ARTICLES 595 



_. , ((a) The progressive decrease in obliquity and its rate. 



Drayson's one movement— ; ( f. & ■ • . • 



' , ... r](o) r he time and duration of the glaciations. 



the annual motion oH ( , , . . b 



, , (c) The changes in the co-latitude of stars, 



the pole— accounts for ) ' „,, • •, , t 



r 1(a) The error in sidereal time. 



5. Drayson shows that an explana- 5. " Gravitation is incompetent to ex- 



tion of the enigma of the "ac- plain completely the observed 



celeration of the moon's mean motion of the moon." "Astronomy 



motion" is furnished by the adoption is at a standstill for an explana- 



of his polar motion. tion." 



N.B. — I received the following from an astronomer: "As 

 a bold outline your summary is admissible, but it would be 

 as well to indicate that it is put forward more in that spirit 

 than as an actual 'statement of claim.' The headings under 

 a, b, c, and d (taken together) constitute a striking claim 

 for investigation." 



It will be seen from the foregoing that Drayson's astronomy 

 indicates what should have occurred, and geological research 

 shows that it did occur and that the evidence is still visible. 

 Geologists may now revert to a very simple cause of glacia- 

 tion — an increased obliquity — a cause which in the early days of 

 geology was sought for as most likely to produce the observed 

 phenomena. They have for so long been side-tracked from the 

 only approach to an understanding of the glacial periods, that 

 they have been forced to base their conclusions on a chain of 

 physical and meteorological possibilities quite unworthy of figur- 

 ing in any sane survey of the past history of the globe. 



Progress in discovery has always been marked by the 

 triumph of the simple over the complex, as is certainly the 

 case in this instance. Every phenomenon falls into place as 

 simply as summer follows winter and for analogous reasons. 



The Astronomical Position 



Reluctance to admit the proofs of Drayson's discovery, 

 which obtained such magical results in astronomy, and enabled 

 him to solve so many questions with comparative ease, reminds 

 one forcibly of the philosophers who refused to look through 

 Galileo's telescope, but it is fair to say that Drayson somewhat 

 spoilt the exposition of his theory by his method of introducing 

 it as a " second rotation " of the earth, as if it were a totally 

 new movement ; and by his ignorance of the technical inter- 

 pretation of conical motion, which gave colour to unfavourable 



