Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-19

an oblate spherod. II would seem impos-
sible at this day to take execution. The
equatorial fattening, which was determin-
ed by Major Clarke many years ago, does
not materially disturb what has come TO be
universally accepted conception, and Is.
in fact. hardly known as yet to makers and
teachers of geography, firmly had faith
in an astronomical determination been es-
tablished.
Within recent years, however, n suspic-
ion has become current that the earth need
not have the simple spherical form that
has been so generally claimed for ii by
astronomers and physicists. This suspicion,
which appears first To have presented itself
IN convincing form TO Mr. Lowthian Green.
is based largely upon the form of the
southern continents their projection south
ward in apit al prolongaton and the gem
eral maSsing of the land in the north. The
tetrahedral form of the globe with a gentle
top-shaped prolOngation in the direction of
the antarctic pole is, If not yet accepted
IN IT'S fuii value. at least a subject Of open
consideration to many of the foremost
ply sicists and biologists, and the problem
has recently been attacked with vigor by
Prof. b. X. Emerson of this country, by
Prof. j. W. Gregory of London and by
Profs. Lapparent and Marcel Bertrand of
Paris and Prof Suess of Vienna. 1t is eN-
pected that this most interesting question
viii receive part of the attention of the
new exploring expeditions to the south
Heredity and Sex.
The department or side of Biological
science which holds out the promise of a
most imposing discovery, but which up Ia
the present time has perhaps yielded least
IS that which is concerned with the deter
minaton or differentiation of sex. ard abe
somewhat more approachable problem ot
the making OF species by s-fertilIZatlon.
To what extent the latter is possible OF
impossible $ sim an unknown condition IN
biology, more particularly where the higher
formsSof life are concerned, but some dcii-
mite knowledge on this interesting and most
important branch of evolutionary inquiry
may be expected before long as the result
of practical experiments that are being
conducted by committee of scientists spc-
cially appointed for this research by the
Royal Society of London. In these expert
ments man and the higher apes figure as
subjects of experimentation, and whatever
may be the outcome the experiments Will
be part of. perhaps. the most important
chapter of research N the domain of Oar
win .anism evolution
To this day the question of sex remains
an inscrutable one, and it is doubtful 4
we are nearer the solution of the mystery
why one ovum cell, ind stngu'shaoie IN
minutest retail from another, should n one
instance develop into a male organism ana
in another into a fema e. The lahors Of
Cieddes Ryder and Schenk may ultimately
be found TO be directed toward a solution,
but the solution has not yet been gwen.
1t is. however. a possibility for any tine
Of the future.
Mans Immediate Ancestor.
The highly interesting discovery made a
few years ago by DIR. Dubois, on the Is
land of Java of the fossilized remains of
an organism standing apparently interme-
date between man and the ape, to which
the closely signifying name of Pithecan-
thropus erectus has been given by natural
lists has renewed interest in that singular,
forever evading form which must ultimate
" find a position in the long chain of ant
NAL types as the ancestor of man. Ever
since the publication of MIR. Darwins or
gin of Species and the recognition OF the
facts which its theory carries, biologists
have bent their energies toward discovering
or locating this most important OF mss
ing links" Man, in his lowest types mas
been specu'atively degraded to the rank OF
the higher apes, and the apes have been
progressively advanced to rank between
lower apes and man, but the true connec-
ton. before the find OF Or. DUBOIS hau
not even approximately been determined:
The clarion blasts of Huxley, Nirchow ana
Haeckel, resounding in controversy from
within the walls of the valhalla of science,
had indeed, almost died away when the
announcement of this new discovery was
made and once more opened the flood-gates
of controversy. This time, at least, opih-
ion appears to have been more SeheraiS
concurrent than heretofore, and ii may be
that Dubois discovery has properly d.
rected the search after mans immediate
progenitor. 1t is by no means lmposslple,
or even improbable, that the MISSING
Il,
link may be one of the earliest OF the
new discoveries to be made. whether such
a discovery would longer startle the "oriu,
or be merely accepted as fact or con-
dition that had to come the time-perloo Oh
the discovery alone can determine
In the Realm of Physics.
1t would seem useless to speculate upon
the discoveries that might be made In the
departments of pure physics or mechanics
Great discoveries in these heldS nave gem
orally come with such suddenness, and In a
form so wholly unexpected, and with such
refreshing neWness to lines of investigation,
that they have taken the scientific investi-
gator almost as much by surprise as the
layman. Hence the futilfty or ANTICIPATION
or of q guess. Even in the lines OF research
that are nearest to us, and with Wncn we
are most familiar there may be possibilities
of which we know nothing at this time, ana
which require no such fanciful groundwork
as was necessary to prop up keeley mo-
tor" Some new application OF steam OF
electricity may set the world agos' put II Is
safe to say that no force of consequence,
whose relations are not already IN part uil-
derstood or have not been calculated, VIII
be discovered -
On the other hand. it is certain that many
of the presumably established laws OF
science and perhaps even some of the most
fundamental ones, may need important
modification in the light of newer sclentihc
research and some will go by the board
entirely This is not in itself an indication
that science is weak or that its method Is
wrong but merely a warning against the
too hasty acceptance of doctrines which re.
uuire much proof for their maintenance ana
lack It, and the sgn-post that directs to the
nossiblity of alternatives What the doc
trines principles or views are that are 10
be modified Ii Is impossible to say as 1t
is impossible to forecast precisely the future
discoveries