190 



NATURE 



[October 15, 1914 



is a valid objection to the hypothesis that there is no 

 evidence of it in the moon's motion. Reasons may 

 exist for this : but until the mechanism of the action 

 can be made more definite it is scarcely worth while 

 to belabour the point. 



The hypothesis presents many difficulties. Even if 

 one is disposed to admit provisionally a correlation 

 between the four curves — and this is open to con- 

 siderable doubt — it is difficult to understand how, 

 under the electron theory of magnetic storms, the 

 motions of moon and planets can be sensibly affected. 

 I am perhaps catching at straws in attempting to 

 relate two such different phenomena with one an- 

 other, but when we are in the presence of anomalies 

 which show points of resemblance and lack the 

 property of analysis into strict periodic sequences 

 some latitude may be permissible. 



In conclusion, what, it may well be asked, is the 

 future of the lunar theory now that the gravitational 



o" 



-2" 

 -4." 



o's 



0' 



o'-s 

 o' 

 o's 



Moon 



Mercu:?-.' 



.--a 



^' 



investigate with some confidence the other forces 

 which seem to be at work in the solar system and at 

 which we can now only guess. Assistance should be 

 afforded by observations of the sun and planets, but 

 the moon is nearest to us and is, chiefly on that 

 account, the best instrument for their detection. 

 Doubtless other investigations will arise in the future. 

 But the solution of the known problems is still to be 

 sought, and the laying of the coping stone on the 

 edifice reared through the last two centuries cannot 

 be a simple matter. Even our abler successors will 

 scarcely exclaim, with Hotspur, 



" By heaven, methink<:, it wr?e an ea«y leap 

 To pluck bright honoar from ihe pale-faced moon." 



They, like us and our predecessors, must go through 

 long and careful investigations to find out the new 

 truths before they have solved our difficulties, and in 

 their turn they will discover new problems to solve 

 for those who follow them : — 



" For the fortune of us, that are 

 the moon's men, doth ebb and 

 flow like the sea, being 

 governed, as the sea is, by the 

 moon." 



,Q 



.^— .0----^ 



I750 



;aoo 



1900 



effects appear to have been considered in such detail 

 that further numerical work in the theory is not likely 

 to advance our knowledge very materially? What 

 good purpose is to be served by continuous observa- 

 tion of the moon and comparison with the theory? I 

 believe that the answer lies mainly in the investiga- 

 tion of the fluctuations already mentioned. I have 

 not referred to other periodic terms which have been 

 found because the observational evidence for their 

 real existence rests on foundations much less secure. 

 These need to be examined more carefully, and this 

 examination must, I think, depend mainly on future 

 observations rather than on the records of the past. 

 Only by the greatest care in making the observations 

 and in eliminating systematic and other errors from 

 them can these matters be fully elucidated. If this 

 can be achieved and if the new theory and tables 

 serve, as they should, to eliminate all the known 

 effects of gravitation, we shall be in a position to 



NO. 2346, VOL. 94] 



UNIVERSITY 



AND EDUCATIONAL 



INTELLIGENCE. 



Mr. H. L. Smith, formerly 

 lecturer in chemistry at King's 

 College, London, and in applied 

 chemistry at King's College for 

 Women, has succeeded Prof. 

 A. W. Crossley in the chair of 

 chemistry at the School of 

 Pharmacy of the Pharma- 

 ceutical Society. 



A COURSE of eight advanced 

 lectures on the structure of 

 crystals, will be given at the 

 Battersea Polvtechnic, London, 

 S.W., by Dr. T. Martin Lowry, 

 on Fridays, commencing Octo- 

 ber 23, at 7 p.m. The nominal 

 fee for the whole course is one 

 shilling. 



A COURSE of eight public lec- 

 tures will be given in the 

 botanical department of Univer- 



' sity College (L'niversity of 



London), on the role of 

 plants in the protection and growth of the 

 shore, by Prof. F. W. Oliver, on Fridays, at 

 5 p.m., beginning to-morrow, October i6. ^ The 

 course is addressed to maritime engineers, 

 botanists, and others interested in the phenomena of 

 the shore. 



Mr. Ernest J. Edwards has been appointed head 

 of the Department of Geology in the Royal Technical 

 College, Glasgow. This position was recently created 

 by the subdivision of the Department of Mining and 

 Geology. Mr. Edwards is a graduate of Leeds and 

 of Manchester, and for some years past has been 

 assistant lecturer and demonstrator in geology at 

 University College, Cardiff. 



A Reuter message from Cape Town on October 8 

 states that the report of the Government Comrnission 

 dealing with the University question has been issued. 

 The report recommends the establishment of two 



