The Savannah morning news., 1900-12-30

D
nllirg an space IS now generally accept
"a hy physlalsss. Daiton's theory OF un4
nhlrErAlle atoms ana hts frHt table -
atomic weights provided that basis 81
exacucss on which modern chemistry has
been built and the properties Of the
atoms were rapidly defined. thus opening
the path tor experiment lea countless com
oiuahons. Vol,as pile appeared Ia the
last year of the eighteenth century. and
with bavy reduced chemical substances
so thoroughly that none OF the elements
ho obtained have been decomposcd since,
ana also produced the electric light. Soon
after orrs,ed discovered electromagnet-
ism. which quickly gave tho IDEAS Of the
ffIegmuh ana tho motor while Freanal
discoycred tho polarization 81 nshL and
inc nrst asteroids were detected by as
trouomcra.
Sciences Great discoveries OF Ma
turai Laws.
The miidle OF the century was marked
hy great mathematical feat the dis
roNey OF the planet Neptune by Crouch
Adams and lrycrrlcr Independently, Tine
invention of photography. later employed
st 4tcmiCnily boz astronomy. made H pos
slnle 90 detect celestial objects too faint
for human eyes to sec. while Kirchon and
hunsou's spectroscopo ana the methods
[ uf spectrum ruHlvsis, besides thu services
physics. enabled the chemical composition
~ the celestial bodies 20 be deter
mined ana proved she identity In sub
stance 81 the earth with the sun and
stars. by their ala. too. the distance OF
the stars can Dee determined. and the
presence and course Of invisible stare has
been found To che middle OF tho cen
fury belongs The enuncation Of the uno~t
important law 81 matter since Newton's
Jaw or rrtFltaflou the law Of the con-
fervation ~ energy. che doctrine namely
that Ia create ~ anuihilate energy Ia 80
impossible as 90 create or annihiiate mat
ter. ana that ali ,he phenomena OF tho
material universe consist IN traosforma-
Z lions 81 energy alone Almost discovered
more than once earlier Ia the century. Il
was arrived al Independently by several
| eXperimentera, chief among whom we're
Joule who had previously demonstrated
I the law Of tho mechanical equivalent OF
heat. and Julius Mayer. tho originator OF
the 'msteoric hypothesis"
/ Later have come Clerk Maxweirs kin
etic theory Of gases. the nauefaeton Of
all gases hy intense cold and the approach
l 10 the absolute zero; Hertz's interrupted
I electric waves which have yielded wire
| less teiceraphy: Rocntgeu's discovery OF
the cathode rays. which have rendered tho
| interior ~ opaque objects visible. and the
wholly Periodic law" IN chemistry
- tNNtNNn ANAAt IVA nv AfAF HAtfWA"H U.s."
I been the expectation or hope 81 the dis
covery OF some hrst cause. like the idea
| in chemistry that the elements may yet
I be- dccamposed and some one element AZ
che root Of an be found. or IN biology the
search FOR the hrst common element OF
| life.
To the Uuermost Parts OF the Earth.
The achievements In geographical es-
p3oTssious ~oslla alone have given glory
]
nautical problem that Capt Cook did
not live 10 solve. the Northwest passage.
/ was accomplished by Mcclure. and de-
I moTstrated 20 be az impracticable as Cook
I supposed n 80 be The Northeast passage,
too. has been made boy Nordenskioeid. who
/ la the Vega" circumnavigated tho Eu-
| ropo-Aeian continent Tho search for Sir
/ John Franklin LED to the exploration %
I the frozen Archipelago north Of America
| and the discovery Of the North Magnetic
Pole. since then the pole itself has been
I the goal Of Arctic explorers, Nensen has
/ traverssd Greenland Peary has found
ont thas n r. an ISLAND while >ansen ana
] Cagni have como within less than four
degrees OF the role itself Beyond the
/ ine 90 which Cooks circusanayiEafion
restricted the possible Antarctic continent
/ several have penetrnted and for che frst
i time men have lande.i and wintered on
/ tho Antarctic soast In America diScov-
/ cry has been followed 30 soon by ecftlc-
ment that the memory haT quickly dis
appeared. and even the remarkable jour
uey Of Lewis and Clarke up the Missouri
into oregon is almost forgotten. The
same s. true Of Australia whose interior
deserts have been crossed By daring ex-
plorcra under terrible nardships. ana Of
/ good part OF Asia. The opening up OF
/ Africa. however. n hardly second In Inn
/ portaueo to the decentralization Of the
/ Cape Of Good Hops Fifty years ago
/ barely the rim o. the dark continent was
known Now. thanks 90 Burton and Spehe
| and Livingstone and Stanley. every one
I 81 It's great riddles has been solved. tho
sources OF the Nile. the water system OF
! the Congo and the Niger and the Fam
besi. the dwarfs, and the Mountains %
4 tho Moon. IL has been crossed from south
20 north. and from west 10 east. scrora its
l greatest breadth. while the crossing from
the Congo to the Zanozlbar coast has be-
come q commonplace Journey. Tho powers
I 81 Europe have divided the territory
among themselves and are pushing ia wifh
/ railroad and telegraph. There are no
more great geographical discoveries pos
/ slble on land; but science has tufnsd its
attention 70 the bottom OF the sea. and
tho sounding lead Is charting the ocean,
beds.
Explaining the Dim Past of HISTORY.
! New nlttNlAH NAt0 NNFttsAn % VIEW nav"
| entered into every branch or learning.
The discovery OF Eanskrii led TO the com
parison 81 languages with each other. and
! tho establishment Of their relationship.
Tie princlple OF comparison was extended
20 fhe past as well. ana the historical
/ method o. Investigation has spread iof
science also. In collecting and establish 4
ing facts the aid Of experimental sciencal
has been called In The aid OF the phy~i-s
| oi0gist. for Instance, has been needed by /
/ the phlloiogist to unrnvsl the problem oil
human speech. while the philosopher has
| called upon him 20 explain the workings.
OF the human brain. Humber eids havaE
not been Ecorne.i With pick aud shoy II
| tho Archaeological has brought 10 liz 1tt
the ancient civilization OF Egypt and tn,
| implements OF primitive man. he hss dugt
out the Hum ana prlam and laid baro'
the Roman forum and read from the citys
tablets the forgotten language OF the As-s
syrians In no age has the pursuit OF
1 learning been 80 general IA no age hawe
the means FOR ito attainment. books. a.
hrariea, museums. teaching instituticns.I
been 50 plentiful.
The Century in Literature, Ms-Ies
and Art.
| IL the domains OF letters the nlnefeent n
century has well held 10 own with itra
predecessors. II may not show any name
Of the very first rank. for Goethe the
poet. esn hardly be- included IN a. but no
past century N any literature can mstchs