El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-01

w viii viii 'n making al '''y Seq quest Of
100000 for the founding of
an institution for 1.-The increase and
diffusion of knowledge among men.
he builded better than he knew. He
had become Disguised with his titles.
which profted him nothing, and de-
clared that he would make his name
remembered when all his relatives were
forgotten. Perhaps never in history
has half million dollars yielded such
splendid returns as that with which
Smithson endowed the institution that
bears his name From the time that
1t was established this organization
has led the scientific thought of the
new world. 1t has been Americas
lookout upon the watch towers Of sci
ence.
Great Aid to Science.
When Americecn science was in Its
swaddling clothes, the Smithsonian in
stitution was its wet nurse In the
early days of the country men were
so intent upon forest conquering and
empire building that they had little
inclination and less opportunity for
scientific thought or original research
But the Smithsonian took the neg
lected infant into its care and nour-
AoAC0 IL (OOds ANe~A S~A~AAO0
is respected throughout the world
The institution also assisted materi-
ally in the advancement of the arts.
Its first secretary. Joseph Henry. con-
structed the earliest electro ma ghetto
telegraph and laid the foundations of
the art OF electrical transmission
through which Morse gave TO civili-
zation the telegraph and Bell the tele-
phone.
The science of meteorolOgy had its
beginnings at the institution. and the
worlds first weather map was pub
lished there Its second secretary,
Spencer F. Baird, practically estab-
lished the science Of fish culture and
organized the United States fish COM
mission. Its third secretary. Professor
! Langley. gathered the data upon
which is based the budding science of
aeronautics. These are only examples
of the many things the institution has
done in carrying out its founders pur-
pose-"the increase and diffusion Of
knowledge among men"
It's Observatory.
The work Of the AstrophysicaI OBJ
servatory constitutes one of the most
interesting phases of the activities OF
the institution. While its labors are
highly technical, and the world may
wonder how such a thing as the study
Of solar constants" can affect It's
everyday life, it is likely that discov-
cries affecting the welfare of every
human being may yet grow out of its
researches. While science has been
able TO predict eclipses. moon changes
and other celestial phenomena with
minute accuracy. 1t has never been able
to forecast the weather for more than
da VIC nd +aIi rx-ha
the sky will be cloudless or overcast
even few hours in advance.
1t was a favorite theory of the late
professor Langley that the sun does
not throw out a uniform heat, and thar
the variations in its production Of heat
have an intimate relation TO changes
in the weather He believed that he
could prove his theory that the sun
sometimes loafs on its job. Having
proved his Inference that there are
fluctuations in the heat Of the sun, he
set about to determine the laws of this
variation, believing that with these
causes discovered he could make a
long range forecast of the weather as
accurately as the astronomer forecasts
the changes Of the moon.
LOn= Range FOrecastinE
Professor Langley died in the midst
of this work. but 1t has been taken up
by his assistant, director 1bbot.
Through his bolOmeters and pyrhelio-
meters, measuring the hundredth- mil
lionth of a degree Of temperature and
doing other things no less remarkable
Mr.. Abbot has obtained a fair under
standing Of the habits of Old Sol. and
hopes to reach the point where he can
establish the laws of these changes
Think what benefits would result If
director Abbot should be able to es-
tablish the Langley theory The farm
er could know in advance what the
season was going to be. If wet sea-
son were assured he could plant a crop
requiring plenty of moisture, and
a dry season were indicated he could
plant a crop unaffected by dry weather.
The ocean vOyager could time his COM
ings and gOings so as to escape the
storms of the sea. The big fairs and
other open air meetings could plan
their programs so as TO escape incfe-
ment weather.
A thousand advantages would come
to man through accurate long range
weather forecasting OF course di
rector Abbot is making no positive
promise that he will be able to ac
complish these things. but he Is as
sured that there will be results i'm
portant only in a less degree.
History of the Indians
various other original Investigations
are being made under the direct SUI