Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-16


his fortune, not to the land Of his birth, but to
a democracy he had never seen. About the
time the French Revolution was being launched
upon its bloody career we fnd him writing,
from Paris: fft
Stupidity and guilt have had long reign,
and it begins, indeed, TO be time for justice
and common sense to have their turn. The
Office Of king Is not yet abolished, but they
(the people, daily feel the inutility rather
great inconvenience. of continuing it, and its
duration viii probably not be long. May other
nations, at the time of their reforms. be WISE
enough to cast of at first the contemplate
incumbrance."
Smithson here shares the opinion of large
and influential number Of EngliShmen of the
time In which he wrote these words, but the
subsequent excuses of the French Revolution
caused o general revulSion Of feeling, and some
now hold that 1t would not be fair to argue
from this youthful expression of Jacobinism as
to his maturer judgment. Nevertheless the
fact remains that he apparently never con-
sidered making his homeland the beneficiary
of his estate.
The date of "Macie's" application to the
Crown for permission to take his fathers name
has never been ascertained, but this formality
recorded In that year his second communica-
ton to the Royal Society. "A Chemical Analysis
of Some CalamineS," by James SmithSon Esq.
In this paper the author remarks: "ChemlS-
try is yet SO new a science; what we know of
1t bears so small q proportion OF what we are
ignorant of; our knowledge in every depart
ment of it is so incomplete, consisting entirely
of isolated points, thinly scattered, like lurid
speckS on a vast field OF darkness, that no re-
searches can be undertaken without producing
some facts leading to consequences which ex-
tend beyond the boundaries of their immediate
object"
GGITNHE most notable feature of Smithson's
writing from the standpoint of the mod
ern analytical chemist" says Prof. Frank W.
Clarke, former chief chemist, United States
Geological Survey, "ts the success obtained
with the most primitive and unsatisfactory APP
planes In Smithson's day chemical apparatus
was undeveloped and instruments were inn
provised from such materials as lay readiest TO
hand. with such instruments and with crude
reagents, SmithSon obtained analytical results
of the most creditable character and enlarged
our knowledge of many mineral species.
I'm his time the native carbonate and sslicate
of zinc were COMPOUNDED rs one species under
the name 'calamine,' but his researches dis
tinguish between the two minerals, which are
now known as Smithsonite and calamine, re-
spectively.
ITO theory Smithson contributed little, If
anything, but from n theoretical point of view
the tone of his writings is singularly modern.
His work was mostly done before Dalton had
announced the atomic theory, and yet Smith
son saw clearly that a law of definite proper
tons must exist, although he did not attempt to
account for it. His ability as a reasoner is
best shown in his paper upon the Kirkdale bone
cave which Penn had sought to interpret by
reference to the Noachian deluge. clearer
and more complete demolition of PENIS views
could hardly be written today. SmithSon was
gentle with his adversary. but none the less
thorough for his moderation. He is not TO be
claSscd among the leaders of scientific thought,
but his ability and the usefulness OF his con-
tributions to knowledge cannot be doubted
At the annual meeting of the Royal Society