Evening star., 1938-01-02
Death of an Eastern
Wizard
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN,

dLlu buIIlcI oulUhIlk ITdQe LNcu HIcdt
scientific discoveries 1t became the FASH
ion to compare them with the Eastern
magi and, more often than not. to the
disparagement Of the latter. The Ma
tional Bureau Of Standards at Washing
ton has been called house Of wonders
because Of its magical achievements in
the world Of science. American atten-
ton has been riveted very largely on
American scientific accomplishments and
that may explain, in part, . lack of
knowledge, save in purely scientific cir
cles, concerning the life and works of
Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose.
Sir Jagadis has just died, at the ripe
age Of 70, at Giridih in Bengal, full of
honors, and that death marks the pass
ing of a modern Eastern magus whose
feats have astonished learned societies
all over the world.
1t was he who demonstrated the exist
ence Of life in diverse forms, life which
bore a kinship to human and other
animal life. For example, he demon
strated that he could intoxicate a bar
of steel. He could administer to this
normally sober material in such a man
ner that it became drunken. The expert
ment was not done with heat. which, of
course, will cause steel to wilt and twist,
but by some electrical magic.
+ X Xxx
Indeed, he devoted more attention to
plant life than to the more inert sub
stances. although he did show that q
violin string Is capable of growth; not
expansion as the result of aridity or tenn
perature, but actual living growth. Among
his greatest works was the discovery
that plants have vascular and muscular
systems not unlike those of humans.
1t was Lord Tennyson who wrote of
the flower in the crannied wall that if he
could tell what that flower was, root and
all and all in ALL he would know what
God and man is. Sir Jagadis came closer
to reaching this determination than any
other man in the world, not excluding
Luther Burbank. He demonstrated, for
instance, that growing plant has a
heart which beats and is subject to much
the same influences as the human heart
He wrote no stories of love or fear con-
corning trees and plants. Yet he did
demonstrate, to the satisfaction Of other
scientists, that the heart of plant was
affected when the venom of the cobra
was injected into its veins, the beating
being greatly accelerated.
X
Now all this may sound like another
tale out OF Indian magic, a tale COM
parable to those concerning the trick of
levitation and the rope mystifcation in
which lad ascends rope depending
from nothing and disappears into thin
air. Such tricks have, indeed, aroused
the wonder of many observers, and not
few men of scientific attainments have
thought 1t worth while to examine them.
But none of those tricksters ever was
elected fellow of the Royal Society. one
OF the foremast scientific organization
in the world Sir Jagadis Bose was.
This East Indian was a student OF
Eastern lore, but he also was a student
OF Occidental science and he. as no othei
man IN the world, saw that the two
branches were not wholly incompatible
He managed, somehow, to fuse the two
learnings and, after all, the artificial
making OF lightning in the Occident
seems Just as much of a trick as the
recondite Eastern magic.
Sir Jagadis was born at Vikrampur.
1iCdl Idlld, AL 1llOid, Ill 1000, The son o
deputy magistrate in the Indo-Britis,l
judicial system. He attended Saint
Xaviers College at Calcutta and then
proceeded to London, where he matricu-
lated at University College. Medicino
was his study there, and when he heG
learned what he required Of that lore he
moved on to Christ College. at Cambridge
There he entered the whole broad realm
OF science, but gradually specialized in
physics He completed his work with
high honors and returned to the East
Back in Calcutta he was appointed BY
the government to the chair Of physical
science of the presidency College of CAL
cutta. This was regarded as an ex-
traordinary stroke. Back in the 80s
native Indians were seldom given such
appointments. The positions. especially
such high positions in the educational
field. went to Europeans and usually to
Engishmen. The Marques Of Ripon
was Viceroy Of India at the time and, In
spite OF bitter protests, stood by the ap-
pointment. An explanation of his broad
m1ndedness might possibly be found In
the fact that he had come in close con-
tact with the people of many lands For
example, Ripon had been chairman of
the high commission which adjudicated
the Alabama claims and had spent some
time in the United States, especially at
Washington. At any rate, Bose remained
as professor and in short time his
right to the job was generally recognized
In those days. more than half a CEN
tury ago, science laboratories were i'll
equipped, especially in remote India. So
Bose proceeded to design his own labora-
tories and. especially, to invent scientific
instruments for the study of physics
His efforts were not confined to making
the lotos and the chrysanthemum drunk,
but extended far af1eld. In those early
years he experimental with wireless. a
very pioneer In that line. He made dis
coveries concerning the refraction, re-
Election and polarization of electrical
waves. In order to study the growth
and the life changes of plants he In
vented the crescograph. Now at WASH
ington, the National Bureau of Standards
has instruments which will show the diff
ference between the weight Of postage
stamp before and after tiny pencil dot
has been placed upon it.
+ y Il
That was but one invention When
ever problem presented itself, he pro-
ceeded to produce the instruments of
precision needed to solve it. At first,
the Occidental world was skeptical in
the extreme. 1t knew all about East
Indian magical tricks. But, somehow,
the work of Bose seemed different.