The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-07
lScIENCE.

corning them can be had by addressing DR..
Marcus BENJAMIN 1870 ". street, Washing
ton. The programme provides for the fol-
lowing natter Of general interest; on Mon
dav. Dec 20 addresses of the vice-presidents
OF the sect ions Of mathematic. and astronomy,
chemistry, geology. authropology, physiology
physics. mechanics, zoology. botany. eco
Monies and I'm addit ion for an address by
the president OF the Astronomical Society
Of America The chief event Of this dsv
Is the an" ual address Of the retiring presi-
dent OF the association,
On succeeding days the sections are to
meet daily for the reading and discussion OF
parers. Addresses and lectures. DINNERS
and smoking receptions occur throughout
the week very important feature is the
meeting Of the various societies ar1liated
with the association II i worth while TO
set down the names Of these different socle-
ties In order TO show what Is represented hy
this annual gathering o. the scientific men
hnthropoio9 icsl A.sociation. w. American
sssSa ssSr r,n soce'r
American Morrholoricnl Society; American
Philosophical. Association. American Phy.l.
American Psycholo gic1l Association >meri;
can Society Of Naturalist. AseociatIon Of
hc TsrG,r H ,aIrSori., irSnon,sa and
Astrophvsical Society Of America Botanical
Socie,y Of America Botanie,s Of the Central
An erica; National Geolo"ical Society Natu-
ralists OF the Central State Societv o! Areri-
can Bae'criGlo ,t, society for Plan Me-
Promotion nj Agricultural Science. Io6.oyi-t-
Of the Central and Western State some
OF these societies count their ,,m"'nbers by
All are active and alive and thi- congress Of
societies meet inc under the wing oi.th' Nm.rt-
advancement ~ the sciences
fXPl,\NATIoN OF GRAVITY
Mr. Whitaker has a note on a general Solu-
ton OF Iaplace'~ euua' ion in the last number
of the Mon. ! Notes of tho Royal Astrono'ni-
cal society In which he make 'Ar fol
lowing remarks on the nature Of rraVi-
tation Since Laplace's equation i tn"
EQUATION satisfied b. the comuonents NJ any
field Of force due 10 rruvi'atlng bodies ras
II isl this result suggests an "Splnr ion OF
the propagation of gravita'ion J. i always
possible to analvze the field Of force du" to a
gravitnting body hv a spectrum ANALYST"
a. il we're into an infinite number OF con
s'ituent fields And although the whole
Neld Of force does not vary With The TIME
yct zach one OF the conSt 'nen' fields i @: an
undulatorr cha-nf"r 'nit -. "" nl-tNrh-
anCe ~ any roint reuro1uco> N-"'f after ne
anCr Of any I'm, y, ah.t her pou' VIC, ; ,ao
But thi. result assiolilatcs ~" rror1 ra' ion
OF 9ravi'ation to that 81 lrht, Tor undnhfoTE
phenonena IN which the var'iDT VICTOR l. q
cravita,ional force perpendicular 20 the
wave front NAV no compared with those Of
.hc electron1a me, ic heorv " liTh, IN whi"h
the varvinr vector- ar" electric ami y dT n.fiC
forces parallel TO the wOv" 'front.' In" wave
are. in other respects, o. tn" same tv1e ~ the
two cases and u seems prob 1h.c THAT m
identical property Of the medium insure.
their TRANSMISSION throu'h -rao" Thi,
theory Of sr1vitY r"Gthg"s ,-n'rN 10 be
rroDa Gated at finite velocity 'h1t NAV,
however no enormously create than that
Of lirht OF course. the fore ding ives no
exclamation % the cause % .ravi'r All
that l. lnu, j. q show fN1t the mona cation
acros, snsra Of forces thnt vhrv n ~" i1'erSe
SQUARE Of ~" distance doc 10, rgc'n,r" for
medium than one which has long been know
and accepted
ATMOSPHERIC STcLrATIoN
Professor Carl Barus recently read 10 'he
American Physical SOCIETY paDer on the
variation OF atmospheric indication AMI rs
depenienc on weather condition. III, meth
Cd consists in PRODUCING Coniens ttion by
sudden EXPANSION and in oh4eryirr the ,ize al
the corona formed in tho re- Inc mist
Previous invest cations Of his own enable pr
divi iual dro"l'ts when the diameter Of ~"
corona I. known 4 me9 -u-emrnt Of the
thus makes II possible to calculate the number
Of dronl"ts and therefor" OF nuclei Dr
Born- has .made. eN"nied observations Of
this kind and IN. dependence Of the number Of
nuclei uron various weather conditions was
clearly shown For datlii. a reference must
be made 20 his printed pan"r
vESFrAnlANS As ATHLETES
Not long since an international walking con-
test took place In Europe IN which Ireuch men
Russians. Austrians En,,i-hmen and Amer
teams took part The route vas from Dresden
to Berlin about l?i miles The rule Of tho
conte.t forbade the walkers 70 sl"en and gave
them only one hour Tor rest and for real~
IN ne KI "1e NAM az 3 Nea Who va" Covered
the distance in 20 hours ~ minutes " i u
singular fact that the first -iv contestants
20 tIithOnt eNCep' L, r
ians
VELOCITY OF THF x-RAYs
After several wears devoted To the study OF
the question of the velocity with which the
X-rav- traverse space NJ Blondlot contrved
method o. experimentation depending on
to determine the veocrv Of LIGHT The prin-
oinle was utilized to determu" whether or no
with that OF electro-ma 'netic wave- and tn"
results Indicate that the two vclnciti"s are cor
tainly Of the SAINT order a the Hert 1i1n waves
ApRoPo, OF APtNpuLrM tNrfRIMtNr.
The Mini ster Of Public Instruction Of Franc"
with otter tish digntari's presiied duriar
October. ~ n rcpst ION Of Touclult'- reriu-
lum experiment in the Panther. \ pendulum
some ?ls feet long. mai king complete sNi.g
In ia seconds WAS suspended from tho dome
of the Pantheon. Tire pl,nc o. osci,htIan Of
such pendulum caanG' : 36' C.s -ces in - i-ty-
one ours fort"-sev'n minutes o. Tine il , =
latitude o. fdrIs on account fl We Rotation
of tic cart. Foucaut's oTicIgal eXi-li-
ment was hi Il about 1lf = century aro
y tie plane Of os'i.l i lon 81 "lIugc lust rs
Il oNld do on the nvuotr' TINT an" sIrtu
r,vo.v 4 on it. dNlS QUO" IN twCrtv-
four ours tire moNein, NJ o. re pendulum was
a proof ~ T.. iEiot ""Si" was correct "A
prool. that i. To every one Capthl, Of un,l, r
standing TIE mlthomtti raj d"ronstrlti o'-
Involved To common folk tie fict of
the rising and sotiiuc OF III" sun and STA :
Is the basis OF their taith Ia tee eartl's ro-
tatlon.
TIE recent repetition WIS attended by
several q ousrnds Of spt ctators, rot : az t,,y
lad any doubts as TO tie time OF the g. r. IS
revolut ion on It's avis, but to see most int r
es'int sp. Ct Gle and TO listen TO VI, tan lie
Fltmm1 rion'S address on ~ subject From
q u address a few sentences are ken. Trey
arc OF interest from several Vi vroilts
NJ flamma rion roes on. Ia r. "eiNipg. by
u Ia spectacle, q dcmons,r; zion oi tho
move mont OF our own ~ net, "" feel I ~
We are in abb iuv onC Of the cart that b. :
rec' iveduos Eci priv lie yes, t. at our res
trial fat "rhnd i hut a modest prov Icc of
the univor,e, AZ We are ri izons of sky
just us T. We were iorSbi III Mars OF =, iU~
and that We liv' Z q boron of the i'm IL"
and the eternal. \ tronomy gives Ills ssn.
! a. infn ito. Above rel ions II places Re-
leion, above uman gods Il ven,ratos God
IL discusses miracles and supprPssts suI.r.
Ell ion, for prthroromcrr t. trd tel olol /,
errors IL subs itvt,s dotsrr',ri-m. iustic,
h rmony. Cont MI latiuns iir '''se free
our consci noes from anci n sorVitudcs and
proclaim tho unat'acka bi. iTdep udcnce oi
same line mn keus pity a., Il io,r ,a1 di cords
pngendcrpu L. niultI NolN i,! an