Evening star., 1924-08-03
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
TORONTO, August why do hu-
man beings. alone among animals.
laugh?
Prof William McDougall, an English.
man, who holds the chair of psychology
at Harvard, who is visitor to the
British Association for the Advance
ment Of Science meeting here next week.
has novel theory. He says nature
made men sympathetic. Yet if man
were too sympathetic, too ready to
weep over very small misfortune, the
race would lower its vitality and finally
the species would be destroyed.
Nature was in a dilemma. So nature
invented laughter. gave mankind the
instinct to laugh instead OF to weep at
the minor mishaps Of ones fellow man.
SO when you laugh at a man chasing
his new hat, instead of sorrowing in
the corner over his sad adventure, you
are. according to Prof. McDougalrs
theory. stimulating yourself in a physio-
logical way, raising the blood pressure
and promoting the circulation of the
blood. This is the biological function
beautiful and delicate of natures ad-
juStmentS.''
Many Savants Coming.
Prof. McDouga1l is only one of sew
eral thousand distinguished British
and American scientists who will have
odd, or impressive things to tell at
the meeting next week of the Science
most 100 years has been holding simi-
lar meetings. though rarely outside
the British Isles.
One of the romantic figures will be
Sir Charles Parsons, inventor of the
turbine engine. At the naval review
at spithead in 1897 in honor Of Queen
Nlctoria's diamond jubilee, the mass
ed might OF Britafn's battleships
were drawn up in great lines-the
greatest display of naval power the
world had seen up to that time. The
royal yacht, bearing the Queen, was
expected in few moments.
Suddenly from the head OF the lines
darted small vessel, a mere midget
compared to the great steel vessels
which lowered on all sides This
little boat darted forward at incred-
ible speed and swept along the lines
like a stone skimming the surface of
the water. The sailors and marine
gasped. The spectators In hundreds
OF boats murmured with wonder The
big batueships themselves seemed to
shudder with surprise.
The little boat shot down between
the line of ships. She doubled and
came back again. She was flying
along at speed of "a knots She
seemed driven by magic. The only
mint OF mechanism about her was a
wisp or smoke coming from her small,
squat funnel.
Staged Dramatic Demonstration.
The little vessel was the Turbina
the hrst ship equipped with the tur-
pine engines. Sir Charles chose this
dramatic way of impressing the naval
authorities of Great Britain with the
qualities of his invention. He acted
himself as chief engineer that day on
the little boat
Bad luck dogged the turbine boats
at hrst. and it was not until 1904 tha,
the Allan Line equipped ocean steam.
| ers with the new engines. The mex.
year the Cunard Line followed with
the Mauritania and tho Lusitania, and
the hrst dreadnought was similarly
equipped.
Sir Charles. who is the SON Of the
Earl OF Rosse, a great astronomer, Is
| recognized as one of the worlds
greatest authorities on power. One
Of his projects for generating power
Is to dig hole twelve miles deep in
| the earth. 1t would take IS years to
do 1t. but the power possibilities
would be, he declares, illimitable.
Another interesting visitor will be
Sir Agadis Bose. the first East Indian
to become a famous scientist. Bose
has done marvellous things in the
observation and measurement Of the
movement of plants.
The Two BraEEa. .--
Two unusual visitors will be the
Braggs, father and son, Sir William
H. Bragg and Prof. w. H. Bragg. re-
spectiveIy.> The pair Of them had the
unique experience of sharing the Ne
bel prize for physics. The foru>.
| originated series of Investigations
| into radio activity that have become
classic. The latter did much to es-
tablish the atomic arrangement OF
crystals.
Prof J. W. Gregory. geologist
geographer. meteorologist, of Glas-