Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1905-10-20
MUTATIONS OF SCIENCE.
MODERN KNOWLEDGE OPENS UP
NEW PROBLEMS.

Old Conceptions shaken-Recent Dis
coverIes In Chemistry and Physics
Serve to Call Attention to Our Ignor-
ance on Many Points.
Science. during the last Quarter-cen-
fury, has entered upon the contempla-
ton of new wonders. Such discover
les as the cathode rays, the x-rays,
the Becquerel rays and the radie-ac-
tive elements. with their trains OF IL
Illuminating phenomena, have shaken
the old conceptions. Students no long
er insist that the. atom is the unit of
matter. Do we not now perceive that
the atom is but congeries OF corpus
cles? But the corpuscles, then-is
that the unit of matter? Apparently
1t Is and yet, says Public Opinion, we
fnd that the corpuscle is but unit OF
negative electricity. it's mass being
due merely to the ether which ii
drags along with 1t in its almost in
conceivably rapid motion, and the
amount OF the mass being measured
In terms of corpuscular velocity And
the ether, then? No answer yet. And
gravitation? No answer yet. And God
and man? No answer With the com
passes OF nswly-addnced facts scient-
lists are tracing the circumference of
a greater circle of theory. They are
rearranging the old facts to fit the
new hypothesis. Our knowledge is
growing as grow the concentric rings
VIXEN the stone is cast into the pool
Yet we do not forget that the truti
is hidden in the stone itself.
The great Importance OF the new
us note how Professor Duncan sums
it. First describing the three physical
entities. matter, ether, and energy.
proceeds to a consideration OF mole
cuies and atoms. Thus we are
led to the properties of an ele-
ment are periodic function of
its atomic weight') and the high
~ suggestive table of that law,
as formulated by Mendeleef. Here
we come upon the important discovery
Of the relationship of elements. indicet-
ing inorganic evolution. At this stage
the old knowledge, with It's insistence
upon the stability of the atom, fails tc
explain. We are at the threshold of
the new knowledge.
Now we come to the discovery of
ions and corpuscles. We find that the
velocity of the corpuscle is between
10000 and 10000 miles a second. We
find that "corpuscles are independent
of the kind of matter from which they
are evolved" that each corpuscle is
a thousand times smaller than tIe
hydrogen atom, which is the smallest
atom known. But we must go farther.
The discovery of natural radio activity
points the path.
In one of his closing chapters Pro-
lessor Duncan defines radio-activity as
follows: Certain vast asseDlblages of
corpuscles, comprising the heaviest
atoms, are somewhat unstable AS
Their kinetic energy decreases- the ag-
gregation 'explodes' aHaa~16e corpus
Giles rearrange themselves with the
evolutiea-of energy and the projection
81 some of the products of the rear
rangement. This is radio activity. The
alpha-rays from a radioactive body
are simplified arrangements of corpus
cles let loose from the explosion
They are positively electrified sub
atoms. The beta-rays are free corpus
cles let loose fro mthe explosion.
The gamma-rays are probably identi-
cal in nature with X-rays and are
probably pulses in the ether set up by
the explosion
But the fact that rounds out the
sum Of knowledge from which new de-
ductions are to be made Is the birth
of helium" in the radlum emanation
Here we have the modern alchemy
the transmutation of the elements
and the evidence of inorganic evolu-
tior-the reversal Of old notions. Sir
Norman Lockyer's study OF the solar
and stellar spectrums has shown that
In the sun and stars the elements
are different from, and simpler than,
these same elements as We know
them on earth :"