, 1879-02-23

only Intent upon going on "lLA my Fe!ulaT "orh
| of making q complete map of the spectra." ht
considered the proof obtained from Sirius ant
| other stars presumably hotter than our sun was
| Of very great value.
| oP1S1oSs OF SCIENTIFIC MEN.
| In attempting to have Interviews with prorni
| nent scientific men in Londou ! was met by tive
| difficulties. First-There were few men among
| the eminent physicists here who had made
spectrum analysis special study; and, second,
| those who had were not very read; to give III
opinion. Ono distinguished gentleman said thai
| few L,cn were competent to give a1i opinion o.
Mr.. Lockyer's work, and that, while Il onc time
| there were quite number OF :Eca engaged III
spectroscoplc work, they llid drup:cd uit one
after another, till now Mr.. Lo:l,yer might be
said to huvc almost the whole field to himself.
have seen several distinguished chemists, and
they have all been ready to grant that Mr.. Lock
vcr has given great impetus to scientific re.
search, but many are waiting for further deyel-
opMents.
Prof Williamson, of the University College,
London, 1t appears, has opposed Mr.. Lockyer
from the first perhaps without giving that care
ful investigation to the subject that might have
| been expected from one In his high position.
Prof. Stokes, Of the University Of Cambridge,
| man OF excellent Judgment and thoroughly nc
| quainted with spectrosconic work, is another
| who stands in an expcctant attitude. 1t seems
| that Dr.. Hugsins and P4of. Roscoe have given
great deal Of attention to ar. Loclsyer's theo-
| rics. and am Informed that they are not quite
satisfied with all his deductions. Dr. Witliam
J. RUSSELL F. II. S., lecturer on chemistry at the
medical school Of st. Barthoiotnew's Hospital,
las Inade the examination with the spcctruscope
OF various substances in solution special study.
In reply to rny inquiry respecting his opinion Of
Mr.. Loc5ycrs work ne said that he thought
that the chemical evidence OF dissocsation Of the
elements had utterly failed thus far, but it was
quite impossible to say what results might be
obtained even in a short time. 1t was very un-
fair TO criticisc Mr.. Lockycr. He was enthusl-
| astic, man OF genius, and had singular'y ac-
tive mind. II be were not enthusiastic he would
not he loCkyec.
- air. Lockycr tells me it will take fifty
years to complete these studies.'
ayes, no doubt, it will be q great many
years before VIC GET tic dlssociated substances
IN bottles. It is very difficult to distinguish
impurities. In bis argument Mr.. Lockyer has
referred to those substances he has most cx-
perimented with, and Is prepared TO stand or
fall by the evidence Of those experiments; but
it would have been better if be had with
held the publication Of his argument till he had
thought that in the end it would be shown
that Mr.. Lockyer had made IN important dis
covery-
Dr. T. Lander Bruuton, F. R. s., had faith
in the value OF Mr.. Lockyer's discoveries. tic
thought it possible that the transmutation of
metals might be accomplished at some future
day. He believed it highly probable that the
alcbemists, who were by no means fools, had
really succeeded BY chance in transmitting
baser metals into gold, but when they found
little gold in the bottom Of the crucible, as
the stories tell US, 1t was only through some
chance combination, and they we're unable to
produce the same results ut another time.
TOO SOON TO JUDGE.
DR.. Henry e. Armstrong, F. r. S., Professor
Of Chemistry ut the London Institution, is a
Young man, but already has 4 reputation that
many older men might envy. He said it was
hard to give an opinion, as the whole subject
was yet in its infancy Comparing Prof.
Crookes' workswith Mr. Lockyer's, he thought
Prof. Crookcs' work magnificent, and manifest
ly so. Lockyer's, too, will be magnificent ii he
succeeds in proving it, but the evidence is FAR
OIL in the sun and stars. The same ideas had
been advanced before, but Alr. Loclsycr was the
first to bring forward proof Of that description.
Much that had appeared in print on the subject
OF Lockyer's discoveries was extremely sensa-
tional, and not to be regarded. lie thought 1t
in actually separating aud bottiing the constitu-
ent atoms. he thought highly OF Mr.. Lockyer's
work, but it was too early to judge Of it, for he
had not gone far enough In his researches to
make the proof conclusive.
4 LENGTHY R1EGEs1s.
DR.. J. H. Gladstone, F. r. S., President of the
Chemical Society, has given me-, at some length,
bis impressions Of Mr.. Loclycr's discoveries
This week he delivered q very interesting lect-
>ure on the supposed compound nature OF the
elements hpfnra fhn Vast Nciap
aeeoc;ot;on tho nr;nc;,a1 ,a;.ts ~ ,'.,;'I. ~
paye me during IN interview. THE earliest ri
the Chinese writings, he said, make mention Of
five elements. namely: Fire, air, water, wood,
and metal. The ancient Indian philosophers
substituted earth and either for the last TWO.
The first four Of these were passed on to Greece
and became part Of the creed OF tic Middle
Ages. The alchemists, however, introduced
mercury, SULPHUR and other substances as the
probable constituents OF all matter, but the
carly chemists, at the close OF the last century,
relying upon the principle that the weight Of
body is the sum Of the weight of its Constituents
set to work to analyze all things into their
ultimate elements. In this way they drew up
list of substances which could not be resolved
into simpler ones. This list has gone On in
creasing until it includes fifty-one metallic and
thirteen non-metalllc elements. There is no
reason to suppose that these so-called Gle
mcnts arc not themselves compound bodies,
excepting. that. they have not yet been
resolved into simpler forms. On the other
hand, it is more and more recognized in modern
chemistry tlat certain bodies known to be COM
pound, such as ,cyanogcn Or ethyl play the part
OF elements. and also that many supposed cIe-
Mentary bodies, such as carbon or sulphur, are
found under different forms with different prop
critics, such as diamond, graphite, and char
coal all three varieties Of carbon. There have
been many spcculations on the nature Of the