Contribution of Astronomy to General Culture 359 



to an element for which a corresponding hne has not yet been 

 found on earth, and for which element the name nebulum has 

 been adopted. 



With the name of Huggins are associated many of the revela- 

 tions of the spectroscope, made during more than four decades. 

 Zollner, Secchi, Lockyer, Janssen, Young, and Langley were 

 among his most distinguished contemporaries in astrophysics, 

 and had a w^orthy share in the rapid progress then making. 



Without here discussing the relative value or amount of the 

 contributions of these leaders, we may say that with the name of 

 Huggins will always be connected the correct theory of the visi- 

 bility of solar prominences, the first application of the principle of 

 Doppler and Fizeau to the measurement with the spectroscope of 

 the speed of the stars in the line of sight, and the successful dovel- 

 opment of the photography of stellar and nebular spectra. His 

 discussion of the different types of spectra and of their probable 

 order in celestial evolution is characterized by a sane judgment 

 and clear exposition. It is a duty as well as a pleasure to refer 

 publicly to the debt which astrophysicists owe to our deceased 

 master. 



This brings us to another of the great principles revealed by 

 the continued celestial application of the spectroscope and spec- 

 trograph, namely, that of the qualitative unity of the universe. 

 Such ideas as this, when properly impressed in the literature of 

 science, cannot fail to affect markedly our conception of the uni- 

 verse, and our relation to it, and thus to contribute to the world's 

 culture. I cannot feel that the idea has ever been sufficiently 

 emphasized in popular writings or teachings. In essence, it is 

 this: Despite the immense quantitative range in the universe, from 

 the infinitesimal to the almost infinitely large, in mass, in space, 

 and in time ; qualitatively the range is very narrow, and our sun, 

 our earth, our very bodies, very fairly represent the whole range 

 of quality in the universe. The chemical elements with which we 

 are familiar, which form the basis of our experience on earth, or 

 are spectroscopically obvious in the sun, are essentially the same 

 in the most distant star. 



In a universe whose spatial depths are not sounded even by 

 thousands of millions of millions of miles, populated by millions, 

 (perhaps thousands of millions) of vast objects, why should there 

 not be thousands or millions of kinds of matter — chemical ele- 



