7 i8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



. the case of several elements there is a band, 

 consisting of three very bright lines, which 

 it is supposed correspond to vibrations 

 along the three principal axes of the mole- 

 cule. Dut the agreement in the spectra 

 of various metals does not extend to all 

 members of the group. For instance, the 

 spectra of beryllium and magnesium do not 

 resemble those of the other alkaline metals. 

 Lockyer supposed a fundamental basic line 

 common to all the elements, but the author 

 found no trace of it. Any line in the solar 

 spectrum which is common to two elements 

 Prof. Rowland considers to be so only by 

 coincidence. Further dispersion would sepa- 

 rate the line into two. Some elements give 

 no lines, except in the ultra-violet boron, 

 for example. Probably most elements have 

 lines beyond the limits of the photographic 

 plate. The author doubts whether the plat- 

 inum metals and uranium are present in 

 the sun. Among substances not present are 

 antimony, bismuth, arsenic, boron, gold, and 

 nitrogen. On the other hand, many lines in 

 the sun, such as D 3, correspond with no 

 known metal. 



Physical Development versus Consump- 

 tion. For several years Dr. G. W. Ilamble- 

 ton, President of the London Polytechnic 

 Physical Development Society, has been 

 publishing papers showing how physical de- 

 velopment may be employed to counteract 

 consumption. He has given the results of 

 further researches in a communication to the 

 British Association. His theory is that con- 

 sumption is directly produced by conditions 

 that tend to reduce the breathing capacity 

 below a certain point in proportion to the 

 rest of the body, and that it can both be 

 prevented and recovered from by the adop- 

 tion of measures based upon that interpre- 

 tation of its nature. Tables were exhibited 

 showing the measurements of one hundred 

 of the two hundred members of the author's 

 society who have already obtained an in- 

 crease of chest-growth of one inch and up- 

 ward. The average increase is a little over 

 an inch and three quarters. A considerable 

 increase was also obtained in range of move- 

 ment. The increase has taken place in small 

 as well as in large chests, whether the men 

 were tall or short, under or over twenty-one 

 years of age, and with or without gymnastic 



training. The subjects were engaged in more 

 than fifty different trades and occupations, 

 working in them from eight to twelve hours 

 daily. The variations in chest-girth that took 

 place during the year were also significant. 

 Some of the members of the society were 

 prominent members of the gymnasium, and 

 as such had energetically prepared them- 

 selves for certain exercises there. On such 

 occasions he had frequently noted a large 

 decrease of the chest-girth. The girth also 

 decreased when the men were much en- 

 gaged in extra work, stock-taking, cycling, 

 etc., or when they neglected to follow the 

 directions given them. In fact, the increase 

 or decrease observed was in direct relation- 

 ship with a corresponding change in the 

 conditions of their surroundings. But it is 

 not only in the ordinary routine of daily 

 life that this relationship between the 

 chest-girth and the conditions to which it is 

 subjected is manifested. In the treatment 

 of consumption the author had obtained in- 

 creases of from two to three inches and up- 

 ward. This increase of the chest-girth is 

 accompanied by a corresponding increase 

 of the range of movement and of the vital 

 capacity, and by a change in the type of 

 chest from that of disease to that of health ; 

 for happily it could be said that the treat- 

 ment of disease by this method had been 

 invariably successful. What had been ex- 

 perimentally obtained had been also equally 

 well obtained in the practical application of 

 that research. One part of the investiga- 

 tions confirms the other, and the case as a 

 whole is complete and practicable. 



Fatness and its Treatment. It is de- 

 clared to be a misconception that fatness is 

 in itself a disease. It only becomes morbid 

 when, by mechanical pressure, fat impedes 

 the functions of the organs, or by weight 

 unduly burdens the body so as to exhaust 

 the strength or make too large a demand on 

 the resources of force and vitality. There 

 is no certainty in trying to prevent fatness 

 by any process of dieting, for "there are 

 many ways of fat-making, and those per- 

 sons who have a tendency to its production 

 will make fat, however they are fed in 

 truth, almost as rapidly on one class of 

 diet as on another. There are idiosyncra- 

 sies which may, in a limited number of in- 



