The herald., 1897-12-05
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BREYlTIES OF SCIENCE

Professor Ramsay, the distinguished
British Chemist, is somewhat of a hui
morist. In recent address before the
chemical section of the British associa-
ton he began with the following SEN
tence:
THE subject of my remarks today is
new gas. I shall describe to you later
its curious properties; but it would be
unfair not to put you at once in posses
sion of the knowledge of it's most re-
markable property-it has not yet been
discovered"
Commenting thereon, Electricity,
among other things, gives the reason
why Professor Ramsay postu!ates a new
gas, and asks: "Why did Leverrier pos
tulate the presence of another planet in
what was then known as extra planetary
space! Leverrier did not see
Neptune, but by priori reasoning he
knew that it must exist, and was enabled
to direct Gale, SO that when on Septem-
Der %, 1S46, he pointed his telescope in
the direction indicated, hypothesis be-
came reality" 1t is claimed that on
similar grounds Professor Ramsay pos
tulates the existence of a new gas, that
the gas helium was discovered by like
observation, and that as the laws of ma
ture are invariable, nothing being the re-
suit OF chance or Whim, 1--WE must come
logically to the a priori conclusion that
in the future the progress of sci
ence will no longer be the hating one of
tentative work, but will be that surer one
or consequences inevitable from antece-
dent" The discovery of this new gas
Will be additional evidence that science
has not yet exhausted the mysterious
resources OF nature, and that the great
est OF all dramatists made Hamlet ex-
press profound truth in the words
There are more things in heaven and
earth, Horatio than are dreamed of in
your philosophy''-or. in the philosophy
we may add, of even modern science.
Says the Ledger. Philadelphia: The
racing bicycle is away ahead of the trot-
ting horse in point of speed, but it will
neither sell for as much money nor draw
as big load Of potatoes.
+ \ =
The Ottawa (Canada) Journal reads us
humorous lesson in figures having, II
nothing else, the wholesome quality OF
truth-a quality better than diplomacy
as a guarantee of international peace
AS the Journal figures concern modern
ships of war-foating machine shops
and laboratories of scence-it deserves
a place in these brevities.
Quoting from the Ledger (Philadel-
phia) the following sentence:
Suppose Uncle Sam, the czar and the
Mikado should agree among themselves
to settle the seal question-what would
John Bull do about it?
The Journal goes on to say:
John Bull would doubtless look up the
naval statistics, and this is what h
would find:
GREAT BRITAIN
Ships of war, launched or building,
all classes Observation-Disclosures. sol
Seamen and marines 93 75C
RUSSIA, UNITED STATES AND JAPAN
Russian warships all classes ........ as,
Seamen and marines ..................3S,O IS, ,O0(
United States warships, all classes. 10:
Seamen and marines S...................1542 15 AZ;
Japanese warships, all classes .... 8;
Seamen and marines ...................21,0 ,0G,
Total warships. Russia, United
states and Japan ................... So
1QtdI crews "A, ~,
While the seal question is not likely
to provoke a war between the powers
named, the figures quoted are none the
.Rss interesting and significant. "Lool,
before you leap" is a saying as wise as
it is antique.
+ +
Will wireless telegraphy prove a sue
csss? This is question not to be an
swered offhand. 1t is already in lin
tied degree q success. The London Times
notes experiments now being made near
Dover by the English postoffice author
tiles of the city with varying results.
These are continued daily, but for some
reason the lnodus operandi is strictly
guarded from public knowledge. We are
informed by the Times that "the receiv-
ing apparatus is sent out every morning
On a trolley, so that it can be trans
ferred to different parts of the country
to be experimental with" Strict Sc
,recy Is maintained in regard to the in
and when the experiments
are concluded at the end of the day the
apparatus Is brought back also carefully
guarded from vulgar observation How
very absurd and John Bullish! Expert
nents have been made by these electri-
clans with success over a distance of
.wo miles and messages freely and dis
tinctly transmitted that far An effort
n rx,sk l.:
miles, has, however, thus far proved
But to successfully
message two miles without
wires is accomplishing a great deal in
Iced and should give us solid grounds
20 base hope Of the ultimate efficiency
If wireless telegraphy. So mote it be.
i \ \
Again the wisdom couched in the Sol
monic saying, "There is nothing new
lnder the sum-" finds confirmation in the
discovery that the slot machine, sup
POSED to be one Of our purely modern in
'entions, is fully twenty centuries old.
f the "nickel-in-the-slot" machine
must go from the catalogue Of our mod
rn mechanical devices, what item in
he list is secure? One by one the flowers
# the inventive genius of our age seem
o fade in the light of historic discov-
ry. In this light the work shops of
Hero Of Alexandria turn out as kind
4 museum in which our modern in
'entors find the prototypes Of the very
atest" and newest Of their mechanical
levices. The London Daily Mail con-
aims an etching or sketch Of what en-
odies the exact principle of the nickel
n-the-slot" Weighing or vending ma
hines that amused or served the folk
Eho lived more than two thousand Years