Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1908-02-24
WHAT is A CAST
Will, Here lie Lord KeIvin's QUANTITY
Eccentric Definition.

Will, Here Is Lord Kelvin's Quantity
Eccentric Definition.
One of the late Lord Kelvln's stu
dents at the University of Glasgow
writes of some Of the old scientists
peculiarities: ITO those who attended
the natural philosophy class at Glas-
cow university Lord Kelvin. or. rather
Sir Billy 0or to that length our ir-
reverent love of the genial old man
would gol, is a cherished memory-a
memory Of a great man who gave ar
ticulate shape to the thoughts that
wander through eternity His appeal
to our humorous faculties was due
partly to some personal peculiarities.
partly to the sublimely unconscious
use Of very familiar objects and ex-
tremely colloquial phrases to illustrate
his great thoughts on great things.
Never blessed with powers of clear
enunciation, he had way of wrestling
with certain words and giving them a
prolonged rolling lntonation that added
point to those Internationally humor-
Gus observ atoms which he was ever
making and for which. thoughtless yet
not wholly ENJOYABLE crew that we
were. we were ever looking. Let me
cite some examples. Lecturing on the
nature of a gas one day. Lord Kelvin
thus delivered himself Imagine a
thousand million students rushing with
incredible velocity in one direction and
a thousand million students rushing
with the same velocity In the opposite
direction and meeting. That is Il gas,
Doubtless, but the homely simile com
PEELED laughter and at the same time
left us both m"stified and enlightened,
"But his greatest feat was the play
ing of a simple tune on a huge from
bone. Conceive, II you can. learned
professor of silvered locks and beard.
! dressed in the black robes of his Office
and surrounded by scientific instru-
ments, slowly squeezing from a giant
trombone some familiar air and you
will understand why / have said that
Lord Kelvin often made too strong
appeal to our sense of the humorous.
For himself he was sublimely uncon-
scious of the humorous picture which
he presented. He was too intent upon
his scientific triumph for the laughter
and 1t was laughter that literally
held both its sldes-to reach his ears.
lord Kelvin was once in his usual
delightfully."- inconsequent way rambling
along and letting his great mind slow
ly unfold it's great thoughts. One of
the many subjects on which he touch
| ed was the transmission of light from
distant worlds. Here he said. L have
a calf's foot jelly made by Lady Thorn
son. Observe the wabbly motion of
the jelly there suiting the word by ac-
toni. Gentlemen, for aught we know
to the contrary, interstelIar space may
be one vast calf's foot jelly
"He was, as have said, singularly
simple in many of his ways. To sue
cessive generations of students he illus
trated uniform motion in a straight
line in singularly characteristic fash
ion. Lame in one leg. he always walk
ed with most marked limp, yet he
illustrated uniform motion in a straight
line by hobbling round his rostrum in
circle. do not believe that he ever
knew why his pathetically humorous
way of illustrating a simple fact in
klnetics made his successive classes
smile confoundedly loud.'" = Chicago
News.