254 



NATURE 



{July I o, 1879 



«■ 



the way the magnet is turned. I now throw the image of the 

 apparatus on the screen. The spiral lines painted on the wheel 

 show which way it turns. I arrange the magnet to draw the 

 molecular stream so as to beat against the upper vanes, 

 and the wheel revolves rapidly, as if it were an over-shot 

 water-wheel. I now turn the magnet so as to drive the 

 molecular stream underneath ; the wheel slackens speed, stops, 

 and then begins to rotate the other way, as if it were an under- 

 shot water-wheel. This can be repeated as often as I like to 

 reverse the position of the magnet, the change of rotation of the 

 wheel showing immediately the way the molecular stream is 

 deflected. 



This experiment illustrates the last of the phenomena which 

 time allows me to bring before you, attending the passage of the 

 induction spark through a highly exhausted atmosphere. It 

 will now be naturally asked. What have we learned from the 

 phenomena described and exhibited, and from the explanations 

 that have been proposed ? We find in these phenomena con- 

 firmation of the modern views of matter and energy. The facts 

 elicited are in harmony with the theory that matter is not con- 

 tinuous but composed of a prodigious number of minute particles, 

 not in mutual contact. The facts also are in full accordance 

 with the kinetic theory of gases — to which I have already re- 

 ferred^and with the conception of heat as a particular kind of 



Fig. ig, 



energy, expressing itself as a rapid vibratory motion of the 

 particles of matter. This alone would be a lesson of no small 

 value. In science every law, every generalisation, however well 

 established, must constantly be submitted to the ordeal of a com- 

 parison with newly-discovered phenomena ; and a theory may be 

 pronounced triumphant when it is found to harmonise with and 

 to account for facts which, when it was propounded, were still 

 unrecognised or unexplained. 



But the experiments have shown us more than this : we hare 

 been enabled to contemplate matter in a condition hitherto un- 

 known — in a fourth state — as far removed from that of gas as 

 gas is from liquid, where the well-known properties of gases and 

 elastic fluids almost disippear, whilst in their stead are revealed 

 attributes previously masked and unsuspected. In this ultra- 

 gaseous state of matter phenomena are perceived which in the 

 mere gaseous condition are as impossible as in liquids or solids. 



I admit that between the gaseous and the ultra-gaseous state 

 there can be traced no sharp boundary ; the one merges imper- 

 ceptibly into the other. It is true also that we cannot see or 

 handle matter in this novel phase. Nor can human or any other 

 kind of organic life conceivable to us penetrate into regions 

 where such ultra-gaseous matter may be supposed to exist. 

 Nevertheless, we are able to observe it and experiment on it, 

 legitimately arguing from the seen to the unseen. 



Of the practical applications that may arise out of these re- 

 searches, it would now be premature to speak. It is rarely given 

 to the discoverer of new facts and new laws to witness their im- 

 mediate utilisation. The ancients showed a perhaps unconscious 

 sagacity when they selected the olive, one of the slowest growing 

 trees, as the symbol of Minerva, the goddess of Arts and 

 Industry. Nevertheless, I hold that all careful honest research 

 ■will ultimately, even though in an indirect manner, draw after it, 

 as Bacon said, " whole troops of practical applications." 



NOTES 



A MEETING of the ICxecutive Committee having charge of the 

 whole arrangements for the approaching visit of the British 

 Association to Shefiield was held the other day. In connection 

 with the Guide Book it was reported that contributions were 

 arranged from Prof. Green, Mr. Arthur Jackson, Mr ' . Frit- 

 tain, Mr. G. R. Vine, Mr. J. D. Leader, and others. It is pro- 

 posed to issue the guide books at l^. each, and they will contain 

 scientific and other information suitable for visitors and residents. 

 Dr. Sorby stated that a number of eminent men from foreign 

 countries, including representatives from Germany, Italy, France, 

 Belgium, the United States, and other parts of the world, had 

 accepted invitations to take part in the meetings ii) Shefiield. 

 These distinguished visitors will represent different branches of 

 science ; and from France the British Association is this year to 

 be honoured, after the lapse of a long period, with the presence 

 of the President of the Academy of Sciences, M. Daubree. The 

 Mayor (Aid. Ward) is to give a banquet to a number of distin- 

 guished guests in the banqueting hall of the Cutlers' Company 

 on Saturday, August 23. A reception is to be given by the 

 Master Cutler and Cutlers' Company, which will take place in 

 the Cutlers' Hall on Thursday, August 21. A soiree is to be 

 arranged by the local committee for the Tuesday following, also 

 in the Cutlers' Hall. The arrangements for the excursions are 

 being actively carried out. The Duke of Devonshire has invited 

 a limited number of Members of the Association to a luncheon 

 at Chatsworth. Earl Manners has invited a number of excur. 

 sionists to luncheon at Thoresby, with the additional offer that 

 they should be driven round the forest and park afterwards. Sir 

 Joseph Whitworth has offered hospitality to a party of excur- 

 sionists visiting Darley Dale and the district, and a similar offer 

 has been made by Mr. F. C. Armitage, as regards a party ex- 

 ploring Arborlowe. The Rev. A. W. Hamilton- Gell invites a 

 number of excursionists to Stanton-in-Peak, with the promise 

 that they should see Router Rocks and other places of interest. 

 Sir John Lubbock is to be asked to give an address at Arbor- 

 lowe on the interesting Druidical remains there to be seen. 

 Generally the arrangements were reported to be in a very satis- 

 factory state. 



Some weeks since we stated that a committee had been 

 formed for the purpose of raising a fund for the benefit of the 

 widow and family of the late Mr. \V. G. Valentin, F.C.S. We 

 understand that many of the friends and former pupils of this 

 well-know n chemist have responded with liberality, but as there 

 may be others whom previous appeals have not reached, we 

 have plcasiu-e in stating that subscriptions will still be received 

 by the hon. treasurer of the fund, Mr. F. W. Bayly, Royal 

 Mint, E. 



The success which attended Mr. Tegetmeier's reprint of Bod- 

 daert's "Table des Planches Enluminees," and Mr. Dresser's 

 reproduction of Eversmann's Addenda to Pallas's " Zoographia 

 Rosso-Asiatica," has suggested the organisation of a " Wil- 

 loughby Society for the Reprinting of scarce Ornithological 

 Works, " w hich has accordingly been formed, with every prospect 

 of success. The annual subscription is i/., and no copies of the 

 works reprinted will be sold. The selection of the works to be 

 reprinted by the Society has been intrusted to a committee con- 

 sisting of the past and present editors of The Ibis, and Tunstall's 

 " Ornithologia Britannica" will be the first work reproduced. 

 Particulars may be obtained from the secretary, F. D. Godman, 

 Esq., 10, Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, W. 



The death is announced of Dr. Johann Karl Friedrich Rosen- 

 kranz. Professor of Philosophy at Koenigsberg University. Dr. 

 Rosenkranz published a number of philosophical treatises, and 

 was well known through his excellent edition of the works of 

 Immanuel Kant. He died at the age of seventy-four on June 14. 



