The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-23
Science.
TIE GREAT TELESCOPE OF THE PARIS Ex
HIBITloN.

| HIBITloN.
| IL will be remembered with what flourish
| Of trumpets the intention to consuu't the
| greatest telescope In the world" for the Paris
| Exposition was heralded. and how pcrsistently
| 1t was advertised before and during the ex =
position II was entirely useless for experts
| 10 point out that the plan iopted made il
| certain that the telescope would be OF little
ssr Sla2o2 dfownsa ali SoSas
| II Is interesting TO note in the last report
Of the British Astronomical Association that
observing the planet Mars by competent
person-"to no ~ pose" he says. Mars
was far better object in a 3-inch telescope
| than IN the la-inch "
! DISTINCTION or FRENCH CAPITAL
| The total amount Of French cal ital In
vested in foreign parts is. according to an
| official return. $3.50, o1J.o0D francs saw
s6.ooo, ooo,ooo, II produces in dividends an
| uslly i.i3a. 0oo.0o, francs. England annually
receives nearly twice as much viz. ? .abo. 900 =
90 francs, French Investments are di.-
Russi' alone nearly 7.oo.o 900 francs;
Anstro- Hungary. ?,sso: ooo,ono. All, las si-3
Ssnt a., t,fa 1.sr Z pr
america, per cent; South america. 81
o,o,ooo to Brazil. ?.s.oo,,ooo to Colombo. the
unlucky. and Polynesia absorbs about one
| eighth OF per cent
FLYING MACHINES.
| The Smithsonian lnsti' ,tion has published
new edition of DR. Iangley's Experiments
| in Asrod yna mics" first printed els ven years
ago. In summing up, Dr. Langley speaks
OF the prospects for to future some what rs
| follows: since that time. he says. he has
| demonstrated that mechanical fight il ros.
sible by actually performing It with steel
flying machines nearly a thousand times
hea vier thnn air. driven by steam. These MA
us " pI mi n An de a a.,
| from half TO three quarters OF mile AT sTeeds
varying from 20 20 30 miles per our. II i,
very near when human beings viii De- trans
ported at high velooitiss. trough perhaps az
| first under exceptional conditions. such as
are demanded in the arts OF war rather than
| OF peace
| STATISTICS OF NEW ZEALAND.
| The statistics Of tho colony Of New Zealand
| for the year 1870 have just appeared and
show the rapid proiTess Of this entcrprisns
| little State. TIE increase OF population for
| five years was from eaG. 33i to 7s5 s6s and tho
revenue per inhabitant, from GO LIS iod to
| e. les ID The annual expenditure or old.
age Y. si1ns has reached fio7,2o3 and will
very full. They show, IL may be remarked
| in passing, marked increase ~ deaths from
cancer and 9 slight diminution OF deaths
| WHAT Is SCIENCE?
| NJ Suly- Prudhomme poet and p osopher.
lately had occasion to examine H.. question
| what Is science? His answer follows: Science
| Is body OF doctrines which diTcr from other
| doctrines by the following characters.
First doctrines depend solely on the
purely Intellectual functions OF the bran
| and upon reasonings founded on proposi-
lions either evident in themselves or gem
| orally so accepted. Seconc-Au these doc
trncs have for foundation data derived
from observation. external or internal-that
| l. to say. derived from our senses or from
| our consciousness. The exact sciences rca-
son upon abstract ideas furnished by en-
| pirical data while the natural scicn res daduce
| from empirical data these general IDEAS wi irh
| serve to classify them. or to formulate those
| constant relations that We denomirats laws
| Third The natural sciences make use OF tho
Seon on Of n' by
| Such Instruments OF research. In so far as
they are employed With rf2i'aful cx99cti,udc,
but the men who employ them being but
men are able to err in their use IL may be
seid then tha, scientific re.earch-the method
OF infalliblH methods
The champions Of scianc" define It by IFS
wfile their adversarias define II by the actual
application Of It's method. wfichh Is ,fa,ally
| and they. Therefore. d. c,are science 10 be-
f.riblc. The conflict OF. taeolori,ns and
r tSFnaS %nn Is anna s'f By d
method, is never reaiized, but IL is In The way
Of resiil'ii ion Its fSn's arr rcIp.tgally
me s ia .a Il rs s@ ~ M nv S'H ~o
fro i san 10 'E" sod Of stns no
nate. without defrins. the substrata OF Pie
any more thnn RELIGIOUS folk represent I've
soul. the substratum OF the ESQ And as
No ri
That SritosS it i. 20, fpndaments lly ab.urd
orr 20 the other, II Il tiersforc wise 10 cease
raising unproftablo and insoluhle questions
as TO the distinc tions Of soul and body, spirit
and matter and the Ike
GEopErIc BAsE-LINE MEASUREMENTS
The United States Coast and Geodetlc
Survey has in hand the completion Of two
very important syst'ms OF trianeulation
One extends across all the country along the
seth parallel OF latitude; the other runs along
the asth meridian from Mexico to Canada
The plans for the latter work require the
measurement q nine base lines at various
points from Nebraska to Texas. and 1t was
decided to measure all nine bases before
the triangulation was begun. instead OF sue
cesslvely rs they were reached in its progress
One party measured all the bases. which
vnri' in length from 5000 to IL. 900 metres
The probable error of all the bases was one
part in 200 ooo-a very satisfactory showing
An srror OF one part w oou.Wp Is excellent
work. The whole work Of measurement
was done by party Of ten persons in six
months at n cost OF ai.075. which CORE
spends TO 9l60 per kilomctre. or 500 per m l."
OF measured base. which ia eXtraordina,ilv
onomical considering the accuracy of tac
reAults. The standard bars employed were
nve metres In length and had to be used more
than I .ooO timc" Us measuring the shortest
more than 1000 times in neasurn & the lon gest
hnsn. IL any one N "a try TO measure a ,tiStanc.
Of 900 feet with steel foot rules he will fni IL
difNcUlt to keep within an error Of one part in
5000. let alone So,ooo. or 100000 or i?oo,ooO.
AMERICAN COAL
The Austrian G ,nsul at New York reports
as follows upon the coal product Of the United
States The worlds output for 1901 was
about S40,OOo. 900 tons or this amount the
United states furnished 2ss 90, tons.
Great fr tain 2A8. Ooo. Oon, Ger1auy 49,. 900 Ooo
The United States product includes 80, sos, 900
tons Of anthracite. The bituminous coal
came from: Pennsylvanin. IS 100000 tons
Illinois, 20. 400. 900: West Virginia, IS 900 90;
| Ohio, 100000; Alabann 5000, oO. &c
| Tho export Ia chiefly to Canada, Central and
| 7.3s3 .3oa tons. The output of American coal
| Is not much greater. than the demand within
| the country, and tho capacity of the co #
| railways Ia already taxed to transport tho
actual product ard. moreover. tho American
merchant feet Is not vet adequate to carry
great expectations For these reasons among
others. Ar'cricn sends con- paratively little
conl to foreign la-ds
TIFF DEFINITION OF WHITE LIGHT
Herr Plank defines white light "a follows.
First by the distribution OF the energy in
different regions OF tho spectrum secondly
by the law that within each small spectral