New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-11-17


color no matter what their religious profession OF
noj;tica Condition. is still nober The one IS local
and transtory benefaction. the other an enourins
and universal beneyolence =. ~ .h.+
Tn orr own special science, chemistry, all tnat
has heen done has only served to extend the bound
airy of what remains. The thousands or Analyses
that have been made have brought us into WILDER
ness of results We have not been able 10 rise 10 a
noint Of view sufficiently high to discover what Is
the true place of those results in nature we ty 10
represent on the pages of our books ana ON our uf
bIaokbOards formulas the 'nG time that these
are at the best only convenient hctlons,
which must necessarily change as we gam q inoie
The distribnticn of Force in Space and the varia-
tons to which it is liable. The geometry OF che w.
try is that of three dimensions, not OF IVY. mS
have To consider the relation OF points not stuaeu
On one plane and hence it is necessary to employ
three axes of reference; nay even more, we &c
avoid the conception of the mateInatlestl neenouv u
quaternions Our Inadequate information aosp oo
INC fine real grouping of atoms is followed as neces-
saTy consequence by imperfectlon IN our metous VI
nomenclature the confusion in this respect Deco.i,,
ing, as we all too well know, every day "o'oo @iU
worse ,,>,,
THE MARvELS OF THE HEAVENS.
And now while we have accomplished only most
imperfect examination of objects that we ma on inc
earth, see how, on sudden, through the VISTA 'hao
has been opened by the specroscope what prospect
lies beyond Ms in the heavens! often look at the
hiobt vellov ray emitted from the chromOsphere OF
tbe sun. bv that unknown element, Helium as the
astronomers have yenturad to call il. 1t seems trem-
bling with excitement to tell Its story, and how
many unseen companions it has. And if this be the
case with the sum- what shall we say of the mag
nifcent hosts Of the starsf May not every one OF
them have special elements Of its ownI Is not eacn
a chemical laboratory in itseff Look at the Gus
ters in the sword-hande of Perseus in casslopela
universe of stars on ground of star dust; 80 Her
cules, of which as astronomers say, no one
can look at for the first time through
great telescope without shout of wonder-the
most superb spectacle that the eye of man can wit
ness Look at the double stars of which so many
are now known emitting their contrasting rays,
garnet or ruby or emerald. sapphire: Each IS In
accordance with its special physical condilons
though all are under the same universal ordnance
Now here fact of surprising importance presses
itself on attention. The movements taxing
place in those distant bodies taking place under
tho same laws that prevail here on earth and IN our
solar system. The law of gravitatlOn, aS developed
by Newton, hears sway in all those distant worlds.
In them bodies attract each other WIN forces
directly as their and inyersey as the squares
of their distances. There the laws of the emission.
absorption, and Transmission Of light are the same
as they are with us. There ignited hydrogen gives
forth its three rays the rays that gives t0rtn
TO us. In the uttermOst parts OF the universe the
law of definite combination, the numerical law, ana
tLe multiple law, stand good. Sodium abSOrDs lts
two waves of definite refrangibity, and iron gives
i'm the spectra its than hundred lines, more
than a hundred silent but convincing witnesses OF
the uniformity of the constitution OF the universe
There fine number of vibrations that constitute ray
of definite refrangibiity is the same we have found
il to be here In the enormous heat OF those
central suns the dissolution of molecules may
bo of a higher order than we can reach
artifcially but the law under which 1t taxes
place is continuation of the law here There though
the weight of given mass OF matter IS .dlherehI
from what il Is with u.s. il is nevertheless determined
by the law that determines here-the law ol gTlNa-
ton There energy Is indestructible ana u ihei's-
ured ms il is measured among us, by work. linen is
there any bOunGary that we can assign 10 naturai
laws it not omnipresent. universal
Perhaps there Is no exaggeTation in the assertion
for there seems abundant proof oil lts truth-tnat
fhe light by which we see some OF those distant
orhs has crossed through such prodlgiOus space
that millions of years have transpred during inc
Journey Then the phenomena ~ brings TO ts arc
those that were engendered in the beginning OF me
vast time 40 passed. Whatever there is That is in
harmony with facts now happening mere Is 10 Us
an unimpeachable evidence that the laws when
were governing in those old ages have undergone no
depreciation but active ever until now. Then
shall cxaggerate IL say that those laws are eternal
IN duTatIOnf .
Iuinite in influence, eternal in duration, what
magnificent spectacle! In the TesLstiess energy OF
the motions of the universe Is there not ohlnlp9-
tence The Onnipotent, the Infinite. the Eternal,
to what do these attributes belong Shall man who
stands forth to yindIcate the majesty OF such laws
be blamable in your sight hather snail you MOI
stupendousi And vet let us not forget that these
eternal laws of nature are only the passing thoughts
of God
LAWS OF MANS NERVOUS SYSTEM.
But grand rs this is. there something still
rrnndcr. There is another temple into which we
have 10 pass not that of the visible but that Of the
invisible We must persist in the invasion we have
made. in the revolution we have brought about in
Psychology We have to determine the laws which
preside in the nervous system Of man, and discover
the nature Of the principle that aniuates it, Is
there not something profoundly impressive in this,
that the human mind can look from without upon
itself n one looks at his phantom image u mirror,
and discern its own lneaments and admire its own
movements. Ny own thoughts have Of late years
been forcibly drawn to this from recognition that
the Interpretation by the mind of impressions irom
without takes place under mathematical laws, rs for
instance that when external ethereal vibrations
create in the mind certain idea, that same idea
will arise when the vibrations are doubled, or
riplcd or quadrupled in frequency bat other ideas
will lac eupcndered by vibrations of an intermediate
rate YET what these ideas will be may be pre-
dictcd IL is true that this rs only an optical case,
but il extends the Wow that has been offered to us
by a study Of the structure OF the Ia the abyrin-
thine compartment of that organ the ultimate hbers
of the auditory laid ON the Whining plane
of the spiral lamina, IN ever decreasing lengths
each capable of trembling TO the sound which Is in
unison with tia mechanical action truly, answer
ing 10 the sympathetic vibration with which the
strings of piano will respond To the corresponding
notes of lute-and these are translated by the mind
into ali the utterances of arculate speech, all tho
bannonies Of music-Speech that engenders
ideas within us strains which, though they may die
away i'm the air. live forever in the memory. The
cyoliiste delight we experience in listening TO the
works of our great composers arises thus III mechan
zeal movements which the ISSUE OF mathematical
combinations The unseen world is under the nfu-
ence of numberl
But what is number except there be one who mum
beers When Pompey, in his Syrian war, broke INTO
the holy of hOlies at Jerusalem, he expressed, rs
TactJls tells u.s. his establishment that there was no
image of Divinity within; the shrine was silent
and empty. And so. though after death we may
y = a., tba