverpool,
Professor Huxley gave long review of al
the researches on the subject, from the time
of Spallanzani and Needham to the present
day, and declared his belief, after carefully
weighing the evidence on both sides, that
all life has its origin in some pre-existine
life, and that spontaneous generation, or, as
he termed it, abiogenesis, is not now proved
to take place. The investigations of Dr.
Bastian, published in these columns, gave
the reasons for his belief that spontaneous
generation certainly does occur. Feeling
himself attacked and his experiments ssme
what underrated by Professor Huxley in hi
address, he criticized it at considerabl,
length, and detailed the results of some new
experiments which confirmed his previous de
ductions
The Dsrwinian theory of natural selection
has been tttacked by Mr.. A. W. Bennett an,
Mr. Murrsy, and defended by Mr., A. II, Wal